WATCH: Daily Beast writer Tim Mak talks about the threats Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, made during an interview for an article about the renewed allegations that Trump once raped his ex-wife, Ivana
Donald Trump’s campaign spokesperson and lawyer defended his boss against renewed allegations that he once raped his ex-wife by reportedly threatening a reporter and saying “you can’t rape your spouse” according to The Daily Beast.
Michael Cohen, special counsel at The Trump Organization, made the comments to Daily Beast reporter Tim Mak when the McGill alumnus asked about a 1989 incident during which Trump was allegedly violent with his then-wife Ivana Trump after a scalp reduction surgery.
“You’re talking about the frontrunner for the GOP, presidential candidate, as well as a private individual who never raped anybody. And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse,” Cohen allegedly told Mak.
“You cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.”
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That’s not true though, New York State eliminated the exemption in 1984, the United States abolished it in 1993. Canada made spousal rape a crime in 1983.
Cohen apologized for the comment during a CNN interview Tuesday morning saying he “made an inarticulate comment” which he does not believe.
“As an attorney, husband and father there are many injustices that offend me but nothing more than charges of rape or racism. They hit me at my core. Rarely am I surprised by the press, but the gall of this particular reporter to make such a reprehensible and false allegation against Mr. Trump truly stunned me. In my moment of shock and anger, I made an inarticulate comment – which I do not believe — and which I apologize for entirely,” Cohen said in the statement, according to CNN.
The allegations against Trump were first published in the 1993 book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump. Trump denied the claims then saying “it’s obviously false” and the book was prefaced with a statement from Ivana in which she said:
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Ivana Trump also called the allegations of rape “totally without merit” in a statement to CNN Tuesday.
But Trump’s lawyer went a step further than simply defending his client and allegedly began threatening the reporter.
“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen said. “So I’m warning you, tread very f—ing lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f—ing disgusting. You understand me?”
“You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up… for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet… you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it,” he added.
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