Since even before Michael Cohen’s testimony went sideways at the New York Attorney General’s bank fraud trial against Donald Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney has wanted Cohen’s name kept off court documents in its own upcoming trial—and that’s sparking backlash from the former president’s lawyers, who are decrying what they call an unreasonable level of secrecy.
Manhattan prosecutors won’t let them even utter Cohen’s name in court documents ahead of the upcoming porn star hush-payment trial. And the judge keeps backing up the DA’s office.
As a result, Trump’s legal team keeps making an awkward dance. His lawyers mentioned Cohen at least 43 times in court documents attempting to dismiss the felony indictment in September—but his name had to be redacted every single time. The former president’s lawyers even had to black out Cohen’s name from a Department of Justice press release about Cohen’s guilty plea in federal court—as well as the internet link too, for good measure.
