Trump attorney Todd Blanche resumed questioning ex-lawyer Michael Cohen on Monday at former President Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial, as the longtime Trump fixer’s testimony stretched into a second week while the defense continues to take aim at his credibility.
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court in New York on ... [+]
Blanche cross-examined Cohen for a third day on Monday, who testified Trump knowingly participated in a hush money scheme to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up allegations of an affair, and then was personally involved with a plan to reimburse Cohen for paying Daniels—Trump’s charges are based on those reimbursement checks.
Cohen admitted under questioning from Blanche that he stole $30,000 from the Trump Organization, as he received $50,000 in reimbursements from the company for a payment he made to tech company RedFinch, which rigged polls in Trump’s favor, but only actually paid RedFinch $20,000—allegedly in a “brown paper bag”—while pocketing the other $30,000 for himself.
Blanche questioned Cohen’s testimony that he repeatedly talked with Trump on the phone about the Daniels payment ahead of the 2016 election, suggesting he and Trump had a lot of other matters going on at the time that they could have been discussing instead—which Cohen denied, saying his “recollection is that I was speaking to him about Stormy Daniels, because that was what he tasked me to take care of,” according to The New York Times.
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Prosecutors are expected to rest their case as soon as Cohen is off the stand. Trump’s lawyers aren’t expected to call many—if any—witnesses to testify in the ex-president’s defense, but the trial will continue for at least another week, as Judge Juan Merchan told parties on Monday to expect closing arguments to take place right after Memorial Day next week on May 28. It’s still up in the air whether Trump will take the stand himself and testify, though legal experts have advised against him doing so. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which could result in a fine and/or prison time if he’s convicted.
Cohen served as Trump’s longtime attorney and “fixer” but has since become one of the ex-president’s harshest critics. He “flipped” on Trump in 2018 and pleaded guilty to crimes including lying to Congress on Trump’s behalf and campaign finance violations stemming from his payment to Daniels. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 just before the 2016 campaign to cover up her allegations of an affair—which Trump has long denied—and Trump then reimbursed Cohen through a series of checks paid throughout 2017. Prosecutors allege those checks were handled through the Trump Organization and falsely labeled as being for business payments, which Trump denies. The ex-president has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Cohen has testified for three days during the trial already, detailing as prosecutors questioned him how he faithfully kept Trump in the loop on the payment to Daniels, and alleging that the payment could not have gone forward without Trump’s consent. The ex-president was also present when then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg confirmed to Cohen the payments would be labeled as being for legal services, Cohen testified. Blanche has used cross-examination to hammer at Cohen’s credibility as a result, bringing up the ex-attorney’s criticism of Trump—including once calling him a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain”—and desire for revenge, as well as Cohen’s history of lying under oath. After Cohen alleged having a phone call with Trump about approving the Daniels payment, Blanche also alleged on Friday the attorney was actually talking to Trump’s bodyguard about a 14-year-old who was harassing Cohen, based on text messages right after the call.