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Cohen, a former Trump attorney and longtime fixer, told the court that Trump personally directed him to arrange a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen claimed the payment was meant to stop Daniels’ story from breaking before Election Day.
Under oath, Cohen testified the payment was made “to ensure the story would not come out, would not affect Mr. Trump’s chances of becoming president of the United States.”
That testimony became one of the central pillars of Bragg’s case — even though Cohen himself has a documented history of dishonesty, including a prior perjury conviction.
Civil Fraud Case Also Built Around Cohen’s Word
Cohen also played a role in the civil fraud case driven by Letitia James, where he testified in 2023 about Trump’s business and financial practices. That case accused Trump and his organization of inflating asset values on financial documents in order to secure improved loan terms and insurance arrangements.
Much like the hush money trial, the civil case drew serious scrutiny from legal analysts and critics, who raised concerns about political motives and the unprecedented scope of the penalties being sought.
And in what became another major legal blow to James’ efforts, an appellate court struck down her office’s massive $454 million penalty, calling it unconstitutional and excessive — a ruling that added even more controversy to the case.
Cohen Drops a Bombshell: “Coerced” Into Giving Prosecutors What They Wanted
Now comes the part that has everyone talking.
In a recent Substack post, Cohen made an extraordinary claim: that prosecutors weren’t searching for the truth — they were searching for testimony that fit their preferred storyline, and he says he felt trapped into playing along.
“From the time I first began meeting with lawyers from the Manhattan DA’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office in connection with their investigations of President Trump, and through the trials themselves, I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” Cohen wrote.
That’s not a minor complaint. That’s Cohen accusing prosecutors of steering witness testimony to achieve political outcomes.
He explained that when his accounts didn’t give prosecutors what they wanted, they allegedly pushed harder — using methods he described as improper.
“I felt compelled and coerced to deliver what they were seeking,” Cohen stated.
Cohen added that prosecutors used “inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative.”
Cohen Suggests He Played Along to Help Himself
Cohen didn’t stop there.
He admitted he believed cooperation could improve his own situation, since he was fighting for a reduced sentence after pleading guilty to federal crimes in 2018. According to Cohen, his first major meeting with Bragg’s prosecutors happened in August 2019 while he was behind bars — and he claims he directly asked what benefits he might receive for cooperating.
He also said he continued helping after being released to home confinement in 2020 because he hoped it could reduce his supervised release restrictions.
In the same post, Cohen took aim at Letitia James, criticizing her decision to campaign on going after Trump back in 2018 and slamming how both cases were handled.
Trump Fires Back: “A SET UP From the Beginning”
The Substack claims represent a dramatic reversal for Cohen, who has spent years attacking Trump publicly and even suggested at one point he might flee the country.
Trump responded by calling the investigations a “SET UP from the beginning” and declaring that New York courts were “embarrassed by what has happened.”
With appeals underway in both cases, Cohen’s stunning new allegations could throw yet another wrench into prosecutions that many Americans already view as politically driven from the start.
For Trump supporters, the question is simple: if the government’s star witness is now claiming pressure, coercion, and manipulation behind the scenes — how much of the entire anti-Trump legal machine was built on sand?
