Former President Trump on Saturday suggested that the Manhattan DA was tricked by "Star" witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer who was disbarred after pleading guilty in 2018 to multiple felony charges, including 5 counts of tax evasion, lying to a financial institution, lying to congress, and two campaign finance violations.
In addition to Cohen's credibility issues, a 2018 letter emerged last week in which Cohen's lawyer tells the Federal Election Commission that Cohen used his own funds to make a $130,000 'hush' payment to Ms. Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels aka "Horse Face") and that Trump did not reimburse him for it.
Following a Saturday night rally in Waco, Texas, Trump told reporters on his plane: "I think they’ve already dropped the case … they have absolutely nothing."
"It’s a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing," Trump continued.
The former president made a similar statement earlier Saturday, writing:
"The Manhattan D.A. Witch Hunt against me is DEAD, no evidence at all, & it has been conclusively proven that I did nothing wrong!"
"The evidence against their “Star” witness, however, is overwhelming. An already disbarred lawyer & convicted Felon, the only question left is will the D.A.s Office sue him for lying & fraud. They should!"
Trump also told reporters on the plane that he wasn't trying to incite violence with a recent Truth Social post warning of "potential death and destruction" if he's indicted.
"No, I don’t like violence and I’m not for violence. But a lot of people are upset," he said.
Cohen's credibility is shot
As the Epoch Times notes, former Trump attorney Robert Costello said he told the grand jury in the Manhattan case that Cohen was a tainted witness against Trump.
Cohen’s testimony against the 45th president in the investigation, which reportedly is connected to so-called hush money payments that were given to adult performer Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. A lawyer for Cohen, when reached for comment, declined to issue a statement, although Cohen told MSNBC last week that Costello never represented him and disputed his testimony.
Bragg’s has not returned a request for comment, and The Epoch Times cannot verify the authenticity of Trump’s claims. Previous Epoch Times requests for comment from the DA’s office have gone unanswered.
Over the past week, Bragg’s office has issued one public statement on the case, and that came in response to a House Republican letter seeking testimony and information about the DA’s case or whether his office would arrest Trump. A letter sent by his general counsel said that it was Trump who created a “false expectation” he would be indicted last week, although he provided no other details.
During Saturday night's rally in Waco, Trump declared that his "enemies are desperate to stop us," and that "our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will."
He also told the crowd that Bragg was investigating him "for something that is not a crime, not a misdemeanor, not an affair."
“Not a crime. Not a misdemeanor. Not an affair. I never liked ’Horseface.’ That wouldn’t be the one” - Donald Trump, at Waco rally, on NYC investigation pic.twitter.com/zY4abOPTsu
— Politics1.com (@Politics1com) March 26, 2023
"But they failed. They’ve only made us stronger. And 2024 is the final battle, it’s going to be the big one. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again."
President Trump in Waco: "It's no coincidence that the Deep State is coming after me even harder since I pledged to swiftly end the war in Ukraine."
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) March 26, 2023
via zerohedge