The fourth week of witness testimony in former U.S. president Donald Trump's hush money trial could be a doozy: Michael Cohen, the prosecution's star witness, has taken the stand.The long-anticipated testimony from Trump's former lawyer and personal fixer would follow a breathtaking buildup by prosecutors of a case that ultimately hinges on record-keeping.
Cohen recalled Trump calling him while he was on a holiday vacation in December 2016. He said the then president-elect told him: “Don’t worry about that other thing, I’m going to take care of it when you get back.” Cohen said Weisselberg then wrote out various amounts on the statement, including the $130,000 reimbursement, $50,000 for another expense he said he incurred for technology services, plus a $60,000 bonus.
“I was truly insulted. Personally hurt by it. Didn’t understand it. Made no sense,” he said. “It was insulting that the gratitude shown back to me was to cut the bonus by two-thirds.” “I just wanted my name to have been included,” Cohen testified, even as he acknowledged he was likely not “competent” enough for the role. “It was more about my ego than anything.”He then pitched Trump on the role of being his “personal attorney,” compiling a memo on his credentials and bringing in another attorney well-versed in presidential history to highlight the importance of the job.
Daniels needed to be paid to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump, who was running for the White House in 2016. She told jurors last week that she received $130,000. On Oct. 27, 2016 — less than two weeks before the 2016 election — Cohen finalized the payments to buy Daniels’ story. Immediately, he went to Trump to inform him the deal was done.In afternoon testimony at Donald Trump's hush-money trial, Michael Cohen said he used the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur — the day of atonement — as one of many excuses to delay completing a deal with Stormy Daniels.
As he worked to secure funding for the $150,000 payment, Cohen said he received guidance from Allen Weisselberg, then the Trump Organization's CFO. Cohen said at some point Pecker had also expressed to him that his company, American Media Inc., had a"file drawer or a locked drawer as he described it, where files related to Mr. Trump were located."
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