Trump's Lawyer: Michael Cohen is 'The Greatest Liar of All Time'
Todd Blanch, now the Deputy AG, gave Cohen the GLOAT moniker. That's awkward because now he'll need Cohen to get the president off the hook.
On Friday, January 16, 2026, Michael Cohen published a Substack post claiming Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and NY Attorney General Letitia James “pressured and coerced” him into giving testimony against Donald Trump.
“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. “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.”
The timing is notable. Cohen published this admission as he faces mounting scrutiny over his credibility - including extensive documentation of his lies posted on Substack and elsewhere - and as a federal appeals court considers Trump’s request to move his hush money case for review.
Whether Cohen is telling the truth about prosecutorial coercion or lying to rehabilitate himself with his former boss, the legal impact is the same: it gives Trump’s legal team ammunition to challenge both convictions based on their star witness now claiming he was pressured to testify.
The Lucrative “Truth-Telling” Business
Cohen’s transformation from Trump’s fixer to Trump’s chief accuser became a profitable enterprise. He published two books capitalizing on his insider status: “Disloyal: A Memoir” in 2020 detailing Trump’s alleged crimes, and “Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice Against His Critics” in 2022. He launched a podcast called “Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen,” monetizing his status as Trump whistleblower with regular episodes attacking his former boss. He started a paid Substack newsletter where subscribers receive his “insider” commentary on Trump legal cases. He became a fixture on CNN, MSNBC, and other networks in countless high-profile television interviews, positioning himself as the credible truth-teller finally exposing Trump’s crimes.
Most significantly, Cohen’s testimony dominated two major Trump trials that captured news narratives for weeks. In October 2023, he testified in the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud trial that Trump inflated his assets to obtain favorable loans. The trial consumed weeks of news coverage with Cohen positioned as the insider who could prove Trump’s financial fraud. Trump was found liable for $454 million.
Then in May 2024, Cohen was the prosecution’s star witness in the Manhattan criminal hush money trial - the first criminal trial of a former president. His testimony about the Stormy Daniels payment and reimbursement scheme was the centerpiece of the case. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts. The trial dominated news cycles for weeks with wall-to-wall coverage of Cohen’s credibility battle with Trump’s defense team.
All of this was built on one premise: Michael Cohen was telling the truth. If he was “pressured and coerced” to testify falsely against Trump, then this entire lucrative “redemption” narrative was built on lies - lies that made Cohen wealthy and famous while he claimed to be serving justice.
The Bipartisan Assessment
What makes Cohen’s credibility issues unique is that almost everyone agrees Cohen is not a truth-teller.
In closing arguments on May 28, 2024, Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanche introduced a new sports moniker for Cohen: “the GLOAT - the Greatest Liar of All Time.” He also called Cohen “the MVP of liars,” “the human embodiment of reasonable doubt,” and told the jury: “He’s literally like the GLOAT - the greatest liar of all time.”
It will be interesting to see if Blanche can wiggle out of those conclusion as they ask judge to overrule the testimony against him.
Six years earlier rhe federal prosecutor who sent Cohen to prison described his conduct in remarkably similar terms. On December 7, 2018, Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum that Cohen’s professional life was “marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life.” The memo detailed how Cohen “repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends” and was driven by “personal greed and ambition.”
Most damning was Khuzami’s assessment of Cohen’s character: “Cohen’s consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting, his remorse is minimal, and his instinct to blame others is strong.”
