President Donald Trump’s lawyers are demanding the release of all communications between Michael Cohen and New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office after Cohen claims he was “compelled and coerced” to testify against Trump.

Cohen, Trump’s former attorney who testified against the president twice, published an article on his Substack in mid-January titled “When Politics Blind Justice.” In this piece, Cohen described how government lawyers made him the “key witness” in two cases against Trump.

‘In sum, the NYAG is blocking any discovery into, and possibly even preservation of, evidence of the “pressured and coerced” testimony that it used to convince the trial court to enter a wrongful judgment against Defendants.’

“From the time I first began meeting with lawyers from the Manhattan DA’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office in connection with their investigations of President Trump, and through the trials themselves, 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.

He stated that prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office first approached him in 2019. At that time, Cohen was serving a three-year prison sentence, and he “wanted to do whatever” he could to return home to his family and resume his life. Cohen acknowledged that one of the first questions he posed to prosecutors was how he would benefit from cooperating with them.

He was released in September 2020 and permitted to serve out the remainder of his sentence in home confinement.

“After my release, I continued to meet with prosecutors and hoped that, in exchange for my cooperation, my home confinement and later my supervised release sentence would be shortened,” Cohen wrote. “During my time with prosecutors, both in preparation for and during the trials, it was clear they were interested only in testimony from me that would enable them to convict President Trump.”

He claimed that prosecutors asked “inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative.”

RELATED: Democratic lawmaker texted Epstein during hearing — appeared to use his tips to grill Trump’s ex-lawyer

Alvin Bragg. Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Cohen described a similar experience with Attorney General Letitia James’ civil case against Trump.

“Letitia James made it publicly known during her 2018 campaign for attorney general that, if elected, she would go after President Trump,” Cohen continued. “Her office made clear that the testimony they wanted from me was testimony that would help them do just that. Again, I felt compelled and coerced to deliver what they were seeking.”

He accused James and Bragg of sharing “the same playbook” and sacrificing their credibility by blurring “the line between justice and politics.”

“You may reasonably ask why I am speaking out now. The answer is simple. I have witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative,” Cohen added.

A mid-level appeals court in August threw out James’ $454 million penalty against Trump, which grew to $500 million with interest. James appealed that decision in September.

In Bragg’s case, Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts in 2024. However, he received an unconditional discharge, meaning that while the convictions stand, he did not face any punishment. Trump has since filed an appeal to have those convictions removed from his record.

RELATED: Trump felony conviction in doubt? President files appeal to clear his name

Letitia James. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

On Wednesday, Trump’s attorneys sent a demand letter to James’ office, requesting all records of communications with Cohen, the New York Post reported. It is unclear whether a similar request was made to Bragg’s office.

Trump’s attorneys argued that Cohen’s communications with James’ prosecutors “would have been vital for Defendants to use in crossexamining” him during the trial, according to the news outlet. They claimed that her office “never produced any of the Cohen Records concerning its meetings with Cohen about President Trump and his businesses, despite Defendants’ documented demands that the NYAG do so.”

“In emails and a meet-and-confer, the NYAG has taken the untenable position that (i) the NYAG ‘doesn’t know’ whether such Cohen Records exist (i.e., it has no idea whether it has records of its communications with its key witness); (ii) the NYAG will not even take a short amount of time to determine whether it possesses any Cohen Records, apparently because, in the NYAG’s mistaken view, discovery is over,” Trump’s attorneys wrote, the Post reported.

They expressed concern that these records may be “automatically deleted and purged,” as James has been “unwilling to take any steps to confirm whether such Cohen Records are being preserved.”

“In sum, the NYAG is blocking any discovery into, and possibly even preservation of, evidence of the ‘pressured and coerced’ testimony that it used to convince the trial court to enter a wrongful judgment against Defendants,” Trump’s lawyers added.

James’ and Bragg’s offices did not respond to a request for comment.

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Friday morning, I listened to a Pentagon briefing about the Strait of Hormuz. A reporter pressed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for clarity. What exactly was happening? What would the outcome be? How would this end?

General Dan Caine paused and offered a phrase that struck me immediately. He said the region was “a tactically complex environment.”

