Trump Declares N.Y. Cases Were a Setup After Michael Cohen Claims He Was 'Coerced'

President Donald Trump said Friday that “Radical Left people” involved in New York cases against him “should pay a big price,” calling the prosecutions “a SET UP from the beginning,” in a Truth Social post reacting to a New York Post report about Michael Cohen.

 Trump wrote on Truth Social that “New York Courts, with many fair and wonderful Judges, are embarrassed by what has happened. We cannot let this pass,” according to the post provided by Newsmax.

Trump linked to a New York Post story about Cohen, his former attorney and fixer, in which Cohen alleged he was pressured by New York prosecutors to testify against Trump.

The New York Post reported that Cohen said in a Substack post Friday that he felt “compelled and coerced” by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to “deliver what they were seeking” in a civil fraud case and prosecution over claims Trump paid a porn star to buy her silence about a past sexual encounter.

“I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” Cohen wrote, according to the New York Post’s account of the Substack post.

The New York Post reported that Cohen claimed prosecutors in Bragg’s office asked “inappropriate leading questions” when his testimony did not support the point they were trying to make.

The New York Post also reported that Cohen alleged James’ office made clear it wanted testimony “that would go after President Trump.”

Cohen said he is speaking out now because he has “witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative,” the New York Post reported.

Cohen added, “Justice must be more than effective; it must be credible,” according to the New York Post.

The New York Post reported that Trump is seeking appellate relief in both matters, with his lawyers pursuing efforts tied to the hush-money conviction and continuing to fight the civil fraud judgment.

The civil fraud judgment against Trump is $454 million, the New York Post reported.

Cohen’s Substack post suggested the appeals-level debate has not exonerated Trump but has highlighted how what he described as a prosecutorial “rush” can lead to witnesses being “leaned on,” the New York Post reported.

The New York Post reported that representatives for Bragg and James did not immediately respond to the paper’s requests for comment.

Cohen previously served more than a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud, and lying to Congress, and he wrote that he hoped cooperation in the Trump-related proceedings would be viewed favorably, the New York Post reported.

Trump, in his Truth Social post, framed Cohen’s new claim as further proof the cases were politically driven and said those responsible “should pay a big price,” according to the post.