CNN Stunner: Legal Analyst Says Michael Cohen Just “Demolished” Bragg’s Case Against Trump

 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is waking up to a nightmare unfolding this morning.  His “Got Trump” convictions are hanging on by an even thinner thread than he ever imagined after a crushing interview between President Trump and an unsuspecting character yesterday.

That unsuspecting character was Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Bragg’s star witness.

The case rested on whether or not the jury would believe Cohen, who had previously been convicted of perjury for lying to Congress.  Cohen also had open hostility toward Trump and a history of lying to business associates and the public.

President Trump has apparently decided to let bygones be bygones and joined Cohen on Cohen’s WABC radio show yesterday.

In the segment below, Cohen asks the President to go “back to 2016.”

“You and I have traveled a pretty rocky road together.  Do you remember, sir, when I went on CNN with Brianna Keilar, and she told me that you’re underwater in the polls?  And I responded with those famous two words, ‘Says who?’ which became a worldwide meme,” Cohen asked.

After reminiscing on the weaponization both men had endured during the President’s first term, Trump ends the segment with, “I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said.”

“Yeah,” Cohen responds.

CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig joined Jake Tapper to vindicate President Trump against much of the criticism he had faced publicly over the weaponized Manhattan felony charges.

“Anyone who cheered that hush money prosecution of Donald Trump two years ago has nothing left to stand on,” Honig stated.

He continued:

“The guy (Cohen) who was the reason every prosecutor who looked at this case, including the Biden DOJ and the prior liberal Democratic DA, passed on charging this case, was because they didn’t trust Michael Cohen beyond a reasonable doubt.  Alvin Bragg rolled that dice and now Michael Cohen has said publicly that he ‘felt pressured and coerced by prosecutors.’

So where do you stand on Michael Cohen now?  If you believe he’s a truth-teller, then he felt pressured and coerced by prosecutors.  That’s not acceptable.

If you believe he’s a liar, then your case is built on a liar.

That case is going through its appeal process incredibly slowly.  I think there are major legal infirmities with it.  But now the factual predicate has collapsed as well.

President Trump Truth’d the segment, as well as a screenshot of Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York’s X post saying, “CNN legal analyst Elie Honig:  Michael Cohen’s latest statements demolish the factual basis of the hush money prosecution and conviction of President Trump.”

 

The 34 felony charges brought in Manhattan were all for “falsifying business records,” a misdemeanor with a two-year statute of limitations, which had long passed by the time the indictment was issued in 2023.

Trending: Meet Fierce “New Black Panther Party” Chairwoman Demanding Freedom for Convicted Murderer Karmelo Anthony: “Black Power — It’s About Godd*mn Time!”

So, Alvin Bragg used a “novel legal theory” to finally be the one who “got Trump.”  Bragg would upgrade those charges to felonies by alleging that the 45th and 47th President had the “intent to commit or conceal another crime.”  That crime was a state election law that had already been investigated by the federal government for a reciprocal crime, with no charges filed.

Judge Juan Merchan, whose daughter ran a fundraising organization that explicitly raised money for Democrat candidates off the prosecution of President Trump, limited the scope of testimony by former FEC Chairman and Ohio State University law professor Bradley Smith from offering opinions on whether Trump’s specific actions violated federal election law or that the conduct was legal.

In order to make Bragg’s “novel legal theory” hold, the jury was instructed that they simply needed to agree that another crime was committed.  The crime was not charged.  The crime was not litigated or defended by Trump’s legal team, and they didn’t need to agree that the same crime had been committed, but just that a crime had been committed.

The case is currently on appeal in both the New York Appellate Division, First Department.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/cnn-stunner-legal-analyst-says-michael-cohen-just/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/breaking-supreme-court-allows-construction-work-continue-trumps/

Jill is an idiot

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/what-jill-biden-entertains-possibility-that-joe-was/

ICE Nabs Salvadoran Illegal Alien Accused of Operating Overloaded, Unlicensed Boat That Capsized Near Statue of Liberty, Killing Mother and 5-Month-Old Baby

 

A Salvadoran illegal alien accused of operating an overloaded and unlicensed charter boat that capsized near the Statue of Liberty, killing a young mother and her infant daughter, is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Umana, 46, of Manville, New Jersey, was piloting a Yamaha AR210 carrying 14 people, four over its maximum capacity of 10, on the night of August 8 when the vessel flipped after he made a U-turn into a swell near Liberty Island.

Sara Sanchez, 27, of Queens, and her 5-month-old daughter, Antonella Garcia, were pulled from the water unresponsive and pronounced dead at a Brooklyn hospital. Twelve others, including the baby’s father, survived.

Federal authorities say Hernandez was running paid boat tours without the required Coast Guard credentials or proper safety equipment. The boat had no infant-sized life jackets.

Prosecutors allege he knowingly took the baby aboard anyway and told the mother to simply hold her during the trip. He faces two federal counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, each carrying up to 10 years in prison, along with state reckless endangerment charges.

After being released on $50,000 bail following his federal court appearance, ICE agents arrested him.

The Department of Homeland Security revealed that Hernandez, a native of El Salvador, entered the United States illegally through Texas in 2007 by lying to a border agent and falsely claiming he was an American citizen.

“This criminal illegal alien was illegally and recklessly conducting unlicensed boat tours in New York Harbor when his boat capsized, killing a 27-year-old woman and her 5-month-old baby,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of the Coast Guard, ICE, and our federal, state, and local partners, this criminal is off our streets and out of our waterways. Once he faces justice for his crimes, we will make sure that he is swiftly removed from our country.”

“Federal regulations and maritime safety protocols exist to protect the lives and wellbeing of passengers on commercial vessels,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “The defendant allegedly flouted those regulations when he transported paying customers on a commercial vessel without appropriate licenses, overcrowded the vessel, and took on a 5-month-old infant passenger, with no infant life vests onboard.  We mourn the tragic drowning deaths of the infant and her mother and urge would-be tour operators and the public to observe all safety protocols for commercial vessels.”

“Illegal charter operations gamble with human life, and in this case, the alleged conduct led to an unthinkable tragedy,” said CGIS Assistant Director Josh Packer. “As the Coast Guard’s criminal investigative agency, CGIS brings unmatched maritime subject-matter expertise coupled with federal law enforcement authority.  Working with our federal, state, and local partners, we will continue to investigate those who ignore passenger vessel safety laws and put the public in danger.”

Hernandez will remain in ICE custody while his criminal case proceeds. After any sentence is served, he faces removal proceedings.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/ice-nabs-salvadoran-illegal-alien-accused-operating-overloaded/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/rep-fernandezs-bravado-detention-facility-quickly-debunked-ice/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/msnow-reporter-suggests-cuban-voters-florida-might-not/