Today, prosecutors led Michael Cohen through testimony meant to underscore that the illegal acts by Cohen (for which he has served time in prison) were done in service to and at the direction of the Malignant Loser ("to protect Mr. Trump"). We're going to ignore the afternoon cross examination. Here are some non-exhaustive highlights, in reverse chronological order (our emphasis):
The prosecution’s questioning of Michael Cohen ended with his emotional statement that he “violated my moral compass” for Donald Trump. With that, the court broke for lunch. The defense cross-examination of Cohen, which is expected to be contentious, is next.
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Michael Cohen expressed regret for the bad things he says he did on Donald Trump’s behalf, telling the jury that he engaged in bad conduct to “effectuate” whatever their goals were.
After working for Trump for a decade, Cohen became a target of regulators and investigators, and he eventually admitted to several federal crimes and got a three-year prison sentence.
“I regret doing things for him that I should not have — lying, bullying people in order to effectuate the goal.”
Cohen added that he didn’t regret his time at the Trump Organization because “as I have expressed before, I had some very interesting and great times.”
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Just a couple of months before he was set to testify against Donald Trump, a federal judge suggested that Michael Cohen had committed perjury by prevaricating about whether he actually committed the tax and bank fraud charges for which he served prison time.
The accusation came up when Cohen was attempting to get out of court supervision as an ex-offender. Cohen had recently testified at the civil fraud trial against Trump’s business that he lied when pleading guilty to the financial crimes.
In court Tuesday, prosecutors led Cohen through those contradictions and tried to show that he was not lying, only arguing that he should not have faced criminal charges.
“I have constantly maintained and I do not dispute the fact that there was an error” in my tax payments, Cohen testified, and that “there was an omission” in his statements to his bank. But, he said, he felt that as “a first-time offender who has consistently paid taxes” and “never having been audited,” he should have been given a chance to resolve the issues without criminal charges. He pleaded guilty, he said, because federal prosecutors threatened to charge his wife, who had also signed the documents.
Despite his disagreement with the charges, Cohen said he served the time, paid the fines and lost his law license.
“I remain even today still on supervised release,” he said.
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Jurors just heard that Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to the same $130,000 hush money payment that Trump is accused in this case of concealing to hide from election regulators.
Cohen also told the panel unequivocally that he did so on Trump’s behalf — testimony that could prove crucial to the Manhattan district attorney’s case against the former president for allegedly trying to cover up his reimbursements to Cohen for fronting the payoff to Stormy Daniels in 2016.
“I made a decision. I would not lie for President Trump anymore,” Cohen testified. In official settings and in public, he had previously made repeated false statements insisting that Trump was not involved in the Daniels deal.
Cohen testified that he would not have paid Daniels if it had not been for Trump’s presidential campaign eight years ago, another nugget that supports the prosecution’s theory that the payment was made to protect Trump’s chances of getting elected.
“On whose direction and on whose behalf did you commit that crime?” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked.
“On behalf of Mr. Trump,” Cohen replied...
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With Michael Cohen on the stand Tuesday, prosecutors are going through some of the key evidence in their case against former president Donald Trump. That includes financial documents, emails and invoices laying out how Cohen was reimbursed for paying off Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Prosecutors have entered into evidence many of these documents, including an email chain from early 2017, soon after Trump was sworn in as president. The chain said Cohen would receive $35,000 a month in January and February 2017 due to “the retainer agreement.” [snip]
Speaking in court about how the $35,000 reimbursement was labeled as “pursuant to the retainer agreement,” Cohen testified that it was a false explanation. The email chain also described the money as being for “legal expenses.”
That was also untrue, Cohen said. The payments, he testified, were to reimburse “the hush money fee.”...
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FBI agents raided Michael Cohen’s home, his office and a hotel room where he had been living in 2018 because of construction at his apartment — events that he said terrified him and threw him into the thick of a serious federal probe as he turned to Donald Trump for reassurance.
Cohen was still on Trump’s side, he testified, protecting him by lying to and misleading officials and the public about the nature of a $130,000 payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and whether Trump was involved in the payoff. In the midst of his show of loyalty to Trump, federal law enforcement upended his life, he said.
Cohen said he spoke to Trump, then in the White House, about the matter. It was the last time the two men spoke, the witness said.
“He said to me, don’t worry, I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing here. Everything’s going to be okay,” Cohen recalled of the conversation. “Stay tough — you’re going to be okay,” Cohen said Trump told him...
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Donald Trump has been repeatedly accused of trying to intimidate or influence witnesses who could testify against him through social media missives. Michael Cohen says he got that message clearly in April 2018, after his home was raided by the FBI.
“Michael [is] a fine person with a wonderful family,” Trump wrote, “who I have always liked & respected.” He added that most people “will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that.”
Cohen said he was avoiding speaking to Trump directly at the time so as not to create legal trouble for the president, so he understood that those tweets were directed at him.
“Stay in the fold, stay loyal, I have you,” is what he said he understood Trump to be saying. “Don’t flip.”...
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Some hints as to the course the remainder of the trial will take:
The scenario described by prosecutors and defense lawyers Tuesday morning to New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan suggests the trial is rapidly moving toward a conclusion, raising the chances that closing arguments and deliberations could come as soon as next week.
Michael Cohen will be the last prosecution witness in the case against former president Donald Trump, according to a sidebar transcript from earlier Tuesday. In the same discussion, Trump’s defense team signaled they may call no witnesses, but are still considering the possibility of calling an election law expert.
More cross examination tomorrow.
BONUS: Look at all the mini-Trumpkins in their new uniforms, matching Trumpkin blue suits and Trumpkin red ties! Where's the orange makeup and dyed blond hair?
BONUS II: From our lips ...
Halloween came early this year. pic.twitter.com/DR6DH49ABj
— Paul Leigh-Some Rascal on the Internet 🟧🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@Pleightx) May 15, 2024
(Photos: top, Michael Cohen / Julia Nikhinson, AP; bottom, Business executive" Vivek Ramaswamy speaks across the street from the Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday in New York. He is flanked by Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), left, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), second from left, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) / Stefan Jeremiah, AP)
