Todd Blanche, one of former President Donald Trump’s attorneys, called disgraced former lawyer Michael Cohen the “greatest liar of all time” or “GLOAT” during closing arguments Tuesday.
Politico reported that Blanche unveiled the label to the New York jury as he accused Cohen of committing perjury, also calling him the “MVP” or most valuable player “of liars.”
WATCH — CNN’s Honig: Michael Cohen Stealing from Trump “More Serious of a Crime Than Falsifying Business Records”:
Blanche cited “a number of times Cohen lied that are largely not in dispute” while listing institutions and people he argued Cohen has lied to, ranging from Congress to his own family, per Politico’s Ben Feurherd.
Blanche, who worked during Cohen’s cross-examination to brand him as a liar, also called him “the human embodiment of reasonable doubt, literally” on Tuesday, the New York Times reported.
During cross-examination on May 16, Blanche accused Cohen of lying in his testimony about the nature of a 2016 phone call to Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller. Cohen reportedly claimed he spoke to Trump during the brief phone call about an alleged payment to Stormy Daniels, but Blanche painted the picture that the call was actually about harassing phone calls Cohen had been receiving from a 14-year-old prankster.
WATCH — CNN’s Cooper: I Would “Absolutely” Doubt Michael Cohen’s Testimony If I Was a Juror:
Blanche pointed to text messages from Cohen to Schiller about the harassing calls that bookended the phone call in question, as Breitbart News reported, citing Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press and Katelynn Richardson of the Daily Caller:
Per Lee’s tweets, the call came in between texts to Schiller from Cohen regarding the harassing calls. The first text was at 7:48 p.m., and the second was at 8:14 p.m. The Daily Caller’s Katelynn Richardson reported from the courtroom that Schiller “left a voicemail at 8:01” and followed up “text me” at 8:02 p.m. The disgraced former attorney then called him at 8:02.
“You lied about this. You said you didn’t remember the harassing phone calls — now you claim that in the one minute and 36 seconds call you spoke about the harasser and Stormy Daniels,” Blanche said, per Lee.
Once the prosecution concludes its closing arguments, deliberations will begin. Deliberations could commence as soon as Wednesday.
The case is New York v. Trump, No. 71543-23, in the New York Supreme Court for New York County.
