President Trump is pressing New York courts to end the criminal and civil cases against him, citing his former attorney Michael Cohen's public admission that prosecutors pressured him into providing false testimony.
Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to declare that Cohen, the prosecution's central witness in both the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal case and the Attorney General's civil fraud case, had "fully RECANTED his testimony." His legal team had already filed a four-page court document the day before, asking a New York state court to force Attorney General Letitia James' office to identify and preserve all communications with Cohen, a move that signals the former president's camp sees an opening to unravel both cases from the inside out.
The demand follows months of increasingly pointed public statements from Cohen himself, who wrote in a January Substack post that he "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 went further, accusing both James and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg of blurring the boundary between law enforcement and political ambition.
Cohen's allegations strike at the foundation of both New York cases. In the criminal matter, a jury found Trump guilty in 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges Bragg brought in 2023 related to payments made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen served as the prosecution's star witness at trial. In the civil case, James' office sued Trump in 2022, and a judge found him liable for fraudulently inflating asset values.
Cohen now says the testimony he gave in both proceedings was shaped by prosecutors who had no interest in hearing anything that contradicted their case theory. As he put it in his Substack post:
"When my testimony was insufficient for a point the prosecution sought to make, prosecutors frequently asked inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative."
He also accused James and Bragg of pursuing the cases partly to burnish their own political profiles, seeking "credit as officials who 'took down Trump,'" as Newsmax reported. Cohen wrote that prosecutors "blurred the line between justice and politics; and in that blur, the credibility of both suffered."
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress. He has said he felt compelled to tailor his testimony in hopes of receiving a reduced sentence.
Trump's attorneys are not waiting for Cohen's public statements to do the work on their own. The four-page filing submitted Thursday asks the court to direct James' office to confirm "in writing... whether the Requested Materials... exist" and, if so, to verify "on a document-specific basis" that they "have been and continue to be preserved."
That filing builds on an earlier, more aggressive legal push. In March, Trump's lawyers submitted a 25-page motion demanding all records of communications between Cohen and the Attorney General's office, transcripts, notes, emails, and recordings. The New York Post reported that James' office told Trump's lawyers it "doesn't know" whether such records exist and refused to take steps to find out or preserve them.
Trump's legal team described that response in blunt terms in the March filing:
"In sum, the NYAG is blocking any discovery into, and possibly even preservation of, evidence of the pressured and coerced testimony that it used to convince the trial court to enter a wrongful judgment against Defendants."
If those communications exist and show prosecutors coaching or pressuring Cohen, Trump's team could use them to seek vacatur of the civil fraud judgment, and potentially to challenge the criminal conviction on appeal.
Newsmax contacted James' office for comment on Trump's demand but received no response. The outlet also made multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach Bragg's office by phone. Neither prosecutor has publicly addressed Cohen's recantation claims.
That silence is worth noting. Cohen's allegations are not minor procedural complaints. He is the witness whose testimony anchored both cases. If prosecutors pressured him to shade his account, or ignored testimony that cut against their theory, the integrity of both proceedings is in question. The fact that neither office has offered a rebuttal, even a boilerplate one, leaves the accusation hanging unanswered.
A New York appeals court last year vacated the monetary penalties in the civil fraud case while otherwise affirming the underlying judgment. Trump is separately appealing his criminal conviction, and his legal team is also pursuing efforts to move the criminal case to federal court, the Washington Examiner reported.
The relationship between Trump and Cohen has undergone a remarkable reversal. Cohen spent years as one of Trump's most visible antagonists, cooperating with prosecutors and publicly denouncing his former boss. Now the two men have reconciled. Trump appeared on Cohen's radio show on August 20, a scene that would have been unthinkable even a year ago.
Trump praised Cohen's public statements in his Truth Social post, calling them an "Act of Bravery" and "a Great Credit to the Justice System in New York City and State." He added: "I would like to thank Michael for having the Wisdom and Courage to step forward and do the right thing! I am sure it was not easy for him!"
One critical question remains unanswered: whether Cohen has formally retracted any sworn testimony, or whether his statements are limited to public and media forums. Newsmax noted that this distinction is unclear. A Substack post and radio appearances carry weight in the court of public opinion, but a formal retraction under oath would carry far greater legal force.
Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge after his criminal conviction, no jail time, no fine, no probation. But the conviction itself remains on the books while his appeal proceeds. If Cohen's claims hold up, the man prosecutors built their case around is now telling the public that the case was built on a lie.
When the star witness says he was coerced, and the prosecutors who allegedly did the coercing refuse to say a word, the public deserves more than silence.
