Corporate media outlets have been praising convicted perjurer Michael Cohen as “an excellent witness” after he testified against President Donald Trump in the Democrats’ “hush money” trial this week.
The disgraced former lawyer has been billed as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s star witness in the get-Trump case.
Cohen, who served as Trump’s personal attorney and fixer before emerging as his sworn enemy, has seen his credibility questioned from all sides.
Critics have labeled Cohen as everything from a “serial perjurer” to a “grifter.”
The former lawyer is a central part of the prosecution’s case against Trump.
On Monday, he testified that he secretly recorded Trump ahead of the 2016 election, admitted to lying and bullying people for Trump’s benefit, and detailed the alleged attempt to cover up an alleged affair Trump had with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
As Slay News reported, the prosecution played Cohen’s vague, out-of-context recording in the courtroom.
However, the two-line audio clip raised more questions than it answered.
The recording contained no evidence and lacked context, leaving the prosecution to rely on Cohen to fill in the gaps.
“It shows how weak this case is that they are literally depending on a serial perjurer to make their case, so I don’t think things are going well for the prosecution in the court of law,” Marc Thiessen said Monday on Fox News.
“In the court of public opinion, they’re doing even worse.”
News outlets and pundits that are historically hostile to Trump had the difficult task of making Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress, and tax evasion, come off as credible.
Nevertheless, the corporate media still made the attempt.
MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos appeared to downplay Cohen’s credibility issues by focusing on the “misconception” that direct evidence is more powerful than circumstantial evidence.
“Direct evidence is somebody saying that they saw something, or heard something, and that can be unreliable,” Cevallos said.
“Eyewitness testimony is unreliable, Michael Cohen can be unreliable, but circumstantial evidence, the documents, don’t lie.
“The prosecution’s vision here has obviously been that by the time Michael Cohen testifies, all the other documents will mitigate his perceived [unreliability],” Cevallos said as Andrea Mitchell spoke over the rest of his thought.
J. Lee Meihls, a longtime trial consultant, joined MSNBC to offer thoughts on Cohen’s testimony.
It turned out she was a big fan of Cohen.
Meihls told MSNBC viewers Cohen was “calm,” “answered direct questions with direct answers,” wasn’t emotional, and was not “too personal.”
“He knows how important a witness he is,” Meihls said.
MSNBC analyst Tim O’Brien similarly praised Cohen’s performance later on the channel.
“There’s a lot of wimpy people in Trump’s world pretending to be tough,” O’Brien said.
“Michael Cohen is an authentically tough guy.
“And I think on the stand today he showed enormous discipline.
“I thought he was an excellent witness for the prosecution.
“He was steady. He kept his temper reined in.”
The case revolves around the alleged falsification of business records.
Prosecutors say Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter with Trump.
Bragg’s team alleges the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses.
The prosecution is working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.
So far, however, prosecutors have provided no evidence to support these claims other than salacious testimony from a convicted perjurer and a porn star.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
CNN aired footage of Cohen praising Trump in 2016, noting that it was a common occurrence when he was on the 45th president’s payroll.
Following the clip, the network’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig asked:
“The question is: Is the jury going to be on board with this narrative that, ‘Well, when he flipped, he made a clean break, and now he’s a truthteller?’”
The answer is unclear, but CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams told viewers that prosecutors “painstakingly” asked questions in the context of evidence that has previously come up in the trial.
“There is some credibility issues, memory issues, and all of the above, and they’re trying to make his testimony as airtight as possible,” Williams said.
Despite this, some CNN correspondents and guests spoke optimistically about Cohen.
Legal correspondent Paula Reid called the testimony “credible” while fellow correspondent Kara Scannell described it as “measured,” “deliberate” and “controlled.”
CNN’s Tom Foreman also recounted:
“The fact is, the cornerstone of Cohen’s testimony all along has been he did lie, he did commit crimes and he did go to prison for it, where he also said he did something else: he learned how to tell the truth about Donald Trump.”
Other commentators remarked on Trump himself, claiming that he was visibly affected by the testimony.
“He left the courtroom and didn’t mention him by name,” NBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard described.
“But this is a very angry Donald Trump upon leaving the courthouse.
“There’s been some days where he’s been more blasé or just left altogether.
“But this one clearly was frustrating.
“And I think that the part is that there’s mutual frustration.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper also suggested Trump was “angrier than ever,” with former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi remarking that, while they don’t know what the jury sees, Trump’s facial expressions will matter.
“I don’t think he has a stone face,” Rossi said.
Meanwhile, Republicans have rushed to Trump’s defense.
Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) who was seen attending court with Trump on Monday, responded to Cohen’s testimony on X.
Vance balked at Cohen admitting to secretly recording Trump.
“Michael Cohen admitting he secretly recorded his employer,” the senator posted.
“Just totally normal conduct, right?
“The best part is he said he did it only once and only for Trump’s benefit. A standup guy!”
Vance, alongside fellow Republicans like Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), held a brief press conference Monday regarding the trial.
During the presser, Vance continued in his condemnation of Cohen’s testimony.
The trial continues this week.
READ MORE – Michael Cohen Produces Secret Recording of Trump during ‘Hush Money’ Testimony
