Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, resumed his testimony on Tuesday about the reimbursements he received for paying porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to prevent her from going public ahead of the 2016 presidential election with her allegation she had an extramarital affair with then-candidate Trump.
Cohen, a convicted felon who has been disbarred, is the star witness in Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal prosecution of Trump on charges that he falsified business records connected to the reimbursements to conceal underlying crimes.
On Monday, Cohen described Trump’s instructions on making sure that Daniels’s story was covered up until at least until the 2016 election. Cohen also began discussing the plan to pay him $420,000 for the reimbursements, which included the payment to Daniels.
Over 11 checks in 2017 — after Trump was elected and in office — Cohen received the $420,000 he was promised, and filled out each invoice for legal services at the direction of former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, Cohen testified, according to multiple reports.
“Were any of those invoices that you submitted based on services performed for the months indicated pursuant to a retainer agreement?” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked.
“No ma’am, they were for a reimbursement,” Cohen said. There was no retainer agreement for legal services, Cohen testified.
The $420,000 combined the Daniels reimbursement, a payment for tech services, taxes, and a bonus, he said. Trump signed each of the checks from April 2017 to December 2017, when Cohen received the last of the $35,000 installments, he testified. It does not appear Trump directly instructed Cohen to falsify the reimbursement invoices.
Later on, Cohen reiterated his testimony that he paid Daniels at Trump’s instruction to prevent her allegation from hurting Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Cohen previously pleaded guilty to perjury and various financial crimes, including campaign finance violations. His credibility issues will likely take center stage when the defense conducts its cross examination, which began Tuesday afternoon.
On the stand, Cohen admitted to making false statements before Congress. He claimed he did so to defend Trump, and to stay “on Mr. Trump’s message.” For lying to congress, Cohen apologized to the American public when the matter came up again during his direct examination.
In 2018, when the Stormy Daniels story eventually became public, Cohen recalled Trump considering legal action against her for violating the terms of her non-disclosure agreement. They ended up agreeing to not enforce the NDA.
Cohen said he pushed Daniels’s attorney, Keith Davidson, to give a false statement to the Wall Street Journal for its story on Daniels’s affair allegation. He admitted to giving false statements to the media denying the “hush-money” payment to Daniels on Trump’s behalf.
The prosecution submitted into evidence a 2018 letter to the Federal Election Commission in response to a complaint about the Daniels payment. Cohen said the letter was misleading and meant to protect Trump. He and Trump last spoke in 2018 after the FBI raided Cohen’s office and hotel room, and seized his devices and records.
Trump gave Cohen reassurances afterwards, but their relationship soon fell apart, as Cohen turned into a fierce Trump critic. Cohen claimed he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other financial crimes once he decided he would no longer be loyal to Trump.
Daniels testified last week and graphically detailed her 2006 alleged sexual encounter with Trump. The information is not particularly relevant to Trump’s business-records charges. Bragg’s team of prosecutors have sought to portray the Daniels payment as part of a broader conspiracy to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election by shutting down negative stories about Trump.
A significant amount of time during the trial has been spent on the conspiracy, rather than the business records themselves. Bragg’s prosecution on 34 felony charges for falsifying business records rests on alleged federal campaign finance offenses not being pursued by federal prosecutors.
Before Cohen’s testimony on Tuesday, Trump called Bragg’s prosecution “election interference at a level that’s never taken place before,” a typical line of attack.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and an entourage of prominent Republican figures joined Trump at his criminal trial on Tuesday to express their support. Trump has denied Daniels’s claims of an affair. After the court proceedings, Trump will be fundraising with his Republican entourage, NR’s Audrey Fahlberg reported.
Bragg is an elected Democrat and Hoffinger repeatedly donated to Democratic candidates. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, previously donated to President Joe Biden’s campaign and his daughter is a veteran Democratic strategist.
A New York appeals court on Tuesday morning denied Trump’s appeal to lift Merchan’s expansive gag order preventing him from criticizing witnesses, line prosecutors, and relatives. Merchan has threatened to have Trump jailed for repeatedly violating the terms of the gag order.