Stormy Daniels is done testifying, but another popular target of former President Donald Trump is scheduled to testify at his criminal trial on Monday — his former lawyer Michael Cohen, multiple sources told NBC News.
Both Daniels, an adult film actress, and Cohen, a former Trump aide, are outspoken critics of the Republican presidential candidate and key witnesses in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s falsification of business records case. The former president labeled the two “despicable bags”.
The decision to call Cohen comes as a prosecutor said late in court Friday that they could wrap up the case as early as next week. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the judge the prosecutor’s office only has two witnesses remaining. Cohen’s testimony is expected to last several days.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to bar Cohen from publicly commenting on the case as he is about to testify. He noted that Cohen appeared on TikTok earlier this week wearing a t-shirt showing Trump behind bars wearing an orange jumpsuit. Blanche had previously complained about Cohen posting on social media and giving interviews criticizing Trump during the trial. Cohen slowed his frequent comments after Merchan said he could exclude him from the gag order that prohibits Trump from attacking witnesses in the case because of his comments.
Steinglass said the prosecutor’s office had already asked Cohen to stop speaking. The judge instructed the prosecutor to tell Cohen that the judge was asking him to stop.
Trump was angered by the lack of a gag order for Cohen after the day’s proceedings concluded. “Everybody can say whatever they want,” but “I can’t say anything,” he told a group of reporters in the courthouse hallway. “It’s a shame.”
Daniels testified on Tuesday and Thursday, arguing with Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, during questioning over her claim that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump’s then-lawyer, Cohen, paid Daniels $. 130,000 to keep silent about the allegation during the 2016 presidential election. Trump later reimbursed Cohen for payments that prosecutors charged were covered up by falsified business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied Daniels’ allegation.
Earlier in the day, jurors heard ongoing testimony from Madeleine Westerhout, who was Trump’s executive assistant in the White House from 2017 to 2019.
Follow live updates on Trump’s trial to silence the money
Westerhout testified Thursday about how thrilled she was to work for Trump and broke down in tears when prosecutors asked her about her departure from the White House in August 2019. She said working for Trump was “amazing” and that he was “awesome.” ”. a very good boss” who had a close and loving relationship with his wife, Melania Trump.
The depiction contradicts testimony from Daniels, who said Trump told her not to worry about his wife as he attacked her in their hotel room after they met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006.
Westerhout also testified Thursday that Trump was attentive when she handed him personal checks to sign and that he would occasionally call his company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, if he had questions about any of them — information prosecutors will likely use to argue against Trump. he was well aware of what he was paying Cohen.
On Friday, Trump lawyer Susan Necheles got Westerhout to say that Trump didn’t always pay attention when he signed checks — and sometimes he was on the phone or in meetings while he was doing so. “He was a multitasker, right?” Necheles asked. “Yes,” Westerhout replied.
Necheles also pressed her for details about Trump’s reaction when the payment to Daniels became public in 2018.
“He was very upset about it,” Westerhout said. “My understanding is that he knew this would be detrimental to his family.
Westerhout said one of his roles was to act as an intermediary between Trump and the Trump Organization on matters that needed his or the company’s attention, such as his travel schedule, correspondence or phone calls.
She asked Trump’s assistant at the company, Rhona Graff, in 2017 for a list of Trump’s contacts, which Graff sent to her, according to an email shown to the jury. The list included information from Cohen and David Pecker, the former National Enquirer editor who testified that he worked with Trump and Cohen to suppress scandalous stories about Trump during his 2016 campaign.
Westerhout was followed to the stand by Daniel Dixon, an AT&T analyst who was brought in to authenticate “call detail records” related to Cohen’s cell phone.
Jennie Tomalin, an analyst at Verizon, was also called to authenticate phone records for Keith Davidson, Daniels’ former lawyer, and former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
She was followed by Georgia Longstreet, a legal assistant in the district attorney’s office, who was brought in to testify about some of then-President Trump’s social media posts that prosecutors say were an attempt to influence Cohen and others he was concerned might harm him. cause legal problems. .
One of the posts praised Cohen as “a great person with a wonderful family” before he began cooperating with federal investigators. After pleading guilty to charges that included charges related to paying Daniels, Trump tweeted: “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I strongly suggest they do not retain the services of Michael Cohen!”
Longstreet also read aloud texts between then-National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard and Gina Rodriguez, who was Daniels’ manager. The 2016 texts included Howard telling her that he thought Pecker would pay for her story. Pecker said she didn’t do it because she had already spent $180,000 to kill two other salacious Trump stories and worried that doing business with a porn star could hurt her newspaper. But, he said, he encouraged Cohen to pay the money.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved for a mistrial late in court Thursday, arguing that Daniels’ testimony — including her claim that Trump did not use a condom when they had sex — was unfair and prejudicial. He called the condom claim “a dog whistle for rape.”
State Judge Juan Merchan agreed that Daniels should not have been questioned about the condom, but noted that there were no objections to that line of questioning, which he said was confusing.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
He denied Blanche’s request for a mistrial, as well as a request that he loosen the gag order that prevented Trump from attacking witnesses to allow him to respond to Daniels’ testimony.
Prosecutors have said they are hopeful they can close the case by May 21.
It is unclear whether Trump will testify in his own defense. He is under no obligation to do so.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
