The Latest | Cohen expected to take the stand as testimony in Trump hush money case enters 4th week
NEW YORK — The fourth week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial could be a doozy: Michael Cohen is expected to finally take the stand on Monday.
The long-awaited testimony from Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer would follow a breathtaking build-up by prosecutors of a case that ultimately hinges on record-keeping. Trump is accused of falsifying internal company records to cover up hush-money payments that Cohen made as part of efforts to buy and bury stories that could damage the former president’s 2016 campaign.
Text messages, audio recordings, notes and more have all been introduced or shown to jurors in recent weeks to illustrate what prosecutors say was a scheme to illegally influence that year’s election. And at times, dramatic testimony from witnesses including former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, ex-Trump staffers and porn actor Stormy Daniels added to the intrigue.
The prosecutor could wrap up his case this week after telling the judge Friday he expected to call only two more witnesses.
The trial is entering its 16th day.
In addition to Daniels’ account of a 2006 sexual encounter she said she had with Trump — which he denies — the defense last week saw two failed bids for a mistrial, attempts to overturn the gag order have it revoked or at least changed, and much more. .
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 crimes.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four prosecutions against Trump to reach a jury.
Currently:
– Michael Cohen: A challenging key witness in Trump’s hush money trial
– The Trump trial is about sex, bank accounts and power: highlights from the third week of testimony
– Key players: Who’s who in Trump’s hush-money criminal trial
– The hush money case is just one of Trump’s lawsuits. Check out the others here
Here’s the latest:
The legal proceedings in Donald Trump’s hush money trial will take place on only three days this week: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Wednesday is the usual day off during the week and the court will not meet on Friday to allow the former president to attend his son Barron’s graduation ceremony.
Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, could appear at Donald Trump’s hush money trial after all.
On Friday, Judge Juan M. Merchan asked prosecutors to see if they could get him to stand trial before instead trying to introduce evidence to explain his absence.
Weisselberg, 76, is currently incarcerated at the Rikers Island complex in New York City, where he is serving a five-month prison sentence for lying under oath in his testimony in the attorney general’s civil fraud investigation into Trump. He pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced last month. His plea deal does not require any cooperation or testimony in the criminal case.
“Right now it looks like we’re trying to avoid the gun. We’re trying to explain why he’s not here without putting any effort into getting him here,” Merchan said.
Trump attorney Emil Bove noted that his absence “is a very complicated issue” and may require a jury instruction on uncalled witnesses.
Prosecutors had argued that subpoenaing Weisselberg to testify would likely be a waste of time because of his loyalty to Trump and the likelihood that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.
Donald Trump is due back in court on Monday morning as witness testimony in his criminal trial enters its fourth week.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is the prosecution’s key witness in Trump’s hush money trial. Cohen will take the stand Monday and is by far the Manhattan district attorney’s most important witness in the case.
Prosecutors say they could complete their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.
Cohen is expected to testify about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump’s behalf during his first presidential campaign, including against porn actor Stormy Daniels, who told jurors last week that the $130,000 she received in 2016 was intended to prevent her from going public. about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in a hotel suite a decade earlier.
Defense lawyers have completed a nail-biting cross-examination of Cohen, telling jurors during opening statements that the fixer-turned-enemy is an “admitted liar” with an “obsession with getting down President Trump.”
The trial is entering its 16th day.