CNN
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“Just do it.”
Star witness Michael Cohen, better known for selling sporting goods than exposing conspiracies, said Monday that in three little words, Donald Trump offered hush money to an adult film star to save his 2016 campaign. It described an order to pay.
Prosecutors said he will return to the stand Tuesday to prove their case that he broke the law by falsifying financial records to conceal payoffs in the culmination of a scheme to mislead voters. will try to further develop his testimony.
All of this comes ahead of a brutal cross-examination by the prospective Republican nominee’s lawyers aimed at destroying Mr. Cohen’s reputation, exposing him as a liar, and punishing him for disobeying his former boss. It will be the curtain-raiser.
The biggest question before Monday was whether prosecutors had laid a preliminary foundation of corroborating evidence that could link Mr. Cohen’s testimony and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Trump committed a criminal act.
“I think they know that,” Ryan Goodman, a professor at New York University School of Law, told CNN’s Erin Burnett about Trump and Cohen’s comments on prosecutors’ proposed payments and compensation for their lawyers. They cited sufficient evidence such as phone records including This led to falsification of financial documents. “As of today, it’s coming together.”
Trump has maintained his innocence, and no one knows how the jury will interpret the events of the trial until the fateful moment when the presiding judge hands down his verdict. But former New York prosecutor Bernarda Villalona told CNN’s “The Lead” that Cohen was “excellent” on the stand and helped prosecutors, from his presentation to his eye contact with prosecutors. Ta. “They ultimately provided a link that Donald Trump authorized these payments and that the payments were intended to influence his campaign,” she said. “Michael Cohen has certainly delivered. … But we have to see how he stands up to cross-examination.”
The cross-examination will be crucial given Cohen’s history, including false convictions in Congress, which could dash his hopes of serving in the Trump administration and motivate him to seek revenge. “That’s true,” said David Schoen, who represented Trump during his second impeachment. “I think they (prosecutors) feel he’s a make-or-break witness. As a matter of fact, I think he probably is,” Schoen told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “This case will depend primarily on Mr. Cohen’s cross-examination, which would be a dream for any halfway competent lawyer.”
On the most important day of the trial so far, he faced Cohen, who is considered the likely Republican nominee. Cohen claims to have been a ruthless fixer to his boss, quashing scandals and cleaning up broken business deals. This is another unfathomable episode in the 2024 election season, which has President Trump mired in legal quagmire, but could end with Trump returning to the White House.
And while Monday’s court action will play a pivotal role in the outcome of the case, it will have a broader audience given how Trump’s defense has turned into a campaign rationale. Damaging how voters handle convictions and acquittals, or new revelations about his conduct, could lead to scandals that would have doomed an average candidate years ago. It is too early to assess whether it will sway a paralyzed electorate. But the latest New York Times/Siena poll shows Trump leading President Joe Biden in several battleground states, raising the prospect of a non-consecutive second term. Hopes are emerging. And Monday’s explanation of former President Cohen’s business practices adds to the evidence that the second Trump administration is likely to pose an even greater threat to the rule of law than his first in the White House. Ta.
Trump is barred from publicly condemning Cohen and his betrayal under a gag order imposed by a judge who threatened him with jail if he did not comply after 10 previous violations. But the ex-president’s rant outside court on Monday was even more furious than usual, as he lashed out at Judge Juan Melchán and argued bitterly that he was the victim of political victimization. “The whole world is now laughing at New York’s weaponized legal system,” he claimed.
In some ways, Cohen’s testimony, in which he writes that he was drawn to Trump before he ran for president because of his aura and fame, is a distortion often faced by those in the former president’s orbit. and lessons about legally questionable choices. But there is no shortage of Republicans asking to join him. Vice presidential candidates, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, joined Trump outside the courtroom Monday morning, strutting like a crowd behind the sheriff, Trump’s Republican rival. reflects the undiminished power of
Mr. Vance served as Mr. Trump’s mouthpiece, sought to discredit Mr. Cohen, and presented his credentials as a Trump defender as Mr. Cohen considered his list of running mates. “Would any rational, sensible person believe what Michael Cohen says?” the Ohio Republican asked. “What is happening inside the courtroom, ladies and gentlemen, is a threat to American democracy,” he said, defending the would-be Republican nominee who tried to overturn the 2020 free and fair election. .
How the Trump-Cohen double act fell apart
During several hours of testimony, Mr. Cohen, whose years of service to Mr. Trump ended with his own prison term and is now on a journey of redemption, details his plan to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels. During this time, the former president often sat with his eyes closed. He had a sexual relationship with a reality TV star and real estate mogul at the time. (Mr. Trump denies his affair.)
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger spent a painstaking day slowly explaining Cohen’s former role at the Trump Organization and his determination to protect his boss, and how Cohen went on television to lie and lie. She also orchestrated a scheme to silence allegations against Trump made by other women. Mr. Hoffinger asserted that the payments to Mr. Daniels were in fact made, that Mr. Trump directed Mr. Cohen to make them, and that Mr. Cohen used a home equity line of credit to disguise himself as his wife to make the payments. I tried to prove that I had done so and that I expected to be repaid.
Hoffinger also said Trump is concerned about Daniels’ claims, which came to light shortly after the “Access Hollywood” tape came to light in 2016 in which Trump bragged about grabbing her genitals. Mr. Cohen was brought in by having him testify that the reason for this was, rather, to protect his campaign. This was to avoid embarrassing his family, as his defense claims.
Cohen said President Trump told him: …People might think it’s cool, but this would be a disaster for the campaign. “He wasn’t thinking about Melania Trump,” he said of the former first lady. “This was what the campaign was all about.” Cohen also testified that President Trump said he wouldn’t be on the market for long and hinted that he might get another wife soon. After that comment, the former president shook his head with a grin.
Throughout his testimony, Cohen said he was always kept up to date on President Trump’s activities. “Everything required Mr. Trump’s approval,” he said, noting that the payment to Mr. Daniels was no exception. “He told me he talked to some friends, some individuals, smart people and said, ‘That’s $130,000. You’re a millionaire, so pay the money.’ There’s no reason to keep something like this out there, so do it.”He told me, “Just do it.” ”
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege this was done to conceal the monthly repayments Mr. Cohen received as hush money to Mr. Daniels in 2017 after his boss became president.
It appears that the aim is to neutralize the hopes of the defense, who claim that Cohen is lying because he harbors a grudge against President Trump, but the prosecution announced in December 2016 that Cohen’s annual bonus was 3 minutes. questioned about his anger when it was reduced to 2. Defendant Cohen testified as follows. He was “pissed off.” Shortly after, he visited then-President Trump’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, to discuss repaying the $130,000 he had paid Daniels. Cohen also testified that he was disappointed that he was not chosen to be President Trump’s first chief of staff.
His testimony was a complete reversal for a man who previously wrote that he had become a “thug” to carry out President Trump’s wishes and on Monday said of the client who rejected him: . Please make him happy. ”
