(AP) It wasn't until after a decade in the fold, after his family pleaded with him, after the FBI raided his office, apartment and hotel room, Michael Cohen testified Tuesday, that he finally decided to turn on Donald Trump.
That decision led to a 2018 guilty plea to federal charges involving a payment to the porn actor Stormy Daniels to bury her story of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump and to other, unrelated crimes. And it's that insider knowledge of shady deals that pushed Manhattan prosecutors to make Cohen the star witness in their case against Trump about that same payment, which they say was an illegal effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. Under questioning this week, Cohen has described the nuts-and-bolts of how the scheme worked.
“To keep the loyalty and to do the things that he had asked me to do, I violated my moral compass, and I suffered the penalty, as has my family," Cohen said Tuesday.
There’s been no witness-stand bombast or fireworks so far from Cohen, a man who was defined for years by his braggadocio as Trump’s problem-zapper. Instead, his testimony about purposefully mislabeled checks, false receipts and blind loyalty, however dry it was, placed Trump at the center of the scheme and underscored the foundational argument of the case - that it’s not about the spectacle of what Trump was paying for, but rather his effort to illegally cover up those payments.
A shocking moment did come, but it was courtesy of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who appeared at the courthouse with Trump and who used his powerful bully pulpit to turn his political party against the rule of law by declaring the Manhattan criminal trial illegitimate. He and other GOP lawmakers are serving as surrogates while Trump himself remains barred by a gag order in the case following an appeals court ruling Tuesday.
“I do have a lot of surrogates, and they’re speaking very beautifully,” Trump said before court as the group gathered in the background. “And they come ... from all over Washington. And they’re highly respected, and they think this is the greatest scam they’ve ever seen.”
The Republican presidential nominee has pleaded not guilty and denies that any of the encounters took place.
Cohen has testified in detail about how the former president was linked to all aspects of the hush money scheme, and prosecutors believe Cohen’s insider knowledge is critical to their case. But their reliance on a witness with such a checkered past - he was disbarred, went to prison and separately pleaded guilty to lying about a Moscow real estate project on Trump’s behalf - could backfire, especially as Trump’s attorneys cross-examine him.
Cohen will be the prosecution's last witness. Trump's defense will begin after his time is up on the witness stand.
Jurors have already heard how Trump and others in his orbit were reeling after the leak just a few weeks before the 2016 election of an “Access Hollywood” tape in which he bragged about grabbing women by the genitals without their permission. The publication of the tape hastened the payments to Daniels, according to testimony.
Full details: www.wkyc.com/article/news/nat... --
At 3News, we’re not here to tell you the news, we’re here to share the stories that you say matter most to you. Share your ideas, thoughts, concerns and engage in conversations about the communities in which we all call home.
Follow 3News on Social:
Facebook: /
Twitter: / wkyc
Instagram: /
Visit our site: www.wkyc.com/
And be sure to download our app here: wkyc.com/app