NY v. Trump: Witness says Cohen dreamed of White House job despite denying ambitions in House testimony

A witness in the NY v. Trump case, attorney Keith Davidson, testified that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen had hoped for a job in the White House following the 2016 election.

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump, right, outside federal court in New York, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.  (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Davidson testified that Cohen had called him while shopping in a California store memorably decorated with an "Alice in Wonderland"-type theme. 

The NY v. Trump case focuses on Cohen paying Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

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Cohen lamented to Davidson in the December call that he had not yet been reimbursed for the sum he had paid Daniels, according to Davidson’s testimony. 

Michael Cohen, who is supposed to be a star witness in NY v. Trump, might have "torpedoed" the case before taking the stand by ranting about it on TikTok, according to legal observers.  (Getty Images)

"I can tell you a story of Mr. Trump reaming out Reince Priebus because I had not taken a job where Mr. Trump wanted me to, which is working with Don McGahn at the White House general counsel’s office," he continued. "What I said at the time — and I brought a lawyer in who produced a memo as to why I should not go in, because there would be no attorney/client privilege. And in order to handle some of the matters that I talked about in my opening, that it would be best suited for me not to go in and that every president had a personal attorney."

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"I did not want to go to the White House," Cohen added later in his testimony to Congress. "I retained, I brought an attorney in, and I sat with Mr. Trump, with him for well over an hour, explaining the importance of having a personal attorney, that every president has had one in order to handle matters like the matters I was dealing with."

Cohen’s comments came after he pleaded guilty to five counts of willful tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a bank, one count of causing an unlawful campaign contribution, and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution in 2018. He again pleaded guilty in November of that same year to lying to Congress about testimony regarding the work he had done on a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. 

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower to attend his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs in New York, on April 22, 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

"This is a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted — badly, badly, badly conflicted. I've never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no rulings," Trump said outside the courtroom on Tuesday morning. 

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"I'm going to sit in the freezing cold icebox for eight hours, nine hours or so. They took me off the campaign trail. But the good news is my poll numbers are the highest it's ever been. So, at least we're getting the word out. And everybody knows this trial is a scam. It's a scam. The judge should be recused; that he should recuse himself today, he should recuse himself today. And maybe he will," Trump said.

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

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