Anderson Cooper Admits He Would 'Absolutely' Doubt Michael Cohen if He Were a Juror in Donald Trump's Hush Money Case
Anderson Cooper recalled 'dramatic' cross-examination of Michael Cohen on Thursday.
May 16 2024, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
CNN's Anderson Cooper admitted he would "absolutely" doubt Michael Cohen's testimony as a witness if he were a juror in Donald Trump's hush money case, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Cooper made the confession while discussing witnessing the defense attorney's "extraordinary cross-examination" in the Manhattan courtroom.
Cooper attended the hush money trial on Thursday, May 16.
On Thursday's edition of the network's extensive coverage of the historic trial, Cooper detailed what he witnessed after attending court that day.
Cooper noted a "dramatic" moment when Trump attorney Todd Blanche "appeared" to catch Cohen — who once described himself as the ex-president's "fixer" — in a lie.
Cooper described Trump's attorney's cross-examination of Cohen 'devastating.'
Cohen alleged he fronted the cash for hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels with the ex-president's blessing. The payments were allegedly made in exchange for her silence on a supposed affair she had with Trump prior to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump — who has denied knowledge of the payment as well as the reported sexual encounter — faces over 30 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the hush money payment.
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Cohen alleged he had a phone call with Trump about moving forward with hush money payments.
Cooper described the defense attorney's cross-examination of the prosecution's star witness "devastating."
While testifying about a phone call with Trump on October 24, 2016, Cohen claimed it was during that conversation that he informed the ex-president he was going to proceed with the hush money payments.
Cooper said it was during this testimony that Cohen was "cornered in what appeared to be a lie."
Blanche pointed to text messages in the prosecution's phone log, which Cohen claimed he had not seen while reviewing the records. The text messages were between Cohen and Trump ally Keith Schiller — and took place immediately before the alleged phone call with Trump — discussed prank calls Cohen had been receiving.
"There had been this series of, I guess, crank calls that Michael Cohen had received. It turned out to be some 14-year-old," Cooper explained.
"There was an exchange of messages between the alleged 14 year old and Michael Cohen, and then Michael Cohen texted Keith Schiller at like 7:50-something or or 7:48 p.m., saying, hey, I’ve got some dope who has been harassing me."
Gaetz said Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was 'dog-walked' in cross-examination.
Cooper claimed Cohen was forced to "adjust" his original story about the phone call with Trump to say the call discussed both the hush money payment and the prank caller.
"You could tell the import of the moment and everyone in the courtroom could tell and if you were unaware of it, the clicking of every of every reporters’ in the room typewriters, it was like a crescendo because the drama of the moment was so clear to everybody in the room," the CNN host added.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig later asked Cooper his thoughts on the "dramatic" testimony — and whether or not it would have made an impression on him if he were a juror.
"Absolutely. Absolutely. I think it’s devastating for Michael Cohen’s credibility on this one particular topic," Cooper replied.
"If I was a juror in this case watching that, I would think, this guy’s making this up as he’s going along or he’s making this particular story up."