Michael Cohen back in hot seat
NEW YORK: Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand yesterday for what was expected to be a tough grilling by the ex-president’s lawyers at his historic hush money trial.
Mr Cohen, who served as Mr Trump’s “fixer” for years but is now a bitter foe of his onetime boss, is the prosecution’s star witness at the first criminal trial of a former occupant of the White House.
Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse Mr Cohen for a US$130,000
(4.8 million baht) payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, when her claims of a sexual encounter with t he Republican candidate could have doomed his campaign.
The dramatic courtroom face-off is taking place six months ahead of the November presidential election in which Mr Trump is hoping to recapture the White House from President Joe Biden.
Mr Cohen answered questions from prosecutors for more than five hours on Monday and was expected to be turned over to Mr Trump’s defence attorneys at some point yesterday for a likely combative cross-examination.
The 57-year-old Cohen is crucial to the Manhattan district attorney’s case and Mr Trump’s lawyers have spent the first few weeks of the trial seeking to undermine his credibility.
Mr Cohen spent 13 months in jail and another year and a half under house arrest after pleading guilty in 2018 to lying to Congress and committing financial crimes.
Mr Cohen walked j urors on Monday through how he arranged the payment to Ms Daniels to prevent her from going public about her alleged 2006 tryst with the married Mr Trump, a revelation that could have been “catastrophic” to his White House bid.
“I was doing everything I could and more in order to protect my boss, which was something I had done for a long time,” Mr Cohen said. Mr Cohen told the jury how the Trump campaign would seek to buy unflattering stories, which is what is alleged to have happened with Ms Daniels.
Ms Daniels and Mr Trump — under t he respective pseudonyms Peggy Peterson and David Dennison — were parties to a nondisclosure agreement prepared by Mr Cohen that has emerged in court filings.
During nearly eight hours over two days last week, Ms Daniels testified about the sexual encounter she said she had with Mr Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, and then the financial settlement.
Mr Trump, 77, has denied having sex with Ms Daniels, and his lawyers last week asked Judge Juan Merchan for a mistrial on the grounds that her graphic testimony was prejudicial in what is a financial records and election-related case.
Mr Trump could still run in the November election if he is convicted in the hush money case.