Michael D. Cohen, as soon as certainly one of Donald J. Trump’s closest confidants and his loyal protector, provided an account Monday that would convict the person he used to check with as “boss” and now calls an enemy.
Testifying within the first felony trial of an American president, Mr. Cohen mentioned that he had made a $130,000 cost to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who in testimony final week described a quick sexual encounter she mentioned she had with Mr. Trump in 2006. On the stand Monday, Mr. Cohen mentioned he paid Ms. Daniels to make sure her silence earlier than the 2016 presidential election, saying her story would have been “catastrophic.”
The $130,000 cost led to the fees towards the previous president: that Mr. Trump falsified 34 enterprise data to cover a reimbursement to Mr. Cohen. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the fees and says he didn’t have intercourse with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he may face jail or probation.
Listed here are 5 takeaways from Mr. Trump’s sixteenth day on trial:
Cohen mentioned Trump’s spouse steered ‘locker-room speak.’
Based on Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s spouse, Melania, provided a oft-quoted flip of phrase after the “Entry Hollywood” tape was revealed in early October 2016, a recording by which Mr. Trump bragged about grabbing ladies’s genitals. Mr. Cohen mentioned that, in accordance with Mr. Trump, she really useful calling it “locker-room speak” to clarify it away.
That wasn’t her solely point out Monday. Mr. Cohen contradicted one potential protection argument — that Mr. Trump paid Ms. Daniels solely as a result of he was apprehensive about her story’s impact on his household and marriage. He mentioned that the previous president “wasn’t excited about Melania” when Ms. Daniels’s story threatened to grow to be public.
“This was all in regards to the marketing campaign,” Mr. Cohen mentioned.
Mr. Cohen mentioned that when he talked about each Ms. Daniels and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy mannequin who additionally mentioned she had an affair with Mr. Trump, the candidate’s response needed to do with them each being “lovely.”
Cohen introduced 4 weeks collectively in sooner or later.
Since testimony started April 22, prosecutors have been stitching collectively the motive and strategies of the $130,000 cost, utilizing telephone logs, emails, textual content messages and witness testimony. Mr. Cohen introduced lots of these moments to life, describing Mr. Trump’s micromanagement and his marketing campaign’s panic after the discharge of the “Entry Hollywood” tape.
Mr. Cohen additionally bolstered testimony by David Pecker, the previous Nationwide Enquirer writer, establishing a deal to suppress unflattering tales about Mr. Trump. And he ratified the account of Keith Davidson, Ms. Daniels’s onetime lawyer, about shopping for her story.
However Mr. Cohen’s credibility will probably be aggressively challenged throughout cross-examination. Whether or not the jury finds Mr. Cohen plausible may decide its verdict.
A cryptic phrase could possibly be damning.
It was a direct accusation of intent: Mr. Cohen mentioned that Mr. Trump had made it clear in late October 2016 that he wished to repay Ms. Daniels.
“He expressed to me, ‘Simply do it,’” Mr. Cohen mentioned.
He additionally mentioned that in a dialog with Mr. Cohen and Allen Weisselberg, then the Trump Group’s chief monetary officer, Mr. Trump had been apprised of the plan for Mr. Cohen to pay Ms. Daniels after which be repaid.
That association varieties the premise for the fees of falsifying enterprise data. “As soon as I acquired the cash again from Mr. Trump, I might deposit it and nobody can be the wiser,” Mr. Cohen mentioned.
Gagged, Trump is letting different allies assault the case.
For some Republicans, the trial is a chance to indicate loyalty to the previous president, and burnish their reputations in his eyes.
On Monday, that included Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, thought of a potential vice-presidential candidate. He additionally held a information convention blasting Democrats, whom he and Mr. Trump blame for the case, and Mr. Cohen. It was public criticism of a witness whom the defendant is barred from attacking due to a gag order.
Mr. Vance was simply the newest Republican to drop by. Senator Rick Scott of Florida and Ken Paxton, the Texas legal professional basic, have visited in weeks previous.
On Monday, Senator Tommy Tuberville, a former soccer coach from Alabama, complained in regards to the courtroom’s aesthetics.
“That courtroom,” he mentioned, “is miserable.”
Cohen was described as a maniac. However he wasn’t one Monday.
Prosecutors had allowed witnesses to disparage Mr. Cohen, presumably to get forward of protection arguments about his being unreliable. Individuals painted him as a maniac, an explosive determine with an ax to grind. That would blunt the protection’s cross-examination, which may cowl his time in federal jail.
However the Michael Cohen on the stand was calm. He did describe his mood flaring, together with when he noticed his bonus sharply minimize for 2016, which he referred to as “insulting.”
“I didn’t anticipate extra,” he mentioned. “However I definitely didn’t anticipate much less.”
Mr. Cohen’s direct examination by prosecutors — who mentioned final week that they might end with their witnesses this week — will proceed Tuesday morning. The protection will certainly attempt to rattle his composure later within the day, when cross-examination is predicted to start.