In a tactically complex environment, certainty about outcomes is rarely available. Clarity about the mission remains essential.

The military has a way of compressing enormous realities into a few calm words. Geography, enemy capability, shipping lanes, alliances, timing, logistics, unintended consequences. All of it folded into one sentence.

“A tactically complex environment” was not the answer the press wanted.

Reporters are trained to extract certainty, preferably in a sentence short enough to fit beneath a television chyron. A clean headline. A confident prediction. Something that sounds definitive before the next commercial break.

But responsible leaders know something the press room often does not. In environments like that, certainty is rarely available. Mission clarity is.

The Navy does not control the currents in the Strait of Hormuz. It cannot control every ship moving through that narrow passage or every decision made in Tehran. What it can control is the mission. Protect shipping. Maintain security. Avoid escalation when possible. Respond when necessary.

Clarity of mission matters more than clarity of outcome.

Listening to that exchange, I thought about how often life itself unfolds inside tactically complex environments.

A late-night conversation with a doctor where the scans are clear but the future is not.

A family meeting where emotions, responsibilities, and competing opinions collide in ways no one quite knows how to resolve.

A business decision where every option carries consequences that may not become visible for months or even years.

RELATED: After Rush Limbaugh, conservatives stopped listening together

Photo by John Medina/WireImage

In moments like those, people instinctively search for certainty. We want someone to tell us exactly how things will turn out.

But history has never offered that luxury.

During COVID, nearly every commercial began with the same solemn line: “During these uncertain times.”

I remember thinking, when exactly were times certain?

Wars have always been uncertain. Medicine has always involved risk. Markets rise and fall. Families face crises. The human story has never been a tidy script where outcomes are guaranteed.

Yet we keep demanding certainty anyway.

We demand it from generals.

We demand it from doctors.

We demand it from politicians.

And, if we are honest, we often demand it from God.

The Bible records that struggle with remarkable honesty. The Psalms repeatedly ask the same aching question: “How long, O Lord?”

Not from skeptics, but from believers. From men who trusted God and still found themselves standing in the middle of circumstances they could not fully understand.

Scripture does not hide that tension. It reveals it.

Faith does not remove complexity. It teaches us how to live within it.

The Bible does offer assurance about the final outcome of God’s purposes. But it rarely provides advance clarity about how today’s circumstances will unfold. The pain, confusion, and pressure of the present moment are not automatically lifted.

What Scripture does provide, again and again, is clarity about calling.

Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor. Do justice. Walk humbly. Be faithful.

Those instructions remain clear even when circumstances are not.

Perhaps that is why General Caine’s phrase lingered with me.

“A tactically complex environment.”

Recognizing that reality does not solve every problem. But it does something important. It resets our expectations and reminds us that life is rarely as simple as the people shouting from the sidelines insist. Once that becomes clear, the insistence on certainty begins to fade.

Instead of demanding guarantees no one can provide, we begin asking the question that actually guides wise decisions.

What is the mission?

In a tactically complex environment, certainty about outcomes is rarely available. Clarity about the mission remains essential.

​Complex situation, Honesty, Responsibility, Clarity of mission, Focus, Scripture, Iran, Opinion & analysis, Dan caine, Pentagon, Department of war, Caregiving 

The cornerstone of the Christian faith — the supernatural resurrection of Jesus Christ — isn’t just a theological claim found in Scripture. An abundance of evidence tied to this miraculous event exists in historical records and relics.

On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace speaks with scholar Jeremiah Johnston, author of the recent book “The Jesus Discoveries,” to discuss some of the most fascinating discoveries connected to the life and crucifixion of Christ.

Johnston opens the conversation by displaying an exact replica of the “Codex Vaticanus” — “the oldest, most priceless Bible that we have,” he says, noting that “it was produced in 330 A.D.,” just five years after the Council of Nicea in 325.

“It’s in Greek, has the Old and most of the New Testament inside of it, has the mountaintop passages of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Gospels, Paul’s epistles … and this is amazing because, again, it shows the great history of our faith,” he adds.

The second artifact Johnston displays is not a replica but an actual “crucifixion nail” from ancient Rome. The 6” square shaft is bent, he says, because the Romans, wanting to “minimize movement but … maximize torment,” would “adjust the nail” during a crucifixion.

