2:33 PM ET, May 16, 2024
Jurors see text messages between Michael Cohen and teenager who claims he harassed him over the phone
Jurors are currently examining text messages that Michael Cohen exchanged with a 14-year-old boy he allegedly harassed over the phone in 2016.
Cohen previously testified that at one point the boy unsuccessfully blocked his number and was able to see who had been calling him multiple times.
Texts shown in court show Cohen telling the recipient that the number was being sent to the U.S. Secret Service. The boy apologized and said he hadn’t made the call, but that his friend had told him to call.
“This number was sent to intelligence agencies due to continued harassing phone calls over the past three days,” Cohen wrote. “If you are a minor, we recommend that you notify your parent or guardian.”
“I didn’t do that,” the other person texted, adding, “I’m 14” and “Please don’t do it.”
Cohen wrote back asking the boy’s parents or guardians to contact them “before any intelligence agencies contact them.”
Why these messages are relevant: The defense has argued that Cohen’s calls to Donald Trump’s bodyguard around this time were not payments to Stormy Daniels, as Cohen testified, but to help Cohen deal with harassment. I’m trying to show that it was.
Cohen said he spoke with bodyguard Keith Schiller about both matters.
These messages were not published before lunch because they had to be edited. Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche fired back at them, saying they were redacted and admitted into evidence.
