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Michael Cohen testifies in Trump trial – these witnesses have already attacked him

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Top line

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is expected to testify Monday as a key prosecution witness in former President Donald Trump’s criminal case involving a $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels struck the jury as an aggressive and agitated attorney who, while loyal to Trump, was also out for personal gain.

Important facts

Cohen is the key witness in the case against Trump because the former president allegedly refunded Cohen his payment to Daniels – hush money to stop her from publicly claiming she was having an affair with Trump – and described the checks as legal payments.

David Pecker: The former National Enquirer executive testified about his dealings with Cohen before the 2016 election, when they worked together to cover up negative stories about Trump, “always wanted something for himself” and asked Pecker to further his own personal dealings.

Keith Davidson: Daniels’ lawyer said the most about Cohen’s character – using terms like “idiot,” “highly excitable” and “aggressive” – ​​and described the ex-lawyer as a guy who was “on fire” and “didn’t want to talk to anyone.” . When Daniels initially tried to sell her story, he went on to say he believed Cohen was “not being honest” after the hush money deal was made and the ex-lawyer kept making excuses as to why Trump hadn’t paid the money yet $130,000.

Gary Farro: The former banker at First Republic, who managed Cohen’s personal accounts, testified that he was chosen to work with Cohen because of his “ability to deal with … people who might present a bit of a challenge,” describing him as “a challenging one customers because of their desire to get things”. “Done so quickly” and agreed when the defense attorney called Cohen an “aggressive guy… who’s not easy to work with if you don’t know him.”

Hope Hicks: Hicks, who handled public relations for Trump’s 2016 campaign, said Trump told her that Cohen paid Daniels out of his own loyalty to Trump, but noted that it would have been “out of character” to do something “out of the goodness of his.” Hearts” Cohen, who she didn’t know was “a particularly charitable person… or selfless person” – and testified that Cohen would be involved in the work of the Trump campaign.

Stormy Daniels: Daniels testified that she “hated” Cohen during the hush-money deal and was “upset” by the public statements he made after news of her alleged affair with Trump broke in 2018. He apologized to her when she came in appeared on his podcast, and she returned to the podcast for the second time because they “had a good relationship.”

Cohen’s attorney, E. Danya Perry, has not yet responded to a request for comment.

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Main critic

“He liked to call himself ‘Fixer’ or ‘Mr. “Fix it,” and only because he broke it first, he could come and fix it,” Hicks said of Cohen in his testimony.

Cons

Cohen has publicly apologized for his actions while working with Trump. In his testimony to Congress in 2019, Cohen said it was “painful to admit that I was sometimes motivated by ambition” and “ignored my conscience and acted loyally to a man when I should not have.” “I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty,” Cohen said. “I am ashamed that I chose to cover up Mr. Trump’s illegal actions instead of listening to my own conscience.”

What you should pay attention to

Cohen is expected to take the stand Monday and testify for several days during the trial. He is expected to be one of the last witnesses called by prosecutors during the trial, as prosecutors said Friday they could wrap up their case as early as the end of this week.

Will all this criticism hurt the prosecution’s case against Trump?

It’s still too early to know how the jury will react to Cohen and all the criticism that has been leveled against him – but prosecutors have already openly admitted that he is a flawed witness. Prosecutors told jurors in the opening hearing that they would be “very candid” about the fact that Cohen “has made mistakes in his past” and said he had pleaded guilty to several crimes, including campaign finance offenses related to his Payment to Daniels. “The evidence will also show why Michael Cohen’s testimony can be believed despite his past mistakes,” said prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, noting that the jury will be presented with evidence that corroborates everything Cohen said. Former federal prosecutor Mary McCord noted on MSNBC’s “Prosecuting Donald Trump” podcast that prosecutors’ tactic of eliciting criticism of Cohen from witnesses was necessary to forestall his mistakes “so that it doesn’t look like you as a prosecutor are doing something.” “As if you were putting that witness on a pedestal.” Acknowledging his errors and telling the jury that he was an “imperfect witness” means that the jury “will already be in that mindset” when he takes the stand McCord added, also pointing out that the tactic of presenting corroborating evidence allows jurors to say, “Well, I may not really like this guy, but I believe him.”

Surprising fact

Cohen, who has become an outspoken Trump critic since pleading guilty to crimes involving the ex-president, was also criticized during the trial for continuing to speak out against Trump – and made money from it – while the process had already begun. Cohen tweeted in April, shortly after the trial began, that after a year he would stop commenting on Trump and the trial on X or on his Mea Culpa podcast tweet Trump, who referred to the ex-president as “VonShitzInPants,” was criticized for not being helpful to prosecutors. The ex-lawyer continued to discuss the case during the trial on TikTok livestreams, which he makes money from, and legal experts told ABC News that prosecutors were likely “furious” that Cohen discussed the case outside the courtroom, which Trump had to thank lawyers could be “weaponized” to attack the witness’s credibility. (Cohen has criticized ABC’s article was described as “bad tabloid reporting.”)

What we don’t know

How Cohen’s statement will play out – although recent history suggests there could be fireworks. The last time the ex-lawyer took the stand against Trump was in October at the former president’s civil fraud trial, where Cohen made headlines by accusing Trump of instructing him and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to increase the valuations of financial statements in order to achieve whatever arbitrary fortune Trump wanted for himself. Trump denied the allegations but was ultimately found liable for fraud. Cohen also testified that he lied to Congress under oath when he claimed that Trump never asked him or Weisselberg to exaggerate the numbers in the financial reports — before backtracking and claiming he didn’t lie because Trump “like a mafia boss spoke to” and never asked directly about it. The ratings are inflated. Trump and his lawyers nevertheless seized on this statement and asked the court to invalidate the proceedings and discredit Cohen for his alleged “perjury” – which was unsuccessful.

Important background

Trump is on trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records, although he has pleaded not guilty. After Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 just before the 2016 election, Trump compensated Cohen with a series of checks for $35,000 throughout 2017 – a total of $420,000, as it also included money for an additional expense, a bonus for Cohen and enough money to cover the taxes was added to the payment. Prosecutors allege those reimbursement checks were mislabeled as legal fees and processed through the Trump Organization as business expenses, which Trump has denied. Cohen was long known as Trump’s “fixer” – he even said he would take a bullet for him – before turning against the ex-president after the Daniels story broke in 2018. The attorney, who has since been disbarred, pleaded guilty in August 2018 to campaign finance offenses related to the Daniels payment, as well as other charges of tax evasion and making false statements. He was sentenced to three years in prison, which began in May 2019 and ended slightly earlier in November 2021, serving part of his sentence in home confinement.

further reading

ForbesHow Michael Cohen went from being the Trump lawyer who would “take a bullet” for Trump to being the prosecution’s star witness against himFrom Brian Bushard
ForbesTrump’s first criminal trial begins today with opening statements – here’s who might testify and what to watch out forFrom Alison Durkee
ForbesTrump and Stormy Daniels: What to know about the hush money saga as an adult film star takes the standFrom Alison Durkee
ForbesTrump’s “hush money” payment isn’t inherently illegal – here’s why he’s actually on trialFrom Alison Durkee

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