Cohen pressed on crimes and lies
• With prosecutors’ hush-money case against Donald Trump barrelling toward its end, defence lawyers pressed former attorney Michael Cohen on his criminal history and past lies Thursday as they worked to convince jurors not to believe the star witness’ pivotal testimony.
As Trump looked on, defence attorney Todd Blanche peppered Cohen with questions about his own misdeeds, painting him to the jury as a serial fabulist bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee behind bars.
Whether the defence is successful in undermining Cohen’s testimony could determine Trump’s fate in the case. Over several days on the witness stand, Cohen described for jurors meetings and conversations he said he had with Trump about the alleged scheme to stifle stories about sex that threatened to torpedo Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Cohen acknowledged lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate deal in Russia. He also testified that he lied under oath when he pleaded guilty to federal charges, including tax fraud, in 2018.
The defence also attacked Cohen’s motivations, suggesting he turned on Trump after he was denied a White House job. Blanche confronted Cohen with a series of text messages showing private conversations he had in November 2016. In one message, Cohen texted his daughter that he still had a shot at becoming the president’s chief of staff. Another shows Cohen telling a friend that she could serve as his assistant once he gets the position.
“The truth is, Mr. Cohen, you really wanted to work in the White House, correct?” asked Blanche. “No sir,” Cohen replied.
Cohen is by far the prosecutors’ most important witness, placing Trump at the centre of the alleged scheme to silence women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump. Trump denies the women’s claims.
Cohen told jurors that Trump promised to reimburse him for the money he fronted and was constantly updated about behind-thescenes efforts to bury stories feared to be harmful to his 2016 campaign.
Trump says the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses because Cohen was a lawyer.