“This [nail] shows us that the archaeological testimony of what we read of how Jesus was crucified smacks of complete authenticity,” Johnston exclaims.

The third piece of evidence he displays is an image of an inscribed chalice — often referred to as the “Magician’s Cup” — that was discovered by renowned underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio during excavations in the submerged ancient city of Alexandra in the Egyptian Nile Delta in 2008.

“This is the first archaeological find that we have with the name of Jesus on it,” says Johnston.

The cup reads, “Through Christ the Enchanter.” Johnston explains the meaning behind the phrase: “Remember your Gospels. Jesus is made famous, first and foremost, before his resurrection because he could heal diseases; he could exorcise demons; and no one was more effective than Jesus. So even all around the Mediterranean world, people realize, ‘Hey, if I insert this name Jesus, powerful things happen.’”

Johnston’s book chronicles the top 10 historical discoveries that “prove and corroborate the truth claims of Christianity,” but even those examples just scratch the surface.

“It turns out that we can actually build 65 facts about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus before I ever crack open the Bible,” he says.

“If we can’t believe that Jesus died and rose again based on the evidence, then please don’t believe that Caesar crossed the Rubicon, because we have more evidence for the resurrection than we do for Caesar crossing the Rubicon.”

To hear more of Deace and Johnston’s conversation, watch the video above.

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The Bible is pretty straightforward about the most important command Christians have in regard to one another. It sounds so simple: Love one another.

When you want to really accomplish something for the kingdom, a very small discipleship group is an effective tool.

And yet it doesn’t seem so simple, perhaps. Where can we go for practical instruction on how to do this right?

I think a good place to start might just be the very first church.

It perhaps is a bit presumptuous to assume that we are in the “later” days of the church age — the church age being defined as the period between Christ’s ascension and His return. But aren’t there an awful lot of signals that we’re getting closer?

So for my purposes here, I’m going to call us — Christians on the earth today — the “late church,” as opposed to the early church, the first believers described in the book of Acts.

How are we doing compared to our brethren of 2,000 years ago? It’s a topic worth considering, since their example shines brightly for us.

They lived in an upside-down culture characterized by sin, idolatry, despair, pride, hatred, division, and societal expectations completely at odds with Jesus’ teaching. Sound familiar?

But they had it far worse than most of us in the Western world today. Thus far our culture hasn’t quite devolved into killing humans for entertainment on a regular basis.

Meet your oldest brothers and sisters

The very first report we have resulted from the day of Pentecost, when 3,000 souls joined God’s family in Jerusalem:

And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. —Acts 2:42

“They were continually” indicates this became a pattern, so let’s break down how they were devoting themselves.

1. They were gathering together to hear teaching

At that point, there was no New Testament, so the apostles — men who had had personal contact with Jesus Christ — were directly sharing Christ’s teaching with His new children.

The apostles were also explaining how Christ fulfilled the scriptures they did have (the Old Testament), and helping the new believers understand how to imitate Him and be part of His family. Eventually these early believers became the first to hear the New Testament writings, as many were letters to their various congregations.

We no longer have apostles, but we do have the books the Holy Spirit inspired them to write that became the New Testament. Hearing all the scriptural teaching is of primary importance. Then, as now, God’s word should be the focal point of any good church.

2. They were fellowshipping, gathering together physically

Of course these days you can hear the word preached while sitting on your sofa — but they were gathering together physically. Plenty of scripture backs that up as a commandment we are to follow (Hebrews 10:24-25, Colossians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 14:26, to name a few).

How are we doing on that, Late Church? Are we still sitting on the sofa six years after COVID?

Fellowshipping — of course — is meant to be done in person.

Food for thought: Should churches stop sharing their worship services online? What are the pros and cons of continuing to make it easy for people to “do church” from home? I’m not sure of the answers, but I think the question is worth contemplating.

3. They were eating together

A couple of verses after describing Pentecost, Acts expands its description of the new believers’ day-to-day existence:

And daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. —Acts 2:46

So they weren’t just taking Communion (which is likely what verse 42 referred to), but after meeting together in the temple, they were breaking into smaller groups and going from house to house, sharing meals (gladly!).

