Michael Cohen to return to Manhattan district attorney’s office as ‘rebuttal witness’ in Trump investigation

Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen will return to the Manhattan district attorney’s office to appear as a rebuttal witness, but whom or what he is addressing is unclear.

Cohen – who was convicted in a federal case involving Mr Trump’s alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, a transaction central to a reported indictment against the former president – told MSNBC on 19 March that he was asked by the DA’s office to make himself available the following day.

“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, following reports that another witness is expected to appear.

“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,” he added.

He also stressed that his former client’s likely prosecution “is about Donald Trump being held accountable for his own dirty deeds,” not because of his politics.

“I don’t want to see anyone, and that includes Donald Trump, indicted, prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, because I fundamentally, or the country, fundamentally disagrees with so much of what comes out of his mouth,” he added.

He said he “absolutely” believes Mr Trump will be fingerprinted and photographed in custody, but he said he does not want to see him in handcuffs, an image that he said would be humiliating for the institution of the presidency and be weaponised by American adversaries.

“I don’t want to see Donald handcuffed and paraded through … because it’s an embarrassment to our country,” Cohen said. “Could you imagine our allies and our adversaries, how they could either enjoy this or despise us as a direct result?”

The former president predicted that he will be arrested on 21 March, writing a series of furious Truth Social posts over the weekend to condemn the investigation and accuse his political opponents of weaponising the courts against him. A spokesperson later clarified that he did not receive any such notice, and it appears he likely was interpreting news reports that the office was mulling an indictment against him.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to a federal charge relating to a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels two years earlier in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Notably, the case from federal prosecutors during the Trump administration outlined Cohen’s actions made in service of then-President Trump.

The payment allegedly intended to buy Ms Daniels’ silence before she spoke publicly about an alleged affair with then-candidate Trump. Cohen was allegedly repaid the money he gave to her in payments that could be grounds for felony falsification of business records. Mr Trump has continued to deny the affair.