A major bombshell was dropped at the President Trump trial, which continued with Trump lawyers getting their chance to prove that Cohen has not been honest in his accusations against Trump. Former federal prosecutor Robert Costello testified Wednesday before Congress that disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen told him he had nothing truthful to say about President Trump committing any crimes. We may now know what was really behind Cohen’s flipping and his surprise guilty plea.
Cohen testified under oath that he was coerced into pleading guilty by the DOJ into confessing to his own real crimes and accusations he made about Trump. He claims prosecutors threatened his wife if he did not flip on Trump. This is a new low, even for the Deep State, in their effort to stop Trump. The current prosecutors spent two days questioning Cohen in a vain effort to connect President Trump to a crime, any crime.
Paul Ingrassia reported earlier:
“Cohen testifies to having evaded substantial tax returns from 2012-2017. Also testifies that he received an application form that did not reveal the full extent of his liabilities for a HELOC form, and submitted the form to the bank with full knowledge that it was inaccurate.”
“Cohen testifies to being guilty of federal tax evasion and making false statements to a financial institution. When Blanche presses him if anybody induced him to plead guilty, Cohen defers and says he feels he shouldn’t have been indicted for underlying crimes.”
“Claims he felt pressure to plead guilty, thinking his wife would be indicted, based on what his lawyer at the time told him. Cohen claims he pled guilty without outside pressure at the time, but now testifies that he lied and did feel such pressure.”
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELCohen testifies to having evaded substantial tax returns from 2012-2017.
Also testifies that he received an application form that did not reveal the full extent of his liabilities for a HELOC form, and submitted the form to the bank with full knowledge that it was inaccurate.…
— Paul Ingrassia (@PaulIngrassia) May 16, 2024
Cohen’s explosive testimony suggested that his previous guilty plea, which he had stated was made freely and without coercion, was influenced by dire threats against his family.
“I elected to protect my family,” Cohen said.
What??!!!! Prosecutors told Michael Cohen, “if you don’t Flip on Trump, we will indict your WIFE!”—Now THAT is a crime, not this silly Document stuff. FAKE TRIAL pic.twitter.com/c7NG79cfmG
— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) May 16, 2024
JUST IN: Todd Blanche is once again laying in to Michael Cohen, showing how he made a deal with the prosecution and pled guilty even though he still claims he’s innocent.
Cohen says that the SDNY prosecutors threatened to indict his wife as well if he didn’t agree to their… pic.twitter.com/NgUEa3knuW
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_4_Trump) May 16, 2024
Meanwhile, AP’s coverage of the event highlighted inconsistencies in Cohen’s accounts. During his guilty plea, Cohen had firmly stated that his decision was made without duress, a stance he now contradicts by admitting to lying under oath to protect his wife from legal peril.
The news outlet reported:
When Cohen entered his guilty plea, Blanche noted, he’d told the judge no one had induced or threatened him to plead guilty. Eventually, the defense lawyer compelled Cohen to admit that he’d lied when he said that.
Cohen has said that he was told that if he didn’t accept the plea, he and his wife would be indicted. “I elected to protect my family,” he testified.
Asked again if he felt like he’d been induced to plead guilty, Cohen said: “I never denied the underlying facts. I just did not believe I should have been criminally charged for either of those two — or six — offenses.”
So, Blanche asked, did he lie when he said during his guilty plea that no one pressured him to plead guilty?
“That was not true,” Cohen said.
Federal prosecutors told a judge in a court filing last year that Cohen’s claims to have been coerced into pleading guilty were false. “Cohen’s recent statements are belied by his under-oath statements when he pled guilty, which included that he was guilty of tax evasion and false statements to banks, and that he had not been threatened or forced to plead guilty.” In another filing in 2019, they called the story that they threatened to prosecute Cohen’s wife “patently false.”
It can be recalled that Cohen testified before Congress in February 2019, accusing Trump of various misdeeds, including lying about business interests in Russia.
In his opening remarks, Cohen said, “I have asked that my family be protected from presidential threats.”
This plea for his family’s safety, initially perceived as directed towards Trump, now appears more likely to have been aimed at the prosecutors themselves.
"I have asked this committee to ensure that my family be protected from presidential threats."
Michael Cohen delivers opening statement before House Oversight committee. pic.twitter.com/BtAcN9owSR
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 27, 2019
