Cohen's explosive new claims on Trump
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Michael Cohen, President Trump's former attorney, after being released from federal prison on July 24 in New York City. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Getty Images
The White House dismissed claims by Michael Cohen that President Trump is "a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man" — noting Saturday that the president's former fixer is a convicted felon who lied to Congress, per CNN.
Driving the news: Cohen alleges in his tell-all book, "Disloyal," that Trump is "guilty of the same crimes" that saw the president's former personal attorney sentenced, notes AP, which obtained an advance copy of the memoir.
The allegations: Per AP, in the book that's due out Tuesday, Cohen doubles down on claims denied by Trump that he paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the last election. He alleges that the president said he'd "have to pay" first lady Melania Trump a "far greater sum" if the alleged affair became public, claiming that Trump reimbursed him for "fake legal fees" later.
- "If it comes out, I’m not sure how it would play with my supporters. But I bet they’d think it's cool that I slept with a porn star," Trump allegedly said, according to Cohen.
- In an excerpt seen by the Washington Post, Cohen alleges the president said: "I will never get the Hispanic vote. Like the blacks, they're too stupid to vote for Trump."
- On Russia, Cohen claims that Trump "loved" President Putin because he could "take over an entire nation and run it like it was his personal company — like the Trump Organization."
- In another excerpt, seen by CNN, Cohen writes that Trump allegedly hired a "Faux-Bama" to impersonate former President Obama in a video and "ritualistically belittled the first black president and then fired him."
- Cohen also writes that Trump allegedly said that the late South African leader Nelson Mandela "f---ed the whole country up" and "now it's a s--thole. F--- Mandela," according to WashPost.
- "He was no leader," Cohen alleges Trump said. "Tell me one country run by a black person that isn’t a s--thole. They are all complete f--king toilets."
Of note: In 2018, Trump denied reports that he had described Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as "s--thole countries."
What they're saying: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement to news outlets, "Michael Cohen is a disgraced felon and disbarred lawyer, who lied to Congress. He has lost all credibility, and it's unsurprising to see his latest attempt to profit off of lies."
- White House spokesperson Brian Morgenstern dismissed the memoir as "fan fiction," telling AP that Cohen "admits to lying routinely but expects people to believe him now so that he can make money from book sales."
The big picture: Cohen is serving the remainder of his three-year sentence in home confinement after being released from prison this year following his 2018 imprisonment for lying to Congress, campaign finance violations and tax evasion.
