Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to former President Trump, said on Sunday that he was asked to appear as a rebuttal witness at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Monday but added he did not know any other details on the matter.
MSNBC’s Alex Witt asked Cohen if he expected any other witnesses to be at the office, citing multiple reports. Cohen said he was asked to go to the DA’s office as a rebuttal witness but was not aware of whether that would be before the grand jury or just a meeting. He indicated the DA’s office was bringing another witness in on Monday but did not know who that individual was.
“I was asked to make myself available and to be at the DA’s office tomorrow as a rebuttal witness,” Cohen said.
When Witt asked if it was a rebuttal “to whom or what” Cohen said that had not been clarified.
“I don’t know who the person is. Obviously once I find out who the person is I’ll know what the issue is because I was personally involved,” he said. “Again, I don’t know. It’s a little premature for me to be answering any questions on a topic that I, again, I don’t know who the person is and whether or not that person is or is not going to tell the truth.”
Anticipation is building this week over a possible indictment of Trump in connection to the hush-money payment, which Cohen admitted he made during the fall of Trump’s 2016 campaign to prevent Daniels from exposing an affair she said she had with the former president. Trump has denied the affair.
Prosecutors are building a case that centers on the payment violating campaign finance laws in part due to the amount and how it was reported but it is likely to only result in a misdemeanor charge. The case had been closed before it was reopened by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for arranging the payment to conceal the alleged affairs of Trump. He was also ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution and forfeited $500,000. His prison sentence ended in 2021.
Cohen has firmly broken with Trump.