1 of 3 | Michael Cohen, former attorney for Donald Trump leaves home Monday to make his way to court in Manhattan where he is set to be the star prosecution witness in the former president’s hush-money trial. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Prosecutors are expected to put Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen on the stand when the former president’s hush-money trial resumes in New York on Monday morning.
Cohen is a key witness for the prosecution at the center of the case having been the person alleged to have paid Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair she had with Trump, who stands charged with falsifying business records to facilitate the payments to Cohen. Advertisement
The jury has already been shown Trump’s signatures on the checks that make up the heart of the case but some witnesses have thrown doubt on whether Trump had knowledge of their alleged illegal purposes, putting prosecutors under pressure to make Cohen’s evidence stick.
The court appearance of Trump’s trusted former adviser and personal “fixer” who once described himself as Trump’s “spokesman, thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer” is being portrayed as the climax of a years-long grudge match between the two New Yorkers. Advertisement
Cohen, who is expected to testify Trump instructed him to make a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels, has written that he was so in awe of his boss that he copied his methods including bullying, lying and mocking the rule of law — even swearing that he would take a bullet for Trump.
“I know where the skeletons are buried because I was the one who buried them,” he wrote in his autobiography Disloyal, published in 2020, while he was serving a three-year prison sentence for campaign finance violations on Trump’s orders in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is pinning his hopes the claim he was involved in every aspect of Trump’s business and personal affairs, was his trusted confidant and facilitated his law-breaking and efforts to avoid responsibility will cut through with jurors.
Once elected, Trump allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 he had paid out in installments disguised as billing for “legal services.”
“The defendant falsified those business records because he wanted to conceal his and others’ criminal conduct,” Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in his opening statement at the start of the trial on April 22.
Trump’s defense team is expected to push back against Cohen’s testimony by both seeking to undermine his credibility and on legal arguments. Advertisement
The credibility arguments will center on attempting to portray Cohen, who was convicted on lying to Congress, as a man bent on revenge and point to his books, podcasts and television appearances as evidence the principal motivation for his actions is personal enrichment.
On the law, they will contend that the payments to Cohen legal retainer fees and that it is not illegal to pay someone to stop spreading “unfounded” gossip.
Trump has been fined $10,000 for breaching a gag order preventing him from commenting publicly and on social media about witnesses, including Cohen.
Cohen has attempted to characterize his turning on Trump as part personal mission for redemption and part bid to inform the American people of the dangers of a second Trump term as president.
In March, the trial judge Juan Merchan, rejected motions by Trump’s defense team to keep Cohen and Daniels off the stand.
Attorneys wanted Cohen barred on grounds he was a “liar” and had allegedly committed perjury in the past but Merchan ruled there was no precedent for keeping a witness off the stand “because his credibility has been previously called into question.”
Merchan ruled Daniels should be permitted take the stand because her testimony was “inextricably intertwined with the narrative of events and is necessary background for the jury.” Advertisement
Daniels took the stand last week, detailing the first time she met Trump and the alleged sexual encounter while facing grilling from the defense team about her decision to sign the non-disclosure agreement brokered by Cohen.
Cohen previously testified in Trump’s October 2023 civil fraud trial about how the former president used inflated financial statements to back claims about his net worth, secure deals and reduce insurance premiums.
In court, he detailed a process in which he claimed Trump simply applied whatever the highest price per square foot property in New York was fetching to fix the value of his assets at inflated rates.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records against him and denies ever having had sexual relations with Daniels.
