Donald Trump Criticizes Prosecutors and Judges to Provoke His Supporters to 'Attack' Them, Says Michael Cohen
Cohen was allegedly directed by Trump to pay Daniels $13,000 to cover up an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
March 30 2024, Published 6:12 p.m. ET
Michael Cohen, an ex-lawyer of former President Donald Trump, claimed that the GOP nominee's continuous criticism of those handling his prosecutions is a deliberate strategy to provoke his supporters into attacking them, RadarOnline.com has learned.
"I truly f------ hope that this man ends up in prison," Cohen was heard saying on a podcast.
Trump, who had previously bombarded New York civil trial Judge Arthur Engoron for months, continued his attacks on Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the former president’s criminal trial in Manhattan, which is set to begin on April 15.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges the ex-president falsified business records to conceal hush money payments to cover up extramarital affairs with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The 77-year-old former president has pleaded not guilty and has repeatedly attacked Merchan and his daughter, doing so by name on Thursday, March 28.
Donald Trump has openly criticized several judges and prosecutors.
During a recent interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid, Cohen tried to portray Trump's line of thinking, telling the host, "I have been treated very unfairly by this judge. Now, this judge is of Mexican heritage. I’m building a wall, ok? … The Trump-hating prosecutor in the case, his wife, and family despise me much more than he does. And he decides, I think he’s about a 10. They’re about a 15 on a scale of 10."
"Then you have deranged Jack Smith, who’s a Trump hater and represents all the Trump haters … You have a radical left attorney general like Letitia James, who’s a disgrace to our country," he continued. "The judges on these cases, they’re all Trump haters."
Trump is on trial for Hush money paid out to Stormy Daniels.
Reid asked Cohen, "Michael, what’s his goal when he does that?"
He answered, "His goal is to fuel up his supporters … to fuel up his [supporters] for the sole purpose of getting them to act no differently and as stupidly as they did on January 6th."
"His goal is to get them to attack these individuals, these critics of him as often and as frequently as they possibly can, whether it’s going to be on social media, whether it’ll be through phone calls, whether it will be in person. I mean, that’s his goal. Intimidation and witness — it’s witness intimidation and it’s harassment.
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This isn't the only legal issue the ex-prez is facing. He is currently charged with 91 counts across four separate indictments in D.C., New York, Georgia and Florida.
The charges include solicitation, racketeering, forgery, false statements, obstruction, conspiracy against civil rights and the willful retention of national defense information.
He could face up to 300 years behind bars if he's found guilty of every charge.
