Cohen to Haberman: ‘Please start writing and I will call you soon’

Texts from Michael Cohen to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman show how former President Trump’s ex-fixer worked to protect Trump from scrutiny over the hush money payment central to his ongoing criminal trial.

“Please start writing and I will call you soon,” Cohen wrote Haberman on Feb. 6, 2018, texts entered as evidence in Trump’s criminal case show.

Cohen subsequently texted Haberman a statement claiming he had used his own personal funds to make the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who planned to come forward with allegations of a past affair with Trump just weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump is currently on trial in New York facing 34 charges related to falsifying business records to conceal the $130,000 payment made to Daniels.

As Cohen’s texts were read in court Tuesday, Haberman was in attendance covering the trial.

“That’s a true statement, but it’s deceptive, it’s misleading,” Cohen told prosecutors as he was being questioned.

When Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger asked him if the statement provided to Haberman was intentionally misleading, he said, “Yes,” adding “in order to protect Mr. Trump, to stay on message.”

Tuesday was not the first time the texts between Cohen and Haberman were made public. The messages were also shown to the jury considering the case on May 2.

Haberman, a veteran reporter for the Times, is well known across the world of media and politics for her reporting on the former president. She was part of the team that won a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on Trump’s connections to Russia and published a book last year on his public life and first term in office.

Zach Schonfeld contributed