4. They were praying together

Praying together, the last thing on this list, could well have meant larger corporate prayer — but likely also meant smaller groups praying together. This is the only way, logistically, that thousands of people can pray together meaningfully for each other. They have to break into small groups.

How are we doing on smaller, accountable groups of fellow believers, Late Church?

Unless your church is very tiny, you need a smaller group of believers to live out these excellent examples of eating and praying together in each other’s homes, as well as digging deeper into scripture, meeting each others’ needs, and providing and obtaining accountability.

But just because something is called a small group doesn’t mean it is. Some churches just throw everyone into a few Sunday-school classrooms each week and call it good. Others offer groups that are far too large for the kind of one-on-one accountability and care that a true small group provides.

RELATED: Reclaiming Pentecost: Fire, spirit, and the forgotten power of God

sedmak/iStock/Getty Images

A dozen does it

Jesus demonstrated that a very effective size for a small group is a dozen. That’s about the right size for fellowship where we get to know and trust one another well enough to pray for each other, know each other’s needs, and literally show love for one another. And with that number, you might even be able to meet — and eat — in each other’s homes.

My friend Pastor Sam Evans says the smaller the group, the greater the growth — and some churches understand this and encourage very small discipleship groups of two or three individuals (same-sex, usually, so that they can be intimately acquainted). This too is a pattern Jesus demonstrated with His “discipleship” group of just three disciples — the three He met with even more often: Peter, James, and John. When you want to really accomplish something for the kingdom, a very small discipleship group is an effective tool.

Our early brothers and sisters were easy to spot

Author Kristi McLelland notes that the early Christians were easy to spot because they refused to participate in that upside-down culture of their time.

First, they refused to worship the emperor or other gods — which meant they were branded as heretics because Roman emperors were to be worshipped as gods. Instead, they stood as committed followers of Jesus Christ.

How are we doing on worshipping what the world worships, Late Church?

Sports, politics, celebrities — any of that too high on our priority list? Too much of our budget?

Second, they revered life, in a culture that routinely abandoned newborn babies to die (often girls). Instead, they rescued and raised those children.

How are we doing on issues related to life, Late Church?Do we understand why it is always wrong to kill an unborn child, or do we waffle on that to be seen as more “center”?Do we support pro-life centers and causes?Do we reach out to help vulnerable young mothers, foster kids, kids who need a permanent home?Are our churches filled with families who have adopted at-risk kids?Do we speak out against societal trends, like gay marriage, that put adult desires ahead of children’s needs?Do we speak out against the destruction of innocent life in any form?Are we willing to risk being jailed, as we have seen happen to some pro-life activists?

Third, they ignored the ironclad stratifications of Roman society. Christians who were nobility fellowshipped and ate with Christians who were slaves.

How are we doing on true inclusiveness, Late Church?Do we ignore the boundaries that some mistakenly promote and reach out to individuals at their point of need?

Fourth, they gave generously, although many suffered significant financial loss as a result of becoming a Jesus-follower. They sold their belongings and shared so that “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34).

How are we doing on generosity, Late Church?Do we buy in to the culture’s message that we deserve that new car, fancy vacation, or remodel of a home that’s practically new, or do we want to seek to help our fellow believers?Do we see the world’s needs through God’s eyes, remembering that everything we have comes from Him, and give accordingly?

Finally, they not only lost livelihoods, they often lost their lives.

Late Church, are we willing to lose our wealth — our freedom — our lives for the cross?

They were, and they did. Not one of them was perfect, just like we are not perfect. But shouldn’t we all work harder at engaging with the “late world” the way they engaged with the “early world” — while we still have the time?

BONUS RESOURCE

If your heart was stirred by the description of the early church here, you might want to consider a new church undertaking, if there’s one of these near you. Church Project is a church, and a project, aimed at building local church communities that mirror the early church, along the lines of the descriptions above.

A version of this essay previously appeared at She Speaks Truth.

​Pentecost, The early church, Bible, Christianity, Christian fellowship, Christian living, Prayer, Jesus christ, Lifestyle, Faith