NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers went for the jugular Tuesday in cross-examination of Michael Cohen, casting the prosecution’s star witness as a shady character with an intense hatred of the ex-president and financial motivation to lie about the hush-money scheme at the heart of the trial.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche sprinted out of the box by pointing to Mr. Cohen‘s profane message on social media after the trial began in April.
“You went on TikTok and called me a crying little shit,” Mr. Blanche said.
“Sounds like something I would say,” Mr. Cohen said.
Prosecutors objected, and the exchange was taken from the record, but it set the tone for a sparring match that will stretch through at least a second court day.
“You referred to President Trump as a dictator douchebag, didn’t you?” Mr. Blanche said.
“Sounds like something I said,” Mr. Cohen said.
In direct testimony, prosecutors cast Mr. Cohen as a loyal and sympathetic character who worked alongside Mr. Trump to suppress a salacious story from porn star Stormy Daniels near the 2016 election, only to face prison time and regret after investigators dug into efforts to conceal the hush payment.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers are telling a different story. They say Mr. Cohen is a lying felon and rogue actor who paid Ms. Daniels on his own and demanded fees while Mr. Trump was busy running the country from the White House in 2017.
Mr. Trump sat quietly, often leaning back with his eyes closed, while Mr. Blanche questioned his former “fixer.”
Mr. Blanche’s cross-examination veered from topic to topic but hit a few themes: That Mr. Cohen wanted vengeance against Mr. Trump; that he was “obsessed” with Mr. Trump but lacked opportunities when the boss left for Washington to be president in 2017; and that Mr. Cohen had a loose relationship with the truth when it suited him.
Mr. Blanche pointed to Mr. Cohen’s penchant for talking to the press, even though prosecutors have pleaded with him to stop. Mr. Cohen said he didn’t remember what he told prosecutors about going on TV, prompting Mr. Blanche to note it is strange he could remember conversations with Mr. Trump from 2016 but not discussions from recent years.
“It is fair to say you are motivated by fame?” Mr. Blanche said.
Mr. Cohen insisted he was not.
The defense highlighted Mr. Cohen’s tendency to use podcasts and TikTok to slam Mr. Trump for money.
“I found an outlet,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said he would like to see Mr. Trump convicted and that he sold T-shirts depicting Mr. Trump behind bars. Jurors saw a picture of the shirt and a mug that said, “Send him to the big house, not the White House.”
The defense said Mr. Cohen gave false information to investigators in the so-called Russia probe and faulted Mr. Cohen’s interactions with prosecutors, saying he was driven by self-interest and seeking leverage to reduce his prison sentence or term of parole.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to alleged efforts to conceal the Daniels payment. He says the trial is part of a Democratic plot to thwart his campaign against President Biden, and he denies having a sexual encounter with Ms. Daniels in 2006, as she alleges.
High-profile Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, joined Mr. Trump in the courthouse hallway Tuesday to show support.
Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds watched testimony from the front rows of the courtroom, making the trial look like a vice presidential audition room.
Mr. Trump’s son, Eric, was joined in the front row by his wife Lara Trump, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, for the afternoon session.
Defense attorneys got their crack at Mr. Cohen after several hours of direct testimony that retraced his rise with the Trump Organization as a loyal foot soldier, or “fixer,” and his efforts to quash unflattering stories when Mr. Trump ran for president in 2016.
Mr. Cohen told jurors Tuesday he submitted false invoices to the Trump Organization and its revocable trust so he could receive monthly checks of $35,000, purportedly for legal services under a retainer agreement. In reality, Mr. Cohen testified, he was being repaid for payments to Ms. Daniels.
“Is that a false record?” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked him while the courtroom saw an invoice from 2017.
“Yes, ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Trump says he paid legal fees to Mr. Cohen and marked them as such, so there is no crime.
Mr. Trump had named Mr. Cohen as personal counsel to the president in 2017. Mr. Cohen testified he did “minimal” work in that role and the invoices were expressly part of a deal to reimburse him for the Daniels payment and beef up his yearly bonus.
Mr. Cohen estimated he performed less than 10 hours of work as personal presidential counsel in 2017.
He said he continued to lie on Mr. Trump’s behalf, including to Congress, in 2018 “out of loyalty and in order to protect him.”
He said his world “turned upside down” when the FBI raided his hotel room and his under-construction apartment in April 2018, triggering a breakup with his famous boss.
“Don’t worry, I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing here,” Mr. Trump said in a phone call after the raids, according to Mr. Cohen’s testimony.
It was the last time they spoke to each other.
Mr. Cohen said Mr. Trump issued tweets insinuating he should remain loyal and that a lawyer, Robert Costello, attempted to set up a back channel to Mr. Trump through former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, only to get angry when Mr. Cohen considered other attorneys.
“This is part of the pressure campaign,” Mr. Cohen said. “Stay in the fold. Don’t flip. Don’t speak. Don’t cooperate.”
Mr. Cohen had a heart-to-heart with his family and in August 2018 pleaded guilty to making an excessive campaign contribution, namely the Daniels payment.
He also pleaded guilty related to his role in negotiating a payment between a tabloid company and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who shopped a story about an alleged affair with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cohen spent time in prison in Otisville, New York, and is still on supervised release. He lost his law license, forcing him to live off revenue from books about his experience and a podcast, “Mea Culpa,” that opines on daily news and Mr. Trump’s legal woes.
“I violated my moral compass,” Mr. Cohen said, “and I suffered the penalty.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.