Trump Goes on Midnight ‘Lawfare’ Tear Demanding Past Prosecutions Be ‘Dismissed’: ‘I Am an Innocent Man’

AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson; AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool

President Donald Trump launched a late-night attack on the New York prosecutors who pursued criminal and civil cases against him, declaring himself “an innocent man who has been horribly treated” and demanding both cases be dismissed.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social published around midnight, Trump argued that recent comments by his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, had undermined the legal foundations of the investigations led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

In the civil fraud case filed by James, Cohen testified that Trump routinely inflated the value of his assets to secure favorable loans and business terms. He later also took the stand in Bragg’s criminal prosecution, where prosecutors relied heavily on his account of hush-money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign.

Both cases resulted in victories for prosecutors. A New York judge initially ordered Trump to pay more than $450 million in penalties in the civil fraud case, although that judgment was later reduced on appeal.

In the criminal case, Trump became the first former U.S. president convicted of a felony after a jury found him guilty on 34 counts related to the reimbursement of Cohen for the Daniels payment.

Trump centered his argument on remarks Cohen made in a Substack post in January that he felt “pressured and coerced” by prosecutors during investigations into the president.

“I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” Cohen wrote.

Seizing on those remarks, Trump asserted that Cohen had effectively withdrawn key testimony used against him, blasting the prosecutions as “unAmerican” and a “Political Charade.” The president then argued that the law requires “the Perpetrators of the Radical Left Lawfare and Weaponization to be held criminally responsible for their terrible misdeeds.”

He wrote:

When a Star Witness totally recants, and in every way reveals that he was pressured and coerced to give testimony, and when the Prosecutor admits that this Witness was the single reason that the case was brought, there was no other, how can that Case not be immediately dismissed? That is exactly what happened in the Democrat New York Attorney General and Manhattan District Attorney’s Hoaxes against me. Michael Cohen has come out and unequivocally stated that the Radical Left Prosecutors, Tish James and Alvin Bragg, pressured and coerced him to testify against your favorite President, ME, when they made him the key player in their Political Witch Hunts. Now that his testimony is wiped away, and the unAmerican, Political Charade “Cases” are even further discredited, they should be put out of their misery, and dismissed, once and for all. Our Constitution, and the Rule of Law, demand immediate and swift dismissal, as well as for the Perpetrators of the Radical Left Lawfare and Weaponization to be held criminally responsible for their terrible misdeeds. We have to restore Confidence and Honor in our Justice System. I am an innocent man who has been horribly treated. Hopefully the Courts will do what everyone knows should be done. Thank you! President DONALD J. TRUMP

(Screengrab via Truth Social)

In his Substack post, Cohen said his main complaint was that prosecutors in both investigations were allegedly focused on building cases against Trump rather than objectively assessing the evidence.

He claimed that during trial preparation and testimony, prosecutors “frequently asked inappropriate leading questions” when his answers did not support the narrative they were seeking to establish.

“The purpose of this article is not to defend Donald Trump, nor to relitigate his conduct,” he continued, arguing instead that his concerns centered on prosecutorial practices and the broader justice system.

“You may reasonably ask why I am speaking out now. The answer is simple,” Cohen wrote. “I have witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative.”

He added that “when politics and prosecution become indistinguishable, public trust erodes; not just in individual cases, like mine and Trump’s, but in the system itself. That erosion serves no one, regardless of party, personality, or power.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!