Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen took the stand Tuesday for his second day of testimony in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial, testifying the Trump Organization falsely labeled Trump’s reimbursement checks to him for his $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels before Trump’s lawyers cross-examined the trial’s central witness—and immediately focused on Cohen’s social media attacks against Trump and his lawyers.
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court in New York on ... [+]
Cohen is the trial’s central witness: Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records when he reimbursed Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels that the ex-attorney made right before the 2016 election.
During questioning from prosecutors Tuesday, Cohen testified that invoices he sent to the Trump Organization to receive those reimbursement checks were falsely labeled as being for legal services, and that the description on his check stubs from the Trump Organization were “false statements,” as they state the payments are part of a retainer agreement that didn’t actually exist.
Cohen continued to take direction from Trump after the Daniels allegations were made public in 2018, he testified according to The New York Times, alleging he told American Media CEO David Pecker that Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions would “take care of” a federal investigation into the Daniels payment because that’s what Trump told Cohen, and testifying he sought a temporary restraining order against Daniels at Trump’s direction.
After Cohen’s home was raided by the FBI in connection with the government’s investigation into the payments, Cohen testified Trump called him and said, “Don’t worry. I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing here ... Stay tough. You’re going to be okay,” as quoted by NBC News—which marked the last time he and Trump spoke, as after that, Cohen was approached about creating a backchannel to communicate with the then-president using ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani as a middle man.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche then cross-examined the witness, starting off his questioning by asking Cohen if he went on TikTok just before the trial began and called Blanche a “crying little s—t,” as quoted by the Times—to which Cohen responded that it “sounds like something I would say,” before the court struck Blanche’s question from the record—and the lawyer went on to ask Cohen about such other social media comments as calling Trump a “dictator douchebag.”
Cohen testified prosecutors have repeatedly told him not to publicly discuss the case, alleging he was told, “It's probably better off that you don't speak about it” but claiming he has a “First Amendment right” to speak.
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Cohen testified to prosecutors that he decided to “flip” and cooperate with investigators against Trump after speaking with his family, who asked him, “Why are you holding on to this loyalty? ... We’re supposed to be your first loyalty.” “I made a decision based again on the conversation I had with my family that I would not lie for President Trump anymore,” Cohen testified, as quoted by CNN.
Less than 10. That’s how many hours of legal work Cohen estimated he actually did for Trump in 2017—undercutting Trump’s legal argument that the checks to Cohen were accurately labeled as being for legal services because Cohen was serving as the then-president’s lawyer.
Cohen’s testimony is likely to stretch into Thursday, the next time the trial will convene this week, and prosecutors said he will be their final witness. That means the trial could wrap up soon, as it’s unclear if Trump’s lawyers will call any witnesses for the defense.
Cohen was known as Trump’s loyal “fixer” before the ex-president’s longtime attorney flipped on him in 2018, when Cohen pleaded guilty to crimes including lying to Congress and campaign finance crimes that stemmed from his payment to Daniels. He’s since become one of Trump’s harshest critics, and was sentenced to three years in prison for his crimes. Cohen, who has since been disbarred, paid Daniels $130,000 right before the 2016 election to cover up her allegations of an affair with Trump, and Trump then reimbursed Cohen through a series of payments made throughout 2017. Prosecutors allege those payments were falsely labeled as being for legal payments, but Trump has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Trump has also publicly denied Daniels’ affair allegations. In his testimony on Monday, Cohen linked Trump directly to the hush money payments to Daniels and others, saying he would report everything he was doing to Trump, and the then-candidate was directly involved with the scheme to pay Daniels for her silence, telling the jury that the payment could not have gone forward without Trump’s approval. Cohen also testified Trump did not directly deny having sex with Daniels, and alleged Trump was present when former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg told Cohen Trump’s reimbursement checks would be labeled as legal payments. That marked a blow to Trump’s defense, as his lawyers have tried to distance the ex-president from how the payments were characterized.