Michael Cohen could be a star witness in the landmark New York v. Trump case, but pundits and legal gurus across the political spectrum have openly questioned his credibility and the wisdom of his brazen social media presence.
Cohen, once a loyal employee of former President Trump but now a sworn enemy, has come under fire for speaking out about the case on TikTok while Trump is silenced due to Judge Juan Merchan’s controversial gag order.
"His lack of impulse control in all of this is remarkable," New York Times reporter Susanne Craig told MSNBC on Friday. "He went out on Twitter and said I’m not going to say anything else … then was out on a TikTok live video with a shirt of Donald Trump behind bars."
Cohen has been labeled a "grifter" in some circles, while others celebrate him as a reformed sinner who truly regrets his past fixer work for Trump.
He is expected to explain his role in arranging a $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult actress Stormy Daniels to allegedly silence her story that she had a sexual encounter with former President Trump in 2006, and whether the jury believes his account should be central to the case's success.
As Cohen's legal woes mounted, Trump and Cohen turned on another beginning in 2018 after the latter spent years doing what he called the future president's "dirty deeds."
"This week, convicted perjurer and disbarred attorney Michael Cohen will take a break from getting paid to trash Trump on TikTok -- to trash Trump in the courtroom," attorney Mike Davis, an outspoken Trump supporter who served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, told Fox News Digital.
In court Friday, Judge Merchan directed New York prosecutors to instruct Cohen to stop making comments about the case and Trump ahead of taking the witness stand, but did not impose a gag order. The state's lawyers said they would relay the message.
However, that hasn't stopped Cohen from doing TikTok live videos about the case, speculating about Trump going to prison and even apparently fundraising through viewer donations during the trial.
"Trump 2024?" Cohen said on one last month. "More like Trump 20-24 years."
Fox News contributor and constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley called him a "serial perjurer" who is making money off the case by soliciting cash and selling merchandise on social media.
"Cohen has always been open as a grifter," Turley wrote.
"He continues to act to his nature. The problem is a political and legal system that enables him as a serial liar," Turley continued.
Imprisoned attorney Michael Avenatti, who first represented Daniels in her lawsuits against Trump, doesn’t believe the state can win the case without the jury believing and liking Cohen, which he thinks is a "tall task."
"They have to call him because there’s nobody that links Trump to these reimbursements and this supposed conspiracy other than Cohen. There’s no witness that could carry the water on these critical points other than Michael Cohen," Avenatti told Fox News Digital from his California prison.
"If I’m the state, I'm incredibly nervous about that because at this point you don’t want to stake anything on Michael Cohen," Avenatti continued. "The guy is a complete disaster of a witness."
Several media outlets that are reliably hostile to Trump, along with longtime Trump critics, have also pointed out the former fixer’s flaws.
The Washington Post recently published a piece headlined, "One thing is already clear at Trump’s N.Y. trial: Nobody liked Michael Cohen," which details ongoing disdain for the key prosecution witness.
Trump is on trial, but the Post reported that "testimony has been just as devastating" to Cohen, who has "become something of a national punching bag."
Post reporter Devlin Barrett referred to Cohen a "flawed witness," who has been called "hopeless" and a "jerk" in front of the jury. The jury also heard that a witness thought Cohen was "going to kill himself" when he learned Trump didn’t plan to give him a job in the White House. Some reports have noted this has been purposeful by the prosecution, as a way of softening the blow when Cohen testifies and being upfront about his flaws to the jury.
A separate Washington Post piece referred to "Cohen’s TikTok grift."
ABC News recently published an article declaring Cohen’s TikTok actions could be problematic. Defense attorney Jeremy Saland, who used to work in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, told ABC News that Trump’s legal team can use Cohen’s actions to "tear down his credibility."
Will Steakin, an ABC News reporter who co-wrote the story, noted on X days later that Cohen appeared on TikTok wearing a shirt depicting Trump in a jumpsuit and handcuffs behind bars.
On Thursday, a CNN panelist debated Cohen's credibility as a witness in the trial of his previous boss.
"If there’s any human being on the planet Earth [whose] picture should be next to the definition ‘reasonable doubt,’ it’s Michael Cohen," Arthur Aidala said before pointing to Cohen's "history of being a liar" and "a fraud."
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CNN’s Elie Honig predicted Cohen won’t be the prosecution’s last witness because "you don’t want to end on a potentially shaky, risky note."
Cohen has even been dragged across the pond, as the BBC recently reported Cohen "has not exactly helped" the prosecution with outside-the-courtroom antics, such as mocking Trump on social media and joking about him being incarcerated.
"He's doing everything as a prosecutor you don't want your witness to do. He's got all sorts of credibility problems," former Manhattan prosecutor Lance Fletcher told the BBC.
Reached for comment, Lanny Davis pointed Fox News Digital to his client’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee on February 27, 2019, implying Cohen was credible that day.
"You have [an] answer. Live TV. In front of millions. Feb 27, 2019. Before Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows and a dozen Rs calling him a liar," Davis said via email.
That day, Cohen said he was "ashamed" to know Trump, calling him a "racist," "conman," "cheat," and revealed a personal check he alleges was used to reimburse him for the "hush money payments."
Trump defense attorneys say the $35,000 payments were "not a payback," but instead legal payments or attorney's fees.
Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark, Brianna Herlihy and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
