(ProsperNews.net) – Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has testified against his former boss at a civil fraud trial in New York. The lawsuit against the former President, initiated by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges that he misled investors and banks about the value of his assets. If found liable, Mr. Trump could face a $250 million fine and revocation of his license to conduct business in his home state.
During the testimony, Mr. Cohen said that Trump asked him to inflate the value of his properties so he could obtain tax benefits and negotiate more lucrative business deals. The former President made a surprise appearance in the courtroom during Cohen’s testimony but told reporters he is not worried about his ex-attorney because he has no credibility.
It is not the first time Cohen has testified against President Trump; in 2019, he told the Oversight Committee at the House of Representatives that “Mr. Trump is a cheat” who habitually exaggerated his wealth “when it served his purposes” and downgraded it “to reduce his real estate taxes.”
During that testimony, Cohen provided the Oversight Committee with financial statements and evidence that the former President arranged for a buyer to purchase a portrait of him at an auction in New York, ensuring that his portrait was the most expensive item of the day. He then reimbursed the buyer.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen fell out when investigators began probing Cohen’s finances and possible ties with Russia during the 2016 Presidential campaign. In 2018, he entered a guilty plea in New York on five counts of tax evasion, one count of falsifying submissions to a bank, and two counts involving unlawful campaign contributions. He spent more than a year in prison and cut all ties with Donald Trump.
Cohen was Trump’s attorney when the pair allegedly paid hush money to an adult star to buy her silence about an affair she claims she had with the former President.
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