--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Wisecracks About Michel Cohen Testimony description: Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to find the silver lining of the Michael Cohen testimony — it's not what you think it is. canonical: https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-27T16:48:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:23:41.182Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Found Silver Lining of Michael Cohen Testimony og:description: Here's what you need to know og:url: https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03810c9bd401d66b/698945e44ee262bbf731416c/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-INVESTIGATION-COHEN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Found Silver Lining of Michael Cohen Testimony twitter:description: Here's what you need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03810c9bd401d66b/698945e44ee262bbf731416c/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to Find the Silver Lining of the Michael Cohen Testimony > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=faf15ddc-b53a-4745-a106-0489d02a966d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Michael Cohen Testifies That Trump Was Aware Of $130,000 Payment To Stormy Daniels [Watch (HLS stream): Michael Cohen Testifies That Trump Was Aware Of $130,000 Payment To Stormy Daniels](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QcGDMskd.m3u8) (1:14)  _Published 2019-02-27. Michael Cohen Says That Trump Was Aware Of $130,000 Payment To Stormy Daniels During Testimony_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 27, 2019 4:48 PM UTC Michael Cohen Says That Trump Was Aware Of $130,000 Payment To Stormy Daniels During Testimony  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 27, 2019 4:48 PM UTC As [Michael Cohen publicly testifies](http://time.com/5539766/michael-cohen-testimony-live/) in front of the House Oversight Committee as part of a three-day confessional, there’s one person who’s relishing the opportunity to watch the testimony: late night host [Jimmy Kimmel.](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217539/jimmy-kimmel/) On Tuesday night’s episode of _Jimmy Kimmel Live_!, the late night funny man revealed what he found to be the silver lining of the situation: its inherent humorous value. “I’m looking forward to this testimony,” he wisecracked. “Because when Michael Cohen opens his open, it’s nothing short of a comedy delight.” Kimmel then cut to clips of past Cohen speeches, statements and interviews that proved his point. Cohen, the former personal lawyer and fixer to Donald Trump has plead guilty to eight federal crimes and is set to begin a three-year prison sentence this May. Watch the full clip below. ## Transcript [00:00] Mr. Trump is a conman. He asked me to pay off [00:04] an adult film star with whom he had an affair and [00:08] to lie about it to his wife which I did. Prior to the [00:13] election, [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:16] I was contacted by. [ UNKNOWN ] [00:20] Davidson who is the Attorney or was the Attorney for [00:24] Ms. Clifford, for Stormy Daniels. And after rounds [00:30] of conversations with him about purchasing her [00:34] life rights for a $ 130, 000, what [00:38] I did Each and every time he'd go straight into Mr. [00:42] Trump's office and discuss the issue with him. When it [00:46] was ultimately determined, and this was days before [00:50] the election, that Mr. Trump was going to pay the [00:53] $ 130 thousand. Mr. President, did you know about [00:53] the $ 130, 000 payment to Stormy Daniels? No, no. [00:54] Why did Michael Cohen make this if there was no truth [00:55] to the allegations? Well, you'll have to ask Michael [00:55] Cohen. Michael's my attorney and you'll have to ask [00:57] Michael. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/"},"headline":"Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to Find the Silver Lining of the Michael Cohen Testimony","datePublished":"2019-02-27T16:48:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:23:41.182Z","description":"Here's what you need to know","url":"https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Late Night Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03810c9bd401d66b/698945e44ee262bbf731416c/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03810c9bd401d66b/698945e44ee262bbf731416c/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-INVESTIGATION-COHEN","caption":"US-POLITICS-INVESTIGATION-COHEN","creditText":"Mandel Ngan&mdash — AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/","name":"Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to Find the Silver Lining of the Michael Cohen Testimony"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Michael Cohen Testifies That Trump Was Aware Of $130,000 Payment To Stormy Daniels","description":"Michael Cohen Says That Trump Was Aware Of $130,000 Payment To Stormy Daniels During Testimony","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QcGDMskd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-02-27T18:17:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QcGDMskd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/","duration":"PT1M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5540130/jimmy-kimmel-michael-cohen/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```