Michael Cohen ensnares Trump in Stormy Daniels scheme
by Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee - 05/13/24 6:17 PM ET
NEW YORK — The jury that will decide former President Trump’s fate in his hush money trial finally heard on Monday from Michael Cohen, who provided some of the strongest implications yet of his former client’s role in the scheme at the heart of the case.
As he’s done many times before, Cohen recounted his role in several so-called catch-and-kill deals to keep unflattering stories about Trump out of the public eye during the 2016 campaign.
But the retelling of that story to jurors over an entire court day pinned the blame on his former boss more than any other witness who has taken the stand so far. That clearly angered Trump, who afterward gave some of his most vehement remarks about his innocence, reading out articles from legal allies and slamming the judge in response to what he’d just sat through for hours.
Inside the courtroom however, the atmosphere itself was more subdued than had been expected between the two allies-turned-foes who have been at each other’s throats for years.
Cohen appeared careful to not lose his temper, speaking slowly and looking dejected and even anxious on the stand. He made a handful of audible sighs as prosecutors for hours asked him to detail his conversations negotiating hush money deals during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Trump, meanwhile, kept his eyes closed for much of Cohen’s testimony — a marked departure from their last faceoff, which ended with the former president storming out of the courtroom where his ex-personal attorney was testifying against him in a civil case.
But Trump’s visibility was stark when he first entered the courtroom where his criminal trial was taking place Monday morning, followed by a small entourage of more than 15 people comprised of Republican lawmakers, Secret Service agents, lawyers and campaign allies.
Three sitting members of Congress — Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) — were among the group, as was Trump’s son Eric Trump and his legal spokeswoman, Alina Habba. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) also sat in.
Trump at the end of the day gave shoutouts to many of them, reading from a list of his allies’ statements that Trump had marked up with a Sharpie during the afternoon proceedings. But he also grew angry during remarks to reporters staking out the courthouse hallway.
“We have a corrupt judge,” Trump told reporters in the hallway of the court house, raising his voice. “And we have a judge who’s highly conflicted. And he’s keeping me from campaigning.”
“He’s a corrupt judge. And he’s a conflicted judge and he oughta let us go out and campaign and get rid of this scam,” Trump alleged.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4661503-michael-cohen-trump-hush-money-trial/
