Michael Cohen, former President Daonld Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and now a star witness in the hush money case against him, recently announced he wants to run for Congress as a Democrat this year in part because he is fed up with congestion pricing policies and the enormous state and federal taxes in New York.
Fox News recently reported Mr. Cohen was on TikTok wearing a T-shirt showing Mr. Trump in an orange jumpsuit, and he asked for more followers and announced his candidacy for Congress.
Mr. Cohen is expected to take the stand Monday for highly anticipated testimony against his old boss as criminal trial in New York picks up again. Mr. Cohen has been trashing his former boss online in numerous TikTok appearances and even drew a rebuke this week from the judge presiding over Mr. Trump’s prosecution.
During a previous undated appearance online, Mr. Cohen said he was “contemplating on running for Congress now” to challenge longtime Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat.
“For whatever [reason] Jerry has been around 30 years. He’s done enough. It’s time now, let’s just say, for somebody a few years younger with some different ideas,” he said.
Mr. Cohen has been talking about running for Congress since Aug. 2023.
However, the primary filing deadline to get on the ballot on one of New York’s established party lines was last month, and the State Board of Election Certification of the primary ballot happened early this month.
To run in the 12th Congressional District on an independent ballot line of his own creation, Mr. Cohen would need to collect 3,500 valid petition signatures and file them to the Board of Elections by May 28.
The Washington Times contacted Mr. Cohen’s lawyer about whether he would run on a third-party ticket, but did not hear back.
Mr. Cohen also lamented that he has not heard from the Biden White House since he reiterated his request for a pardon over his 2018 felony convictions.
He called on his social media followers on X to send his request “right to Joe Biden, for me to be considered for a pardon.” He said that over 40,000 people “actually did it.” But so far, “not a single word. Nothing. It’s amazing.”
Mr. Cohen sharply criticized the congestion pricing issue, a plan that the New York State legislature’ super Democratic majority passed five years ago, which charges vehicles entering the borough below 60th Street a fee in a bid to control traffic volumes.
“I don’t understand his pushing for congestion pricing in Manhattan, I find it to be not just stupid, but I find it to be insulting as a Manhattanite where you pay city state and federal taxes,” he said. “On top of that, it’s going to cost me to drive my vehicle about another $5,000 a year, and they’re doing that simply because they can’t raise real estate taxes again.”
Last year, Mr. Nadler and Rep. Dan Goldman, New York Democrat, called on the Transportation Department to give the plan final authorization.
Although Mr. Cohen described himself as a “lifelong Democrat,” he has jumped between supporting both parties since the late 1980s.
This includes volunteering for 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Mike Dukakis, running as a Republican for a New York City Council seat in 2003, running as a Democrat for State Senate in 2010 in the primary and re-registering as a Republican in 2017 when he was working with Mr. Trump.
In late 2018, Lanny Davis, who provided Mr. Cohen’s legal representation during his trial, announced that Mr. Cohen was re-registering as a Democrat, which was “another step in his journey … distancing himself from the values of the current [administration].”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated an attribution to the reporting of Mr. Cohen’s congressional ambitions.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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