Former president donald trump appears in court during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 20, 2024, in New York City. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. (Steven Hirsch-Pool | Getty Images)
NEW YORK — New York state prosecutors rested their case against Donald Trump on Monday after four days of testimony from their star witness, Trump’s former fixer michael cohen, which claims that the former president was well aware of the secret money cover-up. The defense considers Cohen a liar.
The Manhattan criminal trial, the first of a former president, now in its sixth week, was poised to reach closing arguments as early as Tuesday. But New York Judge Juan Merchan indicated Monday that the lawsuit would extend beyond Memorial Day.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche, in a long and sometimes slow and disjointed cross-examination Monday, continued to press Cohen for evidence that would convince jurors that the former fixer cannot be trusted.
Cohen’s previous testimony that Trump reimbursed him for paying a porn star to keep quiet before the 2016 presidential election is at the heart of the prosecution’s case.
Trump is accused of falsifying 11 invoices, 11 checks and 12 accounting entries as routine legal expenses rather than reimbursement of hush money, totaling 34 criminal charges.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and claims he never had a sexual relationship with adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels. She testified otherwise in excruciating and strange detail in early May.
Monday’s proceedings were fraught with objections and technological issues, and shrouded in tense testimony from the defense’s second witness, Robert Costello, Cohen’s legal adviser, who promised secret communications to Trump after Cohen was under FBI control in 2018. .
The day ended with an unlikely but expected request from the defense to dismiss the case. Merchan rebuffed the court, saying it would issue its decision on Tuesday. The defense will also likely rest its case.
Closing arguments are expected after the holiday.
On a journey’
Blanche began the day by grilling Cohen about his past business dealings, income and money he has made since breaking ties with the former president.
Cohen testified that he made millions of dollars from his books “Disloyal” and “Revenge” and his podcast “Mea Culpa,” all of which are harshly critical of the man from whom he often sought praise, as he testified days earlier.
Prompted by Blanche, Cohen confirmed that he is thinking about a third book, has a television show in the works titled “The Fixer” and is considering running for Congress because he has “the best name recognition” there is.
When Blanche suggested that Cohen’s name recognition was up to Trump, Cohen disagreed.
“I wouldn’t characterize it that way. My name recognition is because of the journey I’ve been on,” Cohen said.
“Well, the journey you’ve been on… has included daily attacks on Trump,” Blanche responded.
During Blanche’s interrogation, Cohen again acknowledged his past crimes and also confessed to stealing $30,000 from the Trump Organization when Trump failed to pay a technology company to defraud a CNBC survey of famous businesspeople.
Minutes later, Blanche asked: “Do you have a financial interest in this case?”
“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.
When Blanche pressed whether a guilty verdict would be Cohen’s preferred outcome, Cohen responded, “The answer is no. It’s better if he’s not [guilty] for me because it gives me more to talk about in the future.”
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger conducted her redirect in an organized and swift manner, walking Cohen through each of Blanche’s dubious lines of interrogation to reassure the jury of Cohen’s testimony that Trump’s hand was behind the hush money refunds.
“They asked a lot of questions about how you made money and (your) podcast… Financial issues aside, how has telling the truth affected your life?” Hoffinger asked.
“My entire life was turned upside down as a direct result,” Cohen responded.
Before the prosecution rested its case, the defense filed a lengthy objection to a still frame from a C-SPAN video depicting Trump with his bodyguard Keith Schiller shortly before 8 p.m. on October 24, 2016. The parties eventually agreed in admitting it.
The evidence that Trump and Schiller were together that night is important to Cohen’s claim that he spoke to both of them on the phone about paying Daniels.
Trump’s support inside the court
A steady stream of high-profile Republican supporters has shown up for the GOP’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee.
Monday’s supporters included lawyer and Trump ally Alan Dershowitz; legal consultant Boris Epshteyn, himself indicted in Arizona for trying to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election; and Chuck Zito, actor and one of the founders of the New York City Hells Angels chapter in the 1980s.
Several Republican lawmakers, including vice presidential candidates, migrated to Manhattan for the trial.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, and former Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy attended on May 13. made appearances last week alongside Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made comments outside the courtroom on May 14, criticizing the “mock trial” and accusing New York prosecutors of simply wanting to keep the former president out of the campaign.
The Louisiana Republican called Trump the victim of a “caricature of justice.”
Nearly a dozen far-right Republican members showed up Thursday, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. Accompanying Gaetz were other right-wing members of the House Freedom Caucus: fellow Florida Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Waltz; Eli Crane and Andy Biggs of Arizona; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Ralph Norman of South Carolina; Diana Harshbarger and Andy Ogles of Tennessee; Mike Cloud of Texas; and caucus chairman Bob Good of Virginia.
Speaking on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, Gaetz described accusations such as “Mr. Potato head doll of the crimes”, accusing the prosecution of combining things “that didn’t match”.
Representatives Byron Donalds and Cory Mills of Florida attended earlier in the week.
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The post The accusation rests on Trump’s trial after former fixer Cohen is questioned appeared first on West Virginia Clock.
