Trump trial today: Michael Cohen faces tough questioning from Donald Trump’s lawyers

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe awaits a tough round of questioning from the former president’s lawyers Tuesday after testimony that linked the famous client to every aspect of a hush money scheme that prosecutors say , aimed to quell stories that threatened his 2016 campaign.

Michael Cohen returns to the stand Tuesday as the prosecution’s star witness, where a day earlier he delivered actionable testimony that got to the heart of the former president’s trial.

“Everything required Mr. Trump’s approval,” Cohen said.

He placed Trump at the center of the money scheme to maintain his silence, saying he had promised to repay money the lawyer had advanced for payments and was constantly informed of behind-the-scenes efforts to bury stories that were feared to be damaging. for the campaign.

“We need to keep this from coming to light,” Cohen quoted Trump as telling him, referring to porn actor Stormy Daniels’ account of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. The then-candidate was especially concerned about how the story would affect his standing among female voters.

A similar episode occurred when Cohen alerted Trump that a Playboy model was alleging that she and Trump were having an extramarital affair. “Make sure it doesn’t get out,” was Cohen’s message to Trump, the lawyer said. The woman, Karen McDougal, received $150,000 in a settlement that was made after Trump received a “complete and total update on everything that occurred.”

“What he was doing, he was doing at the direction and benefit of Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified.

Cohen is by far the prosecution’s most important witness, and while his testimony lacked the electricity that defined Daniels’ turn on the stand, it linked Trump directly to the payments and helped illuminate some of the driest evidence, such as text messages and phone records that jurors had already seen.

Testimony from a witness with such intimate knowledge of Trump’s activities could increase the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s legal exposure if jurors find him sufficiently credible. But the fact that prosecutors are relying on a witness with such a checkered past (Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the payments) also carries considerable risks for the jury and could be a political boon for Trump as he raises funds at from his legal problems and paints the case. as a product of a flawed criminal justice system.

The men, once so close that Cohen boasted he would “take a bullet” for Trump, had no visible interaction inside the courtroom. The calm atmosphere marked a stark contrast to his last courtroom confrontation in October, when Trump left the courtroom after his attorney finished questioning Cohen during his civil fraud trial.

Trump’s lawyers will have a chance to begin questioning Cohen on Tuesday, where they are expected to attack his credibility (he was disbarred, went to prison and separately pleaded guilty to lying about a Moscow real estate project on behalf of Trump) and dismiss considers him a vindictive and agenda-driven witness. The defense told jurors during opening statements that he is a “confessed liar” with an “obsession with catching President Trump.”

Prosecutors aim to mitigate those attacks by acknowledging Cohen’s past crimes to jurors and relying on other witnesses whose accounts they hope will bolster his testimony.

Jurors had previously heard about the tabloid industry’s practice of “catch and kill,” in which the rights to a story are purchased so they can later have it quashed. But Cohen’s testimony is crucial to prosecutors because of his direct communication with the then-candidate about embarrassing stories he was fighting to suppress.

Cohen is also important because the refunds he received from a $130,000 hush payment to Daniels, which prosecutors say was intended to buy his silence before the election, form the basis of 34 felony counts charging Trump. of falsifying business records. Prosecutors say the refunds were falsely recorded as legal expenses to conceal the true purpose of the payments.

To establish Trump’s intimate familiarity with the payments, Cohen told jurors during questioning that Trump had promised to reimburse him. The two men even discussed with Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, how reimbursements would be paid as legal services in monthly installments, Cohen testified.

He said Trump even tried to delay completing the Daniels transaction until after Election Day so he wouldn’t have to pay her.

“Because,” Cohen testified, “after the election it wouldn’t matter” to Trump.

Cohen also gave the jury an inside account of his negotiations with David Pecker, the then-editor of the National Enquirer, who was such a close ally of Trump that Pecker told Cohen that his publication kept a “file drawer or a closed drawer.” where files related to Trump were kept. That effort took on added urgency after the October 2016 release of an “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump was heard bragging about sexually grabbing women.

The payment to Daniels ended several weeks after that revelation, but Monday’s testimony also focused on an agreement earlier that fall with McDougal.

To lay the groundwork that the deals were made with Trump’s backing, prosecutors obtained testimony from Cohen designed to show Trump as a hands-on manager. Acting on Trump’s behalf, Cohen said, he sometimes lied and intimidated others, including journalists.

“When I assigned something to you, I would say, ‘Keep me informed. Let me know what’s going on,'” Cohen testified. He said that was especially true “if there was an issue that was troubling you.”