#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
#Republican#LizCheney, the fmr congresswoman, #Jan6 cmte co-chair & #Trump critic, assailed #House Speaker #MikeJohnson for his impending appearance outside the courthouse where Trump's #ElectionInterference / #HushMoney trial is taking place. “Have to admit I’m surprised that SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the ’I cheated on my wife with a porn star’club,” she wrote on X. “I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all.”
#MichaelCohen describes meeting w/ #Trump in the #OvalOffice in Feb 2017. He says that Trump asked him if he needed money, & that he said no, he didn’t need any extra. He said Trump asked him to “deal w/ Allen,” meaning #AllenWeisselberg, who arranged the repayment plan for the #HushMoney. Trump also said, Cohen testified, that he’d receive a check for both Jan & Feb.
Prosecutors display a picture of Cohen visiting the #WhiteHouse at the time.
#MichaelCohen said that he made sure to tell #Trump that he got the denial from #StormyDaniels “to get credit that I was continuing to ensure he was protected.” He wanted Trump to know that he had “stayed loyal.”
Prosecution shows texts that Cohen was trying to get Daniels booked on #SeanHannity’s #FoxNews show on 18 Jan, 2018, to deny that she'd had an affair w/Trump.
Prosecution shows #MichaelCohen texting the NYT’s Maggie Haberman — who is sitting in the courtroom — as he sought to spread the news that he made the #HushMoney payment himself, & that neither the #TrumpOrganization nor the #TrumpCampaign was a part of it [note: he didn’t include Trump personally]. He also said that he was not reimbursed for the payment. He says that he had planned to give Haberman the statement first, & that he had received approval from the “big boss.”
Prosecution shows that as #MichaelCohen continued his denial tour in regard to the #HushMoney, he was texted by Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for #Trump. The text says “Client says thanks for what you do.” Cohen leaves no doubt in his testimony that “client” in the text refers to Trump, thanking Cohen for the denials.
Cohen testified earlier that he had shared his misleading statement about reimbursements w/Sekulow.
#MichaelCohen testifies that it was his understanding that #Trump wanted him to refrain from cooperating w/the government — you know the one he was in charge of — & “certainly not to provide information or flip.”
We still haven’t had anything directly tying #Trump to the structure of the false business records outside of #MichaelCohen’s testimony on the stand, which the defense will aggressively challenge. But the risk for the defense is that the jury holds Trump accountable for all of the various mucky conduct that is being described here, & has been described throughout the trial.
Prosecutors can argue that if #Trump knew about the false records & did not stop them, as #MichaelCohen says, then he aided the #crime.
The synchronization of the Trump tweets & Robert #Costello's outreach to Cohen helps to reinforce the idea that Trump was no longer communicating w/ Cohen directly, but he was still trying to make sure that his embattled fixer was under his thumb.
As #MichaelCohen repeats that he worked w/David #Pecker & others at his company to do so, he again repeats that he took action at #Trump’s direction. The prosecutors use that testimony to lead into Cohen’s #guilty pleas in the federal case against him in 2018. Some of the charges against him were related to the #HushMoney payment.
#MichaelCohen testifies about his 2019 testimony before the #House of Representatives, one hearing of which was televised. During that hearing, he sealed his split w/ #Trump, calling him a #racist & a #ConMan who was #unfit for office.
Cohen recaps his apology to the public during that testimony. Cohen is one of the only Trump allies or advisers who actually served time in #prison.
"Pay with cash" — those words were said by Trump, recorded by Michael Cohen, and played back in front of the jury in the #hushmoney trial. And from the recorded conversation it was clear, this was Trump directing Cohen to pay Karen McDougal with cash, so it would be untraceable.
"Star witness Michael Cohen directly implicates Trump in testimony at hush money trial.
Donald Trump's fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen, directly implicated the former president in a hush money scheme Monday, telling jurors that his celebrity client tasked him on several occasions to stifle stories about sex that he feared could torpedo his 2016 presidential campaign."
