Michael D. Cohen, the former fixer for Donald J. Trump, admitted to providing his attorney with fake legal citations generated by Google Bard. The citations were included in a motion submitted to federal judge Jesse M. Furman, in which Cohen requested an early end to the court’s supervision of his case. Cohen, who was convicted of campaign finance violations before being disbarred, said he was unaware that Google Bard was an AI service capable of producing fake citations. Cohen’s lawyer, David M. Schwartz, admitted to using the three false citations and apologized for not verifying their authenticity. The mishap could have significant implications for a Manhattan criminal case against Trump in which Cohen is expected to be the star witness. Trump’s lawyers have long criticized Cohen as untrustworthy, and they are now using this as a prime example. The fictitious cases, including descriptions supposedly affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, were exposed as fabrications by Judge Furman, raising questions about the competence of Cohen’s legal representatives. Cohen maintains that he did not engage in any misconduct. The prosecution may argue that Cohen’s actions were a result of his misunderstanding of new technology rather than an attempt to defraud the court. It is still unclear how the falsified citations will impact the upcoming Manhattan trial.
