Michael Cohen is walking back years of testimony — and throwing New York prosecutors under the bus.
The former fixer for President Donald Trump said this week that he “felt pressured and coerced” during multiple investigations targeting Trump, raising new questions about the integrity of prosecutions that Republicans long argued were politically engineered.
Cohen made the claims in a new Substack post published January 16. The timing raised eyebrows in Washington, arriving as several high-profile New York cases continue to crumble under appellate scrutiny.
Cohen’s New Allegation: “They Wanted a Verdict, Not the Truth”
Cohen wrote that Manhattan DA investigators and staff from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office “guided” his testimony to match a storyline they had already created.
He said it was clear from the start.
“I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against President Trump,” Cohen wrote. “When my testimony wasn’t enough, prosecutors asked leading questions until I gave them the answer they needed.”
A former federal prosecutor who reviewed Cohen’s statement told us, “This is explosive. If Cohen was shaped or coached, those convictions are in trouble. New York’s legal apparatus could be facing a credibility crisis.”
A Warning About Politics in Prosecution
Cohen insisted he wasn’t trying to “defend” Trump. But his explanation read like a warning.
“I witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative,” he wrote. “When politics and prosecution become indistinguishable, public trust erodes.”
Legal analysts note that Cohen’s credibility has always been a point of fierce debate, especially after his own guilty plea in 2018 for federal charges — a case critics now argue was part of a wider anti-Trump push inside the Justice Department during the late Obama years.
Years of Legal Warfare
Cohen’s reversal comes after a decade of legal battles involving Trump, New York prosecutors, and a rotating cast of political operatives.
Cohen played a major role in the now-infamous Stormy Daniels “hush money” case, which resulted in a conviction that is currently being reviewed by a lower court. The civil fraud case brought by Letitia James — which saddled Trump with a $454 million penalty — was overturned on appeal in 2025, a decision the Trump White House hailed as proof of “weaponized lawfare.”
A senior law enforcement official in New York, who asked not to be named, expressed frustration with Cohen’s new claims.
“Cohen was their star witness,” the official said. “If he’s saying he was coached, the entire structure of those cases is at risk.”
President Trump Responds: “A Setup From the Beginning”
President Trump wasted no time responding.
On Truth Social, he blasted New York prosecutors and said Cohen’s admission confirms what he has argued since 2018.
“It was a SET UP from the beginning,” Trump wrote. “These Radical Left people, doing everything possible to destroy our Country, should pay a big price for this! New York Courts are embarrassed by what has happened. We cannot let this pass.”
A Trump 2026 White House spokesman later told reporters, “The American people are finally seeing how deep the political rot went. President Trump has been right all along.”
What Happens Next?
Legal experts say Cohen’s statement could have ripple effects across several jurisdictions. Defense teams may seek to revisit cases where Cohen was a central witness. Congressional Republicans have already signaled interest in new hearings focused on “coercive prosecution tactics” and “state-run political targeting.”
One GOP lawmaker put it bluntly:
“If Cohen was pressured to deliver Trump, that’s not justice. That’s regime-style prosecution.”
New York officials have not publicly responded to Cohen’s accusations.
But the questions are growing louder — and the 45th president, now in his second term, is once again at the center of a legal and political firestorm that shows no signs of cooling.
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What can one expect. Just step into the democrat arena and your gonna find something. it is a given. But the real tragedy is to sit back in My Texas…and watch all of this lawfare unfold, and know that nothing will be done about it. No arrest – no indictments – no charged….nutten…! This is a mystery to most all Americans is why has nothing been done to bring justice to all Americans out here. So sad really to have endured the so sick sage put on by the Clintons as they are still to this day walking free unabated….This is so sick…!!