The Trial of Michael Cohen and the Case of Stormy Daniels: The Case of a Rat, the President Donald Trump, and a White House Correspondent
After several weeks of testimony, on Monday jurors heard Cohen confirm two key details on the stand: Trump knew about the settlement negotiation with former adult actor Stormy Daniel to keep her allegations of an affair out of the press ahead of the 2016 election and that Trump directed Cohen to make a payment of $130,000 to her because of the election. When he’s cross examined, Trump’s lawyers will likely try to debunk Cohen’s testimony and resurface his own convictions for lying under oath.
“He told me that he was not worried, Michael”, said the man. Cohen told Congress that January and February reimbursement checks were on the way. They were sent from New York. And it takes a while for that to get through the White House system.’”
Lawyer Michael Cohen is back on the stand for a second day of witness testimony against former President Donald Trump. Once a loyal “protector” of Trump as his former “fixer,” the now-staunch critic testified about receiving payments prosecutors argue are false business records.
The journey of Cohen from a man who once promised to take a bullet for Trump to someone who is the key witness against the former president has been long.
In 2018, the two men had a falling out in 2018 amid a federal investigation into Cohen’s financial dealings and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential race.
Cohen used to work for Trump, making secret deals, intimidating reporters and stiffing vendors. After Stormy Daniels’ story blew up, President Trump stopped paying Cohen’s legal bills, and he became what Trump called a rat. The Daniels case is at the heart of the criminal case against Trump in New York.
“Mr. Trump is a cheat,” Cohen told slawmakers at the time. “I’m sure that Mr. Trump inflated his assets when it was his purpose, such as trying to be ranked amongst the richest people in Forbes and deflating his assets to reduce his real estate taxes.”
“I don’t think anybody would dispute this belief that after the wildfire that encompassed the Billy Bush tape, that a second follow up to it would have been pleasant,” Cohen told Congress in 2019. “And he was concerned with the effect that it had had on the campaign, on how women were seeing him, and ultimately whether or not he would have a shot in the general election.”
According to the prosecution, Trump paid Daniels to stay silent about their affair before he ran for the White House.
The former president is accused of faking his New York business records to hide damaging information that could influence the election. Trump, who pleaded not guilty, claims the trial itself is “election interference” because of how it is disrupting his 2024 bid for president. He cannot campaign when he is present in the court.
Several former and current Trump employees, both from his flagship company and his administration, testified to the process in which Trump received personal invoices and paid personal checks — including those used to pay Cohen back.
Cohen said he lied and ran damage control in order to save his boss after news broke that a settlement had been made with Daniels.
The jury has heard from both former National Enquirer publisher and Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who first testified about the deals he made to keep Cohen from talking about his relationship with Trump. The lawyer who negotiated the nondisclosure agreements for Daniels and Karen McDougal gave a presentation to the jury. McDougal won’t be called to testify.