Mar 18, 2023 - Politics & Policy

Trump wants "violent clash" with calls to protest, Michael Cohen says

Herb Scribner

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, walks out of a Manhattan courthouse. — Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, walks out of a Manhattan courthouse. Photo: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image

Michael Cohen, a former personal attorney for Donald Trump, said in an interview with MSNBCon Saturday that the former president's comments about a potential arrest suggest he has inside information and is looking to create "another violent clash on his behalf."

Driving the news: "This is exactly him reacting to information that he has, and not leaks, as he would like to say, by the district attorney’s office," Cohen said. "There [are] no leaks coming out of the DA’s office, that I can tell you for sure. This is all coming out of Trump camp."

Cohen said on Saturday’s edition of MSNBC’s "Velshi" that Trump isn't looking for peaceful protests but "wants another violent clash on his behalf." He called Trump's posts "eerily similar" to the "battle cry" he put out ahead of the Jan. 6 riot.
The "fools that are representing him, this clown show of lawyers, what they believe is that this will propel him into the White House by having another violent insurrection," Cohen said. "This time it would be in New York."
Cohen said Trump "will look to profit from this action by soliciting contributions in order to protect him" from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's ongoing investigation.

Context: Trump predicted in Truth Social posts Saturday morning that he will be arrested on Tuesday amid the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump also told his followers, "Protest, take our nation back!"
A Trump spokesperson said in a statement to Axios that there "has been no notification, other than illegal leaks from the Justice Dept. and the DA’s office, to ... fake news carriers, that the ... Democrat prosecutor in Manhattan has decided to take his Witch-Hunt to the next level.
"President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system," the statement said.

Go deeper: Looming Trump charges threaten to inject chaos into 2024 campaign

Timeline: The probe into Trump's alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels

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Trump wants "violent clash" with calls to protest, Michael Cohen says

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