Cohen predicts Trump will have to liquidate assets after fraud verdict

(The Hill) — Michael Cohen, who once served as former President Trump's fixer, said that he thinks Trump will have to liquidate assets following the recent fraud trial verdict.

"They're gonna have to start liquidating assets," Cohen said in an interview on MSNBC's "Velshi" with anchor Ali Velshi, calling the legal fees that Trump owes in various lawsuits an "enormous amount of money he does not have."

"I don't care what anybody wants to write in any newspaper, regardless of what their credentials may be, unless he's gonna show you that his bank account has more than a half a million — he doesn't have 400 million of cash on hand," Cohen said Saturday.

Cohen's comments come a day after Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay nearly $355 million in penalties Friday for inflating and deflating his business assets for tax and insurance benefits. The judge found him liable for fraud ahead of the months-long trial, after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the lawsuit in 2022 accusing the former president of fraud.

He has also been barred from holding a top executive position in the Empire State for three years, per the 92-page ruling.

The former president also faces an $83.3 million fine another New York judge ordered him to pay last month to columnist E. Jean Carroll for defaming her by repeatedly denying claims he sexually abused her, despite being found liable for sexual battery.

His fortune — which propelled him into the spotlight — is likely to take a massive hit from the back-to-back verdicts, which total nearly $500 million before interest is added.

Trump's former fixer argued in a separate interview Friday that the only way for his ex-boss to evade fines and incarceration is to win the 2024 presidential election in November.

"Donald's theory right now, the only out for him, both financially, as well as criminally, regarding incarceration, is if he wins the election," Cohen said Friday on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House."

"He's not running for the presidency of the United States to do good for the United States, he wants to do — and the only way he can do good — for himself, is to win the presidency," he added.