A year after his release from prison, the former president’s ex-fixer talks about the unprecedented case.

Having completed a three-year sentence for his role in a hush-money scheme for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, Michael Cohen has a lot to say about his former boss. 

One month after the Manhattan District Attorney indicted the former president for his role in that same scheme, Trump's former lawyer and fixer took the stage at this year's Crosscut Ideas Festival to talk about his early support for Trump and his fears about another term for the 45th president. 

For this episode of the Crosscut Talks podcast, we listen in as Cohen speaks with journalist Joni Balter about the numerous criminal investigations against Trump, as well as the civil case being brought by author E. Jean Carroll that, at the time, was yet to be decided. 

In the days after this May 6 conversation, that case was decided by a federal jury that found Trump liable for battery and ordered the president to pay Carroll $5 million. Cohen discusses what else could be in store for the president and the country.

This conversation was recorded on May 6, 2023 at the Crosscut Ideas Festival in Seattle.

---

Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Seth Halleran

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

Engineers: Resti Bagcal, Viktoria Ralph

---

If you would like to support Crosscut, go to crosscut.com/membership. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Seattle’s PBS station, KCTS 9.