Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
#MichaelCohen previously testified that in June 2016, he was negotiating w/ The #NationalEnquirer & #KarenMcDougal over her story about having had an affair w/ #Trump. On the stand now, as #Blanche digs in about whether he can remember a specific call from that year, Cohen says that seeing prosecutors’ other evidence has jogged his memory about calls he had back then. (That’s memory for ya)
#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.
Cohen testifies he continued to deal w/ #StormyDaniels in early 2018 w/Trump’s backing & blessing. He says that the president asked him to get a temporary restraining order against Daniels.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he’s been following the trial. Cohen says yes, to some extent. Blanche asks if he knows details about the jury selection process.
Objection from prosecution, & it's sustained.
Blanche asks Cohen if he recalls saying on TikTok, while David #Pecker, the fmr publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, was on the stand, that Pecker was corroborating everything he'd been saying for 6 yrs.
That’s the crux of the #conspiracy that prosecutors say #MichaelCohen, #Trump, & The #NationalEnquirer entered into during the election: suppressing negative stories about Trump to aid his chances as a candidate.
Prosecution asks about Cohen’s work negotiating on Trump’s behalf in the #TrumpUniversity case— in which Trump was sued for defrauding thousands of students & paid a $25M settlement — an example of regular people suffering as a result of a Trump business.
#MichaelCohen says he had >30k contacts in his phone.
Cohen explains that part of the reason there were so many is because Trump had his own contacts synced onto Cohen's phone for ease.
Cohen describes his relationship w/ David #Pecker, the fmr publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, & the 1st witness at this trial. Pecker testified that he, Cohen & #Trump entered into a secret plan to suppress negative stories about Trump in 2015.
#MichaelCohen has now testified that he, #Trump & David #Pecker, the publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, entered into a plot to suppress negative stories about Trump. He says Pecker "would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out" & try to stop it from doing so.
This is the #conspiracy prosecutors allege Trump participated in - 1 of the potential #crimes that transforms the charges Trump is facing into #felonies.
#MichaelCohen describes the negative stories about Trump's #GOP primary rivals The #NationalEnquirer printed. Some of the smears were directed at #MarcoRubio, the #Florida senator who is currently a top contender to be #Trump's running mate.
Cohen says that he "immediately showed" such material to Trump, who would greet it with praise like "fantastic, unbelievable."
Prosecution shows email back-&-forth between Cohen, & The Enquirer. Cohen is seen in the email editing what goes in & out of a puff piece about Trump. He doesn't want them to mention that Trump used to date a "Penthouse Pet" - evidence for the jury that Cohen was diligently micromanaging reporting of Trump's history w/women.
#MichaelCohen lays out the first #CatchAndKill story that he worked on w/ The #NationalEnquirer. It was about an allegation by a #doorman at a #Trump building that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. Cohen describes telling Trump about it.
This is the first of the 3 #HushMoney deals that jurors have heard about. The last of them is Cohen's own $130k payment to #StormyDaniels.
#MichaelCohen says he monitored the progress of the doorman's story closely, & that The #NationalEnquirer struck a deal to suppress the story. Cohen says that #Trump was very happy to hear of it - & that Cohen personally reviewed the agreement, & asked for a copy to show Trump so that he knew it was taken care of.
Cohen is describing seeking “credit" w/Trump for "accomplishing the task" of making sure the doorman's story stayed dead.
"I've got this locked down for you," Howard tells Cohen of the McDougal story. "I won't let it out of my grasp."
Cohen is asked about having been present for a conversation that #Trump had w/ David #Pecker about a week after those texts were sent. Cohen says Trump asked Pecker "how things were going," & Pecker said they had it under control.
Jurors have already heard a recording, secretly made by Cohen as he talked to #Trump about #KarenMcDougal, corroborating this part Cohen's testimony.
Cohen said that #Pecker had told him the agreement w/McDougal was “bulletproof." That is exactly the same word that Pecker told the #jury that he had used w/Cohen.
#Trump currently has senior #elected officials, including a possible future VP nominee, sitting in the courtroom listening to a recording of him, as a candidate, talking w/his lawyer about paying for material from The #NationalEnquirer. Trump has completely got the party under his boot.
2 #Republican senators, a congresswoman & 2 state AGs are listening to a now-disbarred lawyer advising Trump on a #HushMoney payment.
An incredible number of hours went into covering up #Trump's alleged affairs in 2016. #MicgaelCohen & the team at The #NationalEnquirer went to elaborate lengths & constantly communicated about how to keep #women quiet. Accounting departments were engaged. Front companies were created. Misleading invoices were produced.
#MichaelCohen makes another reference to getting "credit" from #Trump, this time in connection w/ a #NationalEnquirer article that he got removed. This isn’t only about Cohen wanting head-pats, but also speaks to how close an eye Trump kept on his employees, & how quickly he’d admonish them when displeased.
At every step, the prosecutors are establishing that Cohen told Trump about every little thing he did for him — "to get credit."
Cohen, goes through his texts w/ Davidson & #DylanHoward, editor of The #NationalEnquirer, taking the jurors through material they're familiar w/from when Davidson testified, but it's more corroboration.
#MichaelCohen says he spoke to #Trump before the LLC creation. “Everything required Mr. Trump's signoff" &, "I wanted the money back."
Cohen testifies about using a home equity line of credit to pay #StormyDaniels.
Cohen discusses a call between him & 2 reps of The #NationalEnquirer, David #Pecker & #DylanHoward. They discussed Daniels's plans to go to The Daily Mail w/her story, & Cohen says that it would be "catastrophic" for the campaign, further turning women against the candidate.