
A health concern will prevent former Trump attorney Michael Cohen from testifying in the $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against the former president next week, two sources told NBC News on Friday.
How much longer Cohen’s testimony would be delayed was not immediately known.
“Unfortunately, I have a pre-existing medical issue that prevents me from giving testimony this coming week. You may be confident that I will testify as soon as possible, he informed NBC in a statement on Saturday.
The Daily Beast was the first to report Cohen’s absence, which comes a day after sources said Trump intended to see Cohen testify in court on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Thursday, Cohen told NBC News that he believed Trump to be “scared.”
“It has been five years since we last spoke. I am looking forward to the reunion, assuming I am even selected to testify next week. Donald should, too, I hope,” Cohen remarked.
Trump may or may not appear in court at the start of the following week. A call for response Friday night went unanswered right away from a Trump official.
The Manhattan trial, which began this month, is scheduled to go until December.
Tuesday was already on the calendar for Trump to travel to New York for another court matter when he was expected to take a two-hour deposition in a lawsuit involving former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
While Page, who resigned from her position as an FBI attorney in May 2018, has argued privacy violations with respect to the public revelation of her text messages to Stzrok, Stzrok claims in his lawsuit against the Justice Department that he was unlawfully terminated.
Trump is designated as a witness by both his own defense team and the New York attorney general’s office, and he attended the first several days of his civil fraud trial.
Cohen’s statement before Congress, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, prompted the investigation that resulted in her lawsuit against Trump and his business. James previously stated that she would attend Cohen’s testimony in court.
In the lawsuit, Trump has denied any misconduct. Trump, his business, and two of his children are charged with falsely inflating their financial records in the case.