Former federal prosecutor tells CNN there are '6 or 7' possible crimes committed by Trump in Cohen's opening statement alone

Michael Cohen.
(Image credit: Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Michael Cohen will accuse President Trump of 6 or 7 potential crimes just in his opening statement to Congress, according to one former prosecutor.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, a former prosecutor, said on Wednesday after reading the opening statement Cohen plans to deliver, "I see 6 or 7 different areas where if true, if proven, would make out crimes committed by the president."

Honig said Cohen shouldn't just be taken at his word, though, so with each of these areas, the question is how much corroboration exists. For example, Cohen will allege that Trump spoke with Roger Stone on the phone in July 2016 about WikiLeaks' impending dump of hacked emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign, and that's a phone record prosecutors could obtain.

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CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin further broke down what he called the "panoply of legal issues" for Trump in this opening statement, including "issues of campaign finance law, bank fraud, crimes involving the use of his foundation." Toobin adds that Trump "is implicated in all of that here," and although this "is not proof in and of itself," the testimony does present "a wide variety of legal problems."

Watch Honig's comments below. Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.