By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JILL COLVIN, ERIC TUCKER and JAKE OFFENHARTZ (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen, characterized his celebrity client as a hands-on manager and said he sometimes lied for him and bullied others on his behalf during highly anticipated testimony Monday in the former president’s hush money trial.
Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and by far the Manhattan district attorney’s most important witness in the case, took the stand in an appearance that signals that the first criminal trial of a former American president is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.
The testimony of a witness with such intimate knowledge of Trump’s activities could heighten the legal exposure of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee if jurors deem him sufficiently credible. But politically, Trump is likely to seize on prosecutors’ reliance on a witness with such a checkered past — Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the payments and to lying to Congress — as he raises money off his legal woes and paints the case as the product of a tainted criminal justice system.
Cohen is expected to testify about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump’s behalf during his first presidential campaign, including to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who told jurors last week that the $130,000 that she received in 2016 was meant to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in a hotel suite a decade earlier.
He also matters because the reimbursements he received form the basis of the charges against Trump — 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors say the reimbursements were logged as legal expenses to conceal the payments’ true purpose in what they allege was an effort to illegally interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has denied the sexual encounter and has pleaded not guilty.
Trump did not appear to make eye contact with Cohen as the lawyer began his testimony by recounting his upbringing on Long Island as the son of a Holocaust survivor and his career experience with Trump, including a decade-long tenure as a Trump Organization senior executive.
Cohen testified that Trump wanted to be updated immediately on any developments in the tasks he assigned.
“When he would task you with something, he would then say, ‘Keep me informed. Let me know what’s going on,’” Cohen testified. He said that was especially true “if there was a matter that was troubling to him.”
“If he learned of it in another manner, that wouldn’t go over well for you,” Cohen testified.
Cohen said Trump had an “open-door policy” allowing executives to meet him in his office, without appointment, and keep him apprised of developments.
Asked how he and other executives referred to Trump, Cohen said: “We’d call him boss, Mr. Trump.”
Even as he spoke warmly of his time with Trump, he also acknowledged that his job required him to lie and bully on his boss’s behalf.
Cohen said he was only thinking about completing the task and making Trump happy.
Lawyers for the defense have prepared for a tough questioning of Cohen, saying during the trial that he has confessed to lying and has been fixated on President Trump.
The prosecution is expected to counter these attacks by having Cohen provide detailed testimony about his past crimes. They have also brought in other witnesses whose testimonies they hope will support Cohen's statements. a lawyer who dealt with the hush money payments on behalf of Daniels and a Playboy model; a representative of a tabloid publisher who promised to be the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign; and Daniels herself.
Cohen’s role as the main witness for the prosecution further confirms the breakdown of a previously beneficial relationship. After the FBI raided Cohen’s home and office in 2018, Trump showed him a lot of affection on social media, praising him as a 'good person with a great family' and wrongly predicting that Cohen would not 'flip.'
He did exactly that a few months later, admitting guilt in August to federal campaign-finance charges that also implicated Trump. By that time, the relationship was completely damaged, with Trump posting on Twitter: 'I strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!'
Cohen later admitted to lying to Congress about a real estate project in Moscow that he had pursued on behalf of Trump during the 2016 Republican campaign. He said he lied to be in line with Trump’s 'political messaging.' Defense lawyers are expected to capitalize on the difficulties of having a witness like Cohen. Besides portraying him as untrustworthy, they are also expected to depict him as spiteful, vengeful and driven by his own agenda.
Since their fallout, Cohen has become a relentless and sometimes crude critic of Trump, even appearing recently on TikTok wearing a shirt with a figure resembling Trump behind bars. The judge urged prosecutors to instruct him to refrain from making any more statements about the case or Trump.
During opening statements, Trump attorney Todd Blanche said, 'He has extensively expressed his desire to see President Trump go to prison. He has extensively expressed his desire to see President Trump’s family go to prison. He has extensively expressed his desire for President Trump to be convicted in this case.'
Regardless of how his testimony unfolds, Cohen is undeniably central to the case, as proven by the fact that his name was mentioned more than 130 times during opening statements — more than any other person.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker
former Trump adviser Hope Hicks have testified at length about the role Cohen played in suppressing stories that could have been damaging to Trump’s 2016 candidacy. And jurors heard an and recording of Trump and Cohen talking about a plan to buy the rights to a story of a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who said she had an affair with Trump.During a large rally on Saturday in the southern New Jersey resort town of Wildwood, Trump repeated his criticism of the case, incorrectly blaming President Joe Biden for orchestrating the New York charges, calling the case a “Biden show trial.” This argument ignores the fact that the hush money case was filed by local prosecutors in Manhattan who do not work for the Justice Department or any other White House office. The Justice Department has said the White House has had no involvement in the two criminal cases against Trump brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Michael Cohen, who used to work for Donald Trump and is now against him, described his famous client as a hands-on manager and said he sometimes lied for him and bullied others on his behalf during highly awaited testimony in the former president’s hush money trial. Cohen, who served as Trump’s lawyer and is the most important witness for the Manhattan district attorney in the case, testified in a manner that signals that the first criminal trial of a former American president is approaching its conclusion. Prosecutors say they may finish presenting their evidence by the end of the week.
During a massive rally on Saturday in the southern New Jersey resort town of Wildwood, Trump revived his criticism of the case, wrongly blaming President Joe Biden for orchestrating the New York charges, calling the case a “Biden show trial.”
That argument ignores the reality that the hush money case was filed by local prosecutors in Manhattan who do not work for the Justice Department or any other White House office. The Justice Department has said the White House has had no involvement in the two criminal cases against Trump brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
