Donald Trump‘s former attorney Michael Cohen began testifying Monday at the former president’s criminal trial, and Cohen described how he arranged a hush money payment to a porn star who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with his client years before the 2016 election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, falsified business records to cover his reimbursement to Cohen of the payment to silence a porn star in the final days of his 2016 campaign. Trump, who has denied the affair, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and kept his eyes closed in court on Monday morning during portions of Cohen’s testimony.
Cohen, 57, worked as an executive and lawyer for the Trump Organization for nearly 10 years and once said he would take a bullet for Trump. Now, sitting across from the former president in a criminal courtroom, Cohen testified about the time Trump offered him a job after Cohen handed him a $100,000 bill for work his previous firm did for one of Trump’s companies.
“I was honored. I was taken by surprise, and I agreed,” Cohen said, according to reporters in the courtroom, adding that Trump never paid the bill. The 12-member jury was watching intensely as prosecutor Susan Hoffinger questioned Cohen.
Cohen accepts title as ‘fixer’
Early into questioning from prosecutors, Cohen was asked by Hoffinger about whether his longtime label of “fixer” was accurate, prompting Cohen to say the title was “fair.” Cohen’s response came after he admitted to the prosecutor that he lied in his past to help his former boss, saying, “It’s what was needed to accomplish the task.”
While Monday marks the first time jurors saw Cohen in person, his presence has loomed large over the trial. Witnesses have spoken about him dozens of times, while Trump’s defense lawyers have attacked his credibility from the trial’s outset, calling him an untrustworthy liar in their opening statement.
Trump’s son Eric tweeted from within the courtroom, “I have never seen anything more rehearsed!,” in response to Cohen’s testimony.
Ex-fixer recounts crucial 2015 meeting with National Enquirer publisher
Cohen testified that he met frequently with then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker in an effort to stop former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s allegations about a relationship she said she had with Trump. Cohen said he would use the encrypted Signal application to communicate with Pecker and editor Dylan Howard in their bid to quash McDougal’s story.
The ex-fixer said Pecker stated in June 2016 that it would cost $150,000 to “control the story.” Cohen later relayed the message back to Trump, claiming his boss said, “No problem, I’ll take care of it.”
Cohen explained that it was the National Enquirer publisher that would first lay out of the funds to purchase McDougal’s story, and then, Trump would pay Pecker back. The manner in which Trump would reimburse Pecker was not immediately determined, Cohen testified.
Trump warned ‘a lot of women’ would come forward after 2016 election announcement: Cohen
Early into his testimony, Cohen said that Trump informed him ahead of his 2016 presidential campaign announcement that “a lot of women” would come forward with negative allegations about him.
According to Cohen, Trump said: “You know that when this comes out — meaning the announcement — just be prepared, there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward.”
Secret recording caps off morning of testimony
Prosecutors played audio of a September 2016 conversation between Cohen and Trump that the former fixer surreptitiously recorded. The jury has already heard this recording previously.
“Told you about Charleston. I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David, you know, so that — I’m going to do that right away,” Cohen is heard saying to Trump.
Prosecutors intended for the recording to support Cohen’s narrative that he was often communicating to Trump updates about his progress on the McDougal hush money deal. In the recording, Cohen merely mentioned Pecker’s name and Trump seemed to become aware that Cohen was referring to that deal, according to the New York Times live blog.
The jury relistened to the recording on Monday with Cohen’s added context.
Former president gets boost from new allies in court
Flanked by political allies, including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Trump called his hush money trial a “political witch-hunt” before heading into the courtroom on Monday.
“I should be out campaigning now instead of sitting in a very cold courthouse all day long,” Trump told reporters.
Last week, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) made a brief appearance at the courthouse in support of the former president.
Judge limits prosecution’s ability to dredge up former CFO’s severance agreement
Shortly after entering the courtroom on Monday, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that prosecutors won’t be allowed to introduce evidence of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg‘s severance agreement.
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“It seems to me that this would be used to justify an explanation for why somebody is not here,” Merchan said, adding that the severance payment doesn’t seem to prove anything or move the ball in any one direction.
When Cohen returned to the stand after a break, he began discussing the hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels, which is at the heart of the 34-count indictment against Trump.
