Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, has responded to rumors that the Republican is passing wind throughout his hush money trial.
Cohen, who has emerged as a vocal Trump critic, is set to testify in the high-profile trial, which will determine whether the former president falsified business records over payments, allegedly facilitated by Cohen, to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair secret before the 2016 election, as alleged in a criminal indictment.
Prosecutors led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg allege the payments were part of a scheme to stop potentially damaging stories about the Republican from becoming public. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 election, has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him in the case.
As the trial continued, a rumor has emerged about Trump’s courtroom etiquette. MeidasTouch founder Ben Meiselas cited “credible” sources who informed him that Trump was “farting” in court and causing a smell.
Photo by Sarah Yenesel – Pool/Getty Images
“It’s a putrid odor in the courtroom,” he said on his podcast, adding that Trump’s lawyers were “repulsed by the scent and the smell.”
Meiselas: What I’m hearing from credible sources is that Donald Trump is actually farting in the courtroom… I’m hearing it from actual credible people that as he’s kind of falling asleep, he’s actually passing gas and that his lawyers are really struggling with the smell. pic.twitter.com/wa6F3iRDgX
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 19, 2024
George Conway, who has campaigned against Trump, said on X that he had also heard similar rumors.
Newsweek has been unable to verify these claims and the fact-checker Snopes has rated them as “unproven.” Newsweek has contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Cohen wrote: “Not looking forward to testifying in the @realDonaldTrump DANY criminal trial for several reasons! #GasX.”
As the trial continues, Trump has been accused of falling asleep in court, leading him to be mocked on social media.
According to a Newsweek reporter who was in the courtroom for the second day of the trial on Tuesday, Trump was last week reprimanded by the bench after he was seen gesturing to a potential juror. Judge Juan Merchan said Trump was clearly audible while doing so.
Meanwhile, earlier this month in an interview with Politico’s Ryan Lizza, Cohen, who served jail time after pleading guilty in 2018 to charges related to hush-money payments made to Daniels, teased the evidence he would submit in the trial.
When asked if he thought the public would be surprised by some of the corroborating evidence, Cohen said, “I do.”
“In other words: We don’t know everything that’s going to be presented?” Lizza probed.
“In fact, most people don’t really know anything. They only know what the headlines have been. And as you know very, very well, headlines do not necessarily tell the story,” Cohen said.
The jury has been selected in the trial, meaning it will start in earnest with opening statements this week.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.