Michael Cohen: Trump will 'absolutely' have mugshot, be fingerprinted if arrested

Rachel Schilke

March 19, 06:15 PM March 19, 06:15 PM

Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump's ex-personal lawyer, said the 45th president will "absolutely" go through standard arresting formalities should the Manhattan district attorney's office indict him.

“Do I think that Donald will be fingerprinted, swabbed, mugshotted? Absolutely,” Cohen said in an interview with Alex Witt on her Sunday MSNBC program. “Do I think he’ll be handcuffed? No. And in fact, I don’t want to see Donald Trump handcuffed and paraded through… because I respect the institution of the presidency.”

SECURITY AGENCIES DISCUSSING SAFETY PLANS AHEAD OF POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT

Cohen's remarks come as several reports indicate District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is gearing up to charge Trump for hush-money payments he made through Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

The lawyer, who pleaded guilty in 2018 and served three years in prison over the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments. Bragg's case hinges on whether Trump authorized his team to falsify business records to list the payments as legal expenses.

Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury this past week. Trump announced on Truth Social on Saturday morning that he expected to be arrested this Tuesday, decrying “illegal leaks” and a “highly political" prosecutor.

“Illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime and whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump said. “Protest, take our nation back.”

Several lawmakers and legal experts have referred to the possible indictment as targeting political opponents or chasing a vendetta. However, Cohen insists his hope to hold the former president accountable is not on account of his personal feelings.

"This is about Donald Trump being held accountable for his own dirty deeds,” Cohen said. “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 that publicly handcuffing Trump would be humiliating for the presidency as an institution and would not send a good signal to both allies and 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?”

Michael Cohen set to testify in Stormy Daniels investigation

Max Thornberry

March 11, 08:58 AM March 11, 09:26 AM

Donald Trump's former right-hand man is preparing to testify before a grand jury for an investigation that appears likely to produce a criminal indictment for the former president.

Michael Cohen, a longtime friend and attorney for Trump is expected to testify in Manhattan next week about alleged hush money payments he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. The $130,000 payment, while not illegal by itself, might have been linked to Trump’s successful campaign for the White House, prosecutors say.

CHARGES POSSIBLE AS PROSECUTORS INVITE TRUMP TO TESTIFY ON STORMY DANIELS PAYMENT

Cohen is one of the only players in the hush-money scheme left to testify, according to the New York Times, as only Daniels has not testified in the case. With his testimony expected next week, and an invitation to Trump himself to testify on Thursday, it appears likely that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is putting the finishing touches on his case before asking the grand jury to hand down an indictment for Trump.

In New York, defendants in investigations have the right to testify and answer questions the grand jury has for them before an indictment is handed down, though they rarely take advantage of the opportunity. Trump is not expected to appear before the grand jury.

"The Manhattan district attorney's threat to indict President Trump is simply insane,” a Trump spokesman said in a statement after the invitation was publicized. “For the past five years, the DA's office has been on a witch hunt, investigating every aspect of President Trump's life, and they've come up empty at every turn — and now this."

In a statement on Truth Social Thursday, Trump insisted he had done “absolutely nothing wrong” and said the investigation was a “political Witch-Hunt trying to take down the leading candidate” in the 2024 White House race.

Earlier this month, Cohen told reporters he was expecting the call to testify before the grand jury “very soon.” Trump’s former fixer has met with investigators more than a dozen times to detail his involvement in paying Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep their previous relationships with Trump quiet during the election.

In February, Cohen gave Bragg’s office his cellphones as part of the investigation.

Cohen pleaded guilty and was convicted of making the payments in 2018.