The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump\u2019s hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president. Michael Cohen, Trump\u2019s former lawyer and personal fixer, is by far the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s most important witness in the case and his expected appearance signals that the trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.<\/p>\n
Cohen is expected to testify about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump\u2019s behalf during his first presidential campaign, including to adult star Stormy Daniels, who told jurors last week that the USD 130,000 that she received in 2016 was meant to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in a hotel suite a decade earlier. He also matters because the reimbursements he received form the basis of the charges \u2013 34 felony counts of falsifying business records \u2013 against Trump. Prosecutors say the reimbursements were logged as legal expenses to conceal the payments\u2019 true purpose.<\/p>\n
Defense lawyers have teed up a bruising cross-examination of Cohen, telling jurors during opening statements that the fixer-turned-foe is an \u201cadmitted liar\u201d with an \u201cobsession to get President Trump.\u201d The testimony of a witness with such intimate knowledge of Trump\u2019s activities could heighten the legal exposure of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee if jurors deem him sufficiently credible. But politically, prosecutors\u2019 reliance on a witness with such a checkered past \u2013 Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the payments and to lying to Congress \u2013 could be a boon for Trump as he fundraises off his legal woes and paints the case as the product of a tainted criminal justice system.<\/p>\n
Either way, his role as star prosecution witness further cements the disintegration of a mutually beneficial relationship that was once so close that Cohen famously said he\u2019d \u201ctake a bullet for Trump.\u201d After Cohen\u2019s home and office were raided by the FBI in 2018, Trump showered him with affection on social media, praising him as a \u201cfine person with a wonderful family\u201d and predicting \u2013 incorrectly \u2013 that Cohen would not \u201cflip.\u201d Months later, Cohen did exactly that, pleading guilty that August to federal campaign-finance charges in which he implicated Trump.<\/p>\n
By that point, the relationship was irrevocably broken, with Trump posting on the social media platform then known as Twitter: \u201cIf anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don\u2019t retain the services of Michael Cohen!\u201d Cohen later admitted lying to Congress about a Moscow real estate project that he had pursued on Trump\u2019s behalf during the heat of the 2016 Republican campaign. He said he lied to be consistent with Trump\u2019s \u201cpolitical messaging.\u201d Prosecutors are expected to elicit detailed testimony from Cohen about his past crimes in hopes of blunting the impact of defence lawyers\u2019 questioning and showing that they\u2019re not trying to hide his misdeeds.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s unclear how effective that will be, given that defence lawyers will be prepared to exploit all the challenges that accompany a witness like Cohen. In addition to painting Cohen as untrustworthy, they\u2019re also expected to cast him as vindictive, vengeful and agenda-driven. Since their fallout, Cohen has emerged as a relentless and sometimes crude critic of Trump, appearing as recently as last week in a live TikTok wearing a shirt featuring a figure resembling Trump with his hands cuffed, behind bars. The judge on Friday urged prosecutors to tell him to refrain from making any more statements about the case or Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has talked extensively about his desire to see President Trump go to prison,\u201d Trump attorney Todd Blanche said during opening statements. \u201cHe has talked extensively about his desire to see President Trump\u2019s family go to prison. He has talked extensively about President Trump getting convicted in this case.\u201d No matter how his testimony unfolds, Cohen is indisputably central to the case, as evidenced by the fact that his name was mentioned in the jury\u2019s presence during opening statements more than 130 times \u2013 more than any other person.<\/p>\n
Other witnesses, including former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Trump adviser Hope Hicks, have testified at length about the role Cohen played in arranging to stifle stories that were feared to be harmful to Trump\u2019s 2016 candidacy. And jurors heard an audio recording of Trump and Cohen discussing a plan to purchase the rights to a story of a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who has said she had an affair with Trump.<\/p>\n
During a massive rally on Saturday in the southern New Jersey resort town of Wildwood, Trump revived his criticism of the case, wrongly blaming President Joe Biden for orchestrating the New York charges, calling the case a \u201cBiden show trial.\u201d That argument ignores the reality that the hush money case was filed by local prosecutors in Manhattan who do not work for the Justice Department or any other White House office. The Justice Department has said the White House has had no involvement in the two criminal cases against Trump brought by special counsel Jack Smith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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