The Trump trial prosecution team is heads above the defense team on all fronts. In this case - knowing what your opponent's next move is going to be.
"By eliciting a detailed account of Michael Cohen’s feelings of betrayal here, prosecutors seem to be anticipating the defense’s plan on cross-examination to paint him as an embittered ex-employee with a grudge against Trump. They would rather get the story out themselves now to lessen its sting." - Alan Feuer, NYT
#MichaelCohen recalls that he & #AllenWeisselberg, spoke about possibly generating the $130k through a membership request or an event being held at a club.
Cohen is directly tying #Trump to the #HushMoney payment, corroborating the testimony of others, including #KeithDavidson & #HopeHicks, who said Cohen would never had made the payment w/o Trump's authorization. Cohen talks about Weisselberg helping him to think through how to make the payment.
This testimony echoes #HopeHicks's remarks that she didn't think #MichaelCohen would have done this on his own.
The testimony is critical because it links #Trump not only to the #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels, but also to the scheme to reimburse Cohen for fronting the money — & that is what forms the basis of the falsification of business records charges.
these texts - combined w/ #MichaelCohen's testimony - indicate that the motivations for the #HushMoney deal were to protect #Trump politically.
After Cohen decided to pay #StormyDaniels himself, we are seeing, he launched into a blitz of phone calls w/ both #KeithDavidson & David #Pecker. This is documentary evidence: & shows, w/ surprising ividness given that it is simply metadata, the frenzy that Cohen was experiencing as he sought to suppress the Daniels story.
#MichaelCohen says he told #Trump “immediately" once he'd resolved the #StormyDaniels#HushMoney deal & says that he told Trump right away because he wanted to get "credit" for resolving the task.
Cohen describes arranging every last detail of the payment to Daniels. Prosecution is doing this to use the incredible amount of documentary evidence they have to corroborate Cohen.
#MichaelCohen has linked #Trump directly to the scheme to reimburse him for the #StormyDaniels#HushMoney payment, which forms the basis for the falsification of business records charges. And he has said that Trump was personally concerned that Daniels's story, if it got out, could affect his chances w/ female voters, which speaks directly to the underlying election #conspiracy statute that elevates those charges from misdemeanors to #felonies.
When Hicks testified, she acknowledged that it was ironic to be testifying about this exchange she had w/ Cohen, which focused on whether or not the McDougal story was being picked up by other news outlets, at a literal criminal trial that stemmed from the publication of this story & the one about #StormyDaniels.
We saw #AllenWeisselberg’s notes during Jeffrey McConney’s testimony, he worked under Weisselberg. But now, #MichaelCohen is testifying that he was in the room as Weisselberg made these notations on how to repay him for the #HushMoney, + his shrunken bonus. This document goes straight to the repayments to Cohen, & the false documents.
#Trump is charged w/ 34 #felony counts of falsifying business records: 11 checks, 11 invoices & 12 ledger entries.
#MichaelCohen explains why he was owed $180k, instead of $130k for #HushMoney. He says that he was owed $50k — an amt he admits was exaggerated - to pay a firm called Red Finch for "tech services." He tells this story in his book "Disloyal." At least in part, the services were Cohen getting a computer programmer to buy IPs in order to rig an online CNBC poll to make sure #Trump ranked among the most influential business leaders alive.
Add to this sum, Cohen was also given a $60k bonus, bringing the total he was to be paid to $420k. That amount was split — as shown in #AllenWeisselberg’s notes — into 12 months' of payments.
This #MichaelCohen testimony is crucial to the case. They allege that the repayments to Cohen were not, in fact, #legal expenses as indicated on the records & instead they were the #HushMoney payment "grossed up"
We are finished for the day. #MichaelCohen has testified that #Trump directed him to make the #HushMoney payment & signed off on #AllenWeisselberg's plan to repay Cohen. Cohen will return to the stand on Tues, so prosecutors can conclude direct examination.
After that, it will be the defense's turn to cross-examine him.