Trump ‘belongs in a f---ing cage’, says former fixer Michael Cohen

The star witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is hosting nightly TikTok broadcasts in which he has ranted that the former president “belongs in a f---ing cage like an animal”.

Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former attorney and “fixer” who is now at the centre of the courtroom showdown, risks jeopardising the case ahead of his expected testimony, legal experts have warned.

“Trump 2024? More like Trump 20-24 years,” Mr Cohen declared to thousands watching his livestream recently.

As he awaits his turn to take the stand, Mr Cohen has held almost nightly live streams on the video-sharing app TikTok, discussing Mr Trump and the ongoing “hush money” trial.

“The other day Donald once again... comes out of the courtroom and goes right into that little cage, which is where he belongs, in a f--king cage like an animal,” he said.

In 2018, Mr Cohen switched from staunch ally to testifying to some of Mr Trump’s most scandalous accusations.

The list includes his alleged inflation of the Trump Organization’s real estate portfolio to garner bank loans, orchestrating “hush money” payments during the run-up to the 2016 election to women who claimed to have had affairs with him, and conspiring with Russia.

One video shared on Mr Cohen’s TikTok account showed a cartoon of Mr Trump posting bail. “Do we take rubles?” the cartoon Trump asks court payment officials.

Cohen claims to have orchestrated payments, on behalf of the former president, to the porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence on her alleged affair with Mr Trump. The claim led Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to indict Mr Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Cohen’s testimony is a crucial part of Mr Bragg’s case.

He told a jury in 2016 that he worked alongside Mr Trump to issue payments to at least two women in 2016 to protect his public image during the presidential campaign.

‘A problem of credibility’

“Cohen’s videos and comments are a problem for his credibility as a witness and therefore a problem for the prosecution,” Professor David Schultz from the University of Minnesota Law School told The Telegraph.

“His comments will raise questions about his motive to testify and whether his testimony is truthful or profit-motivated, or for other reasons.”

Prof Schulz added: “Normally a witness would not do this and the prosecution would have asked the individual not to talk about the case.

“But here questions now can be asked if Cohen is trying impermissibly to impact the case or it contributes to the carnival atmosphere that feeds into the Trump narrative that this is all political. Cohen’s behaviour runs the risk of mistrial or grounds for appeal.”

Cohen, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion and violating campaign finance law in 2018, has developed a dedicated anti-Trump fanbase. Almost 300,000 users now follow Cohen on TikTok and viewers can regularly send him donations.

The nightly “Michael Cohen Live Show” is held at 10pm EST, when he invites fans, impressionists and comedians to contribute.

In the lead-up to Mr Trump’s trial, Cohen’s nightly streams made him the 25th most popular live streamer on TikTok.

At least one of these shows – which saw him fluctuate between personal attacks and making heart shapes with his hands – garnered millions of likes.

“Join me under the big top tonight at 10 PM EDT for the circus you won’t want to miss,” he wrote in text overlaying the video as a computer-generated cowboy hat sat atop his head.

Before the trial, Cohen also live-streamed with another TikTok user who had generated a following by impersonating Mr Trump.

“I’m going to go to jail and it’s going to be okay,” the user, known as ZPAC, said. “And I’m going to do it in your honour, quite frankly.”

This week Cohen also delved into how he saw the trial playing out following testimony from David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher.

Mr Pecker testified that in the run-up to the 2016 election, he caught and killed stories that portrayed Mr Trump in a negative light as part of an agreement between him, Mr Trump and Cohen.

“From everything that I heard from people today, well, David Pecker is basically corroborating what I have been saying for six years,” Cohen said during a livestream.

“If I give my testimony and it corroborates his, well there you go, the circle starts closing.”

And on Tuesday night Cohen, dressed in a computer-generated knight’s helmet, said: “I’ll go there with my helmet, my spear, and I’ll sit my ass in that witness stand and I’ll just tell the truth.”