NEW YORK — Defense attorney Todd Blanche on Tuesday said Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness against former President Donald Trump, is the “greatest liar of all time,” leaning heavily into sports metaphors in his closing argument.
Mr. Blanche deemed Mr. Cohen the GLOAT, a riff on GOAT, or greatest of all time — like Michael Jordan in basketball or Tom Brady in football — moments after he said Mr. Cohen is “literally like an MVP of liars.”
Prosecutors allege Mr. Trump used Mr. Cohen, his lawyer-turned-accuser, to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election because she was shopping a story about an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006. They say Mr. Trump orchestrated an illegal plot to conceal repayment to Mr. Cohen.
Mr. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records with an intent to affect the election.
Mr. Blanche said Mr. Cohen was the only person who claimed in court that Mr. Trump had direct knowledge of the payments and reimbursement scheme. The problem, he said, is that Mr. Cohen had a track record of lying to Congress and even his own family.
Mr. Blanche argued the worst lie occurred right in front of jurors. Mr. Cohen claimed to have had a phone call with Mr. Trump in which the former president approved the Daniels payment, though defense lawyers showed evidence the call was placed to Mr. Trump’s bodyguard to complain about a young prank caller.
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“That was a lie,” Mr. Blanche said of Mr. Cohen’s testimony, punctuating each word. “That is per-jur-y.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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