NEW YORK (AP) — donald trumpin silent money trial reached a pivotal moment on Monday when Trump’s former lawyer and loyal mediator, michael cohentook the stand to testify against his former boss.
As the prosecution’s case enters its final stretch, Cohen is providing jurors with an inside account of the hush money payments at the center of the trial – payments he says were directed by Trump to avoid damaging his bid for the House. White in 2016.
Cohen is expected to be on the stand for several days and face intense questioning from Trump’s lawyers, who painted him as a liar who is trying to unseat the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
Here are some takeaways from Cohen’s testimony so far:
‘JUST DO IT’
Cohen linked Trump directly to the hush money scheme, recounting meetings and conversations with his then-boss about negative stories stifled in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign.
“He told me, just do it,” Cohen said of the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who was threatening to go public with allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump denies they ever had sex.
Less than two weeks before the election, Cohen finalized payments to buy Daniels’ silence. Immediately, he went to Trump to let him know the deal was done, he testified.
“The task he gave me was completed, done and accomplished,” Cohen testified, before pointing out a second reason for updating his boss: “to take credit for myself, so he knew I had done it and finished it, because that It was important.”
Regarding another story of an alleged affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Cohen said Trump told him, “Make sure it doesn’t come out.” Cohen testified that he personally had no interest in acquiring the rights to McDougal’s story, telling jurors, “What I was doing was at the direction and for the benefit of Mr. Trump.” Trump also denies having an affair with McDougal.
Cohen also said he went to Trump after learning about a doorman at Trump Tower who falsely claimed that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock.
In response, Trump told him, “You handle it,” according to Cohen.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
Cohen testified that Trump feared Daniels’ story would be a “disaster” for his presidential campaign, which was already suffering at the time with the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump boasted about sexually groping women without their your permission.
That testimony could be key for prosecutors, who are trying to prove that Trump planned to illegally influence the 2016 election race by burying unflattering stories that could harm his campaign.
The defense sought to show that the former president was trying to protect his family and reputation – not his campaign – by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.
Cohen testified that Trump became angry when he learned of Daniels’ story, telling him, “I thought you took care of it.”
Trump told Cohen: “This is a disaster, a total disaster. Women will hate me. Women will hate me. Guys, they think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign,” Cohen testified.
Cohen said he asked Trump how the story might impact his marriage to his wife, Melania. Cohen said Trump told him, “Don’t worry,” adding, “How long do you think I’ll be in business? Not a lot.”
Cohen said that comment led him to conclude that “it was all about the campaign.”
A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP
Cohen spoke glowingly about his early days working for Trump, telling jurors he was surprised and honored when the former president first offered him a job. Cohen said he and Trump were so close in the decade Cohen worked for him that the two spoke in person or on the phone several times every day.
Cohen has done everything from talking to the media to renegotiating bills on Trump’s behalf, including outstanding invoices from 50 vendors of Trump’s failed project, Trump University. The praise he received from Trump afterward made him feel like he was “on top of the world,” he told jurors.
“The only thing on my mind was to do the job and make him happy,” Cohen said, referring to Trump.
He also lied and intimidated on Trump’s behalf, he said. Part of his job included contacting reporters whose stories upset Trump, asking them to make changes or withdraw them — and sometimes threatening legal action. Asked if he did so in a “strong and threatening manner,” Cohen said yes.
But overall, Cohen told the jurors, the work was “fantastic.”
“It was an incredible experience in many ways,” he added. “They were great moments. There were several not-so-good moments.
A PRACTICAL BOSS
Cohen portrayed Trump as deeply involved in the details and decisions of his company, the Trump Organization.
Prosecutors throughout the trial have tried to obtain such testimony to support the idea that Trump had knowledge of the payment to Daniels and the subsequent reimbursement to Cohen.
Cohen testified that Trump wanted to be updated immediately on any developments regarding the tasks he assigned. Cohen said Trump had an “open door policy” so executives could meet him in his office without an appointment and keep him informed of developments.
“When he gave him an assignment, he would say, ‘Keep me posted,’ ‘Let me know what’s going on,’” Cohen testified. This was especially true “if there was a matter that concerned him.”
If Trump “knew any other way, that wouldn’t be good for you,” Cohen testified.
THE SECRET RECORDING
With Cohen on the stand, jurors heard again the audio recording he secretly made of a September 2016 meeting with Trump in which they discussed the plan to buy McDougal’s silence. In the recording, Trump can be heard saying: “How much do we have to pay for this? A fifth?”
Cohen testified that it was the only time he recorded a conversation with Trump. He said he made the recording so that Pecker, editor of the National Enquirer, could hear the conversation and be sure that Trump would reciprocate.
Cohen testified that the recording stopped abruptly because he was receiving a call on his phone, a claim substantiated by cellphone carrier records shown in court. Cohen said the number listed in the operator’s records belonged to a bank employee who was trying to contact him.
Cohen said the recording was not altered and sounded exactly the same as the day it was recorded. The prosecutors’ questions that elicited this testimony were intended to refute a suggestion previously raised by the defense that Cohen might have altered the tape.
Earlier in the trial, Trump’s lawyers pressed a witness about the “gaps” in the handling of the phone after Cohen made the recording, along with the abrupt cut at the end of the tape.
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Associated Press reporter Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed. Whitehurst and Richer reported from Washington.
