Michael Cohen, former Trump loyalist turned nemesis, reveals inside details at NY fraud trial

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer and fixer for Donald Trump, testified at Trump's New York civil fraud trial about boosting the company's assets with "whatever number Trump told us."

“I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets, based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected,” Cohen said.

Cohen has already accused his client under oath of falsifying property values in his real-estate empire,

Cohen testified that he and former Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg worked “to reverse-engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets, in order to achieve a number that Mr. Trump had tasked us.”

Asked what that number was, Cohen replied: “Whatever number Trump told us to.”

Cohen said it was the first time he's seen Trump in person in five years. Cohen looked away from his former employer, keeping his eyes on state lawyer Colleen Faherty. As Cohen testified about his career and convictions, Trump whispered to his lawyers. At other points, the former president hunched forward in his seat or leaned back with crossed arms.

Trump shook his head emphatically as Cohen testified that Weisselberg indicated he spoke to the former president’s children – Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka – before preparing their father’s financial statements.

Trump would summon Cohen and Weisselberg and say: “I’m actually not worth four and a half billion dollars. I’m really worth more of six,” Cohen testified.

Cohen said he and Weisselberg would then “inflate the value” of Trump properties by pegging them to “comparable” real estate that was actually different – brand-new developments with higher ceilings, more sweeping views and no rent regulation, for instance.

Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, went to prison after arranging his hush money payments for Trump to a porn actress and a former Playboy model. Cohen already testified before Congress in February 2019 that Trump inflated property values to secure loans and insurance.

“This is not about Donald Trump vs. Michael Cohen or Michael Cohen vs. Donald Trump,” Cohen said as he arrived at the courthouse. “This is about accountability, plain and simple.”

Trump noted as he headed into court that Cohen served prison time after pleading guilty to tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations.

“He’s a proven liar,” Trump told reporters. “I think you’ll see that for yourself.”

Cohen told reporters he committed crimes such as lying to Congress about a project in Russia at Trump's direction.

“I did it at the direction of, in concert with and for the benefit of Donald J. Trump,” Cohen said.

Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron has already ruled Trump committed fraud for years. One of his findings was that Trump valued rent-controlled apartments at Trump Park Avenue, where Cohen lives, at millions of dollars more than their appraised value because of their potential to eventually be sold as market-rent units.

Engoron canceled Trump’s business certificates, but an appeals court put the impact of that decision on hold while the case is argued. Engoron is presiding over the trial to determine penalties for Trump and his business. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million.

Trump's lawyers vowed to appeal the ruling. Trump called the decision "ridiculous and untrue."

In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court to concealing more than $4 million in personal income from the IRS, making false statements about a home equity loan, and "causing $280,000 in payments to be made to silence two women who otherwise planned to speak publicly about their alleged affairs with a presidential candidate, thereby intending to influence the 2016 presidential election," according to court records.

The hush-money payments are at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against Trump, for allegedly falsifying business records to repay Cohen.

Cohen also pleaded guilty in November 2018 to lying to Congress about a Trump project in Moscow.

Cohen delivered a searing account of his dealings with Trump during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in February 2019, when he called Trump a “racist,” a “con man” and a “cheat.”

Trump disputed Cohen’s testimony, tweeting from a foreign trip that Cohen was a convicted liar.

“He is lying in order to reduce his prison time,” Trump said in the tweet.

In another tweet, Trump called Cohen a "Bad lawyer and fraudster" who lied under oath about never having asked for a pardon.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, but served about half the term in home detention because of COVID-19.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Cohen, who Trump calls a 'fraudster,' to testify at NY trial