Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s ex-fixer, returned to the witness stand on Tuesday in Trump’s ongoing criminal trial. Text messages between Cohen and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman were presented as evidence, shedding light on Cohen’s attempts to protect Trump from scrutiny over the hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
On February 6, 2018, Cohen texted Haberman, stating that Trump had approved his response to a complaint and statement. He urged Haberman to begin writing, promising to call her soon. According to the messages, Cohen informed Haberman that he had used his personal funds to transfer the hush payment to Daniels, who had threatened to go public with allegations of an affair with Trump prior to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump is currently facing 34 charges in New York, including allegations of manipulating company documents to conceal the $130,000 payment made to Daniels in 2016, when his wife Melania Trump was pregnant with their son Barron. Haberman was present in court on Tuesday when Cohen’s messages were read aloud. Cohen acknowledged that his statement to Haberman was both true and misleading, explaining that he had intentionally crafted it to protect Trump and maintain their messaging strategy.
This is not the first time that text messages between Cohen and Haberman have been made public. They were previously shown to the jury during a hearing on the case on May 2. Haberman, a well-respected Times reporter, is known for her coverage of Trump. She was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that reported on Trump’s ties to Russia in 2018 and authored a book about his presidency in 2023.
Amidst the ongoing trial, Haberman became a trending topic on social media as Cohen was questioned about his texts to her. Many users criticized Haberman, accusing her of being a mouthpiece for Trump and collaborating with Cohen to spread his lies.
The revelation of these text messages provides further insight into Cohen’s efforts to protect Trump and the extent to which he was willing to mislead the media to achieve that goal.
