After Michael Cohen acknowledged stealing money from the Trump Organization during the trial of former President Donald Trump, MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell came up with a poor argument for the former president.
On the third day of his deposition, Cohen acknowledged that he took money intended for the technology startup Red Finch from the Trump Organization and pocketed it. Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer, questioned Cohen over his assertion that the Trump Organization underpaid him by $100,000 on his annual bonus in 2017. Cohen stated that a $150,000 incentive would be typical for him.
“I felt it was almost like self-help since I was angry about the bonus cut,” Cohen stated in court. “And again, at $130,000, it was rather painful, to say the least, to have my bonus slashed by two-thirds.”
“You did not simply take the $30,000; it was worth $60,000,” Blanche said.
According to O’Donnell, Cohen was attempting to “rebalance” the bonus he believed he was due rather than stealing money from Trump. O’Donnell added that Cohen took less money than he had often received in the past.
“Now, one may argue that you are really simply an opportunistic robber.”
Afterwards, when the prosecution questioned Cohen about it, it didn’t seem like he had stolen $30,000. It sounded a lot like Michael Cohen, who tried to adjust the bonus he believed he was due as much as possible within that computation, but still ended up with less than both that bonus and the bonus he had received the year before, according to O’Donnell.
Nevertheless, lawyer Danny Cevallos told MSNBC Cohen that Cohen’s admission that he took money from Trump’s company calls into question the long-standing defense he has used, which is that he committed crimes solely out of allegiance to Trump.
One may argue that you are nothing more than an opportunistic thief. You took money from your employer and kept it for yourself. In my role as a lawyer, I would like to emphasize that I do not enjoy accepting monetary payments from defense counsel. In all honesty, I refuse to accept cash payments from defense counsel. It’s simply a recipe for trouble, declared Cevallos.
However, it is already difficult to pay individuals with these sandwich bags of cash or brown paper bags of cash. However, I believe that Michael Cohen has evolved from a character reminiscent of Tom Hagen from “The Godfather,” more akin to Fredo Corleone, to a mere thief, motivated by the desire to simply grab a wad of cash and stuff it into his pocket.
Attorney Elie Honig stated on CNN that the crime Cohen acknowledged doing was more serious than the accusations Trump is up against during the trial.
“It is noteworthy that he was ever accused of larceny since, in New York State, embezzling $60,000 by deception is considered a more serious offense than fabricating invoices,” Honig added.
