I’m not going to be around for some part of the morning, but will update when I get a chance. Meanwhile, links to follow along
Michael Cohen once described himself as Donald Trump’s “spokesman, thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer.”
But this week, he has a new role. He will be the star witness for prosecutors trying to prove Trump illegally falsified business records after paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels as part of an alleged election interference scheme in 2016.
Cohen’s testimony is set to be the critical moment of the hush money trial that could make Trump the first ex-president to be convicted of a crime.
From today
Michael Cohen implicated his former boss Donald Trump in the hush money scheme to pay Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 election, saying he doled out $130,000 at Trump’s direction and was promised reimbursement.
Cohen’s testimony ties together the prosecution’s allegations that Trump broke the law by falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen and conceal the hush money payment that Cohen said he made at Trump’s direction. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies having an affair with Daniels.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Cohen’s first day on the stand:
- Cohen ties Trump to the Daniels hush money payment: Through roughly five hours of testimony Monday, Cohen walked jurors through how he worked with former National Enquirer editor David Pecker on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign to kill negative stories; how he kept Trump apprised of his hush money negotiations with Keith Davidson, the attorney for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal; and how Trump approved and was aware of how Cohen would be falsely repaid in 2017 for the Daniels payment as legal services.
- Cohen ties the hush money reimbursement to Trump, too: Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records – 11 invoices, 12 vouchers and 11 checks – records that prosecutors say stem from the monthly reimbursements Cohen received in 2017 for the hush money payment he made to Daniels. On Monday, jurors heard through Cohen for the first-time evidence directly connecting Trump to those reimbursements.
- Cohen describes being Trump’s protector: As Cohen described each media story he killed and nondisclosure agreement he locked down ahead of the 2016 election, it was always in the name of protecting Trump. When it came to the settlement agreement with Daniels, Cohen said he kept control of a document revealing the identities of “David Dennison” and “Peggy Peterson” so that he could protect Trump. And he testified that he used the Essential Consultants LLC to facilitate the payment to Daniels “to protect him and to isolate him from the transaction.” Hoffinger asked Cohen whether he would sometimes bully people. Cohen confirmed he would.
Trump the rapist fraud grifter sends this hilarious message saying “THIS MAY BE THE LAST MESSAGE YOU GET FROM ME, SEND ME MONEY (Have to add that the average American person was threatening witnesses in a criminal trial, they’d be in jail..)
