NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-enemy returned to the witness stand and could face a painful round of questioning by the former president’s lawyers as soon as Tuesday.
Michael Cohen’s testimony on Monday linked Trump to all aspects of a hush-money scheme that prosecutors say was aimed at suppressing stories that threatened his 2016 campaign. He is the prosecution’s star witness.
Trump’s lawyers will have the opportunity to question Cohen on Tuesday.
Cohen placed Trump at the center of the hush money scheme, saying he had promised to repay the money the lawyer paid for the payments and was continually informed of the behind-the-scenes efforts to bury stories that were feared that they would be harmful to the 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 trial is entering its 17th day.
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
– What you need to know about Cohen’s crucial testimony
– Trump’s Republican allies show up in large numbers when Cohen takes the stand
– Trump hush money trial: A timeline of key events in the case
– Key players: Who’s who in Trump’s hush-money criminal trial
Here’s the latest:
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen testified on Tuesday in the hush money trial against the ex-president that an invoice for “services rendered” was a false document.
Jurors were shown correspondence from 2017 between Cohen and Jeffrey McConney, then the Trump Organization’s comptroller, who testified as a prosecution witness earlier in the trial.
In an email dated February 14, 2017, with the subject line “$$,” Cohen asked McConney to pay him monthly checks for January and February. McConney then asked for invoices so he could get the checks cut.
The invoices showed “services rendered” for January and February, but Cohen said it was not a truthful statement that there had been “services rendered” during those months or that he had worked on a retainer rate.
“Was this invoice a false document?” asked prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.
“Yes ma’am,” Cohen replied.
Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand on Tuesday and testified that he discussed the hush money reimbursement plan with Donald Trump in the Oval Office when he visited the White House in February 2017.
“I was sitting with President Trump and he asked me if everything was OK,” Cohen told jurors. “He asked me if I needed money, and I said, ‘All right,’ because I can get a check.”
Cohen testified that Trump then told him, “Okay, make sure you do business with Allen,” a reference to then-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, and that a check for his payments in January and February would come.
Under Cohen’s repayment plan, he received $35,000 per month for twelve months, for a total of $420,000.
During the same visit to the White House, Cohen posed for a photo at the lectern in the press conference room. The photo, which was taken from Cohen’s iPhone by prosecutors, was shown in court.
Michael Cohen was questioned again as former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial resumed on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger resumed her questioning shortly after Cohen entered the court. Trump did not appear to respond to Cohen’s arrival. Instead, he focused on a piece of paper in his hand, which he raised and showed with a frown to his attorney Todd Blanche as Cohen walked by.
Before the jury and Cohen arrived in the courtroom, a side conversation with the judge took place at the request of prosecutor Joshua Steinglass. The subject was not clear.
During the sidebar, Trump had an extended conversation with his lawyer Emil Bove, occasionally gesturing with his hand or thumb.
Trump, flanked by supporters including the Speaker of the House of Representatives and several potential vice presidential candidates, again denounced the trial before entering the courthouse.
Trump, who is barred by a gag order from going after witnesses, jurors and family members of court officials, cited a litany of criticism from conservative commentators on the case.
Among those in the courtroom with Trump were former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, one of Trump’s sons, Eric, and daughter-in-law Lara.
Former President Donald Trump entered the court just before 9 a.m. Tuesday for another day of testimony from his fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, second in the presidential line of succession, traveled with Trump in his motorcade in a politically stunning and important show of Republican support.
Johnson uses his powerful pulpit to attack the American justice system, criticizing the courts as biased against the former president. The speaker claims the case is politically motivated by Democrats and insists Trump has done “nothing wrong.”
It is a remarkable, if not unprecedented, moment in modern American politics for the powerful Speaker of the House of Representatives, a constitutional officer, to turn his political party against the American system and the rule of law by declaring a trial illegal.
Johnson’s team announced that he planned to address the media later in the morning “outside of President Trump’s continued sham persecution.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson will travel to the court with Donald Trump in his motorcade, along with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Florida Representatives Byron Donalds and Cory Mills, and his former GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy .
Both Burgum and Donalds are considered potential vice presidential candidates.
On Monday, Trump was joined in court by a number of Republican supporters, including another potential running mate: Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
Now that Donald Trump is barred from publicly attacking the key witness in his hush money trial, his campaign brought a gang of Republican elected officials to court to speak on his behalf.
Trump, who is weighing the demands of a felony trial with his third attempt at the White House, has been banned from criticizing witnesses by a judge’s gag order and has already been fined for violating the restrictions.
By bringing allies to justice, Trump’s campaign could push his message without violating the silence order. It also gave these allies a prominent platform to demonstrate loyalty to their party’s presumptive nominee and perhaps audition for higher office.
Michael Cohen, once Donald Trump’s loyal lawyer and fixer, provided jurors with an insider’s account of payments to silence women’s claims of sexual encounters with Trump, saying the payments were ordered by Trump to damage prevent his 2016 bid for the White House.
Although he is the prosecution’s most important witness, he is also the most vulnerable to attack. He spent time in federal prison and has built up his persona in recent years as a thorn in Trump’s side.
Cohen is expected to spend several days on the witness stand and face intense criticism from Trump’s lawyers, who have portrayed him as a liar trying to take down the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Although he is the prosecution’s most important witness, he is also the most vulnerable to attack. He spent time in federal prison and has built up his persona in recent years as a thorn in Trump’s side.
Trump has denied all allegations in the case.