Trump defense grills Michael Cohen in hush money trial

Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche raised his voice and flailed his arms at Michael Cohen, wailing at the prosecution’s star witness and accusing him of making up a phone conversation with Trump just before he sent $130,000 to Stormy Daniels’ attorney in October 2016.

It was the most dramatic moment of the cross-examination of the key witness in the hush money case, and the clearest example yet of the defense’s effort to cast doubt on Cohen’s memory of phone calls and other significant interactions with Trump in 2016.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• A heated confrontation over a key phone call: On Monday, Cohen testified to prosecutors that he reached out to Trump's former bodyguard Keith Schiller on October 24, 2016, to speak to Trump about Daniels. But on Thursday, Blanche read Cohen a text he sent Schiller minutes before that call about receiving prank phone calls. Blanche used the texts to challenge Cohen’s account of the call. “That was a lie, you did not talk to President Trump, you talked to Keith Schiller – you can admit it,” he pressed. Cohen responded, “No sir, I don’t know that it’s accurate.”
• Cohen navigates years of inconsistent statements: Trump’s lawyer spent hours tediously moving through inconsistent statements that Cohen has made to knock his credibility. Blanche questioned Cohen on a myriad of topics, including the recanting of his 2018 guilty plea on tax charges, whether he wanted to work in the White House and what he’s said about a pardon from Trump. Blanche suggested Cohen was unreliable and only acted like he’d taken accountability for the crimes when he pleaded guilty to get a reduced sentence.
• Cohen pressed on desire for a pardon: Blanche also challenged Cohen on his desires to be in Trump’s White House, as revealed in private communications with his daughter and people like Pastor Darrell Scott, whom Cohen asked to put in a good word with Trump. Still, Cohen maintained that he only ever wanted to be Trump’s personal attorney — the position he held until he became the subject of a federal investigation.
• Trump perks up for Cohen’s cross: For much of the week, while Cohen has been on the witness stand, Trump has been taking in the trial with his eyes shut. But Trump’s demeanor shifted on Thursday afternoon as the attention turned to Cohen and the media. He sat up in his chair facing directly toward Cohen as Blanche quizzed the witness about his conversations with New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
• Trial nearing an end? Before leaving for the weekend, Merchan told the lawyers to be prepared to give summations on Tuesday – meaning the jury could have the case as early as next week. Prosecutors told Merchan they have no other witnesses to call after Cohen is off the stand, and the defense said it plans to call one campaign finance expert, though that is not set in stone.

Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen took the stand this week to testify in the former president's historical criminal trial and the prosecution's key witness will likely wrap up Monday.

Cohen’s testimony ties together the prosecution’s allegations that Trump broke the law by falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen and conceal the hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels that Cohen said he made at Trump’s direction. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies having an affair with Daniels.

Here are the highlights of everything he has said so far in the trial:

Day 1 of Cohen's testimony (Monday):

Cohen implicated Trump:

• Under direct examination, Cohen described how he worked with former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign to kill negative stories; how he kept Trump apprised of his hush money negotiations with Keith Davidson, the attorney for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal; and how Trump approved and was aware of how Cohen would be falsely repaid in 2017 for the Daniels payment as legal services.
• The day before Cohen wired the money, he had two calls with Trump the morning in which he said he told Trump he was going to open the account for the LLC that would wire the money to Daniels. “Everything required Mr. Trump’s sign-off; on top of that, I wanted the money back.”

Cohen ties the hush money reimbursement to Trump:

• On Monday, jurors heard through Cohen for the first time evidence directly connecting Trump to those reimbursements. In 2017, Cohen said he went to Trump’s then-chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, about getting repaid for the $130,000 payment. “Let’s do it,” he said Weisselberg told him. The jury was then shown Cohen’s First Republic bank statement, which showed the $130,000 settlement payment.
• Importantly, Cohen said that after their meeting, he and Weisselberg went to Trump’s office to speak to him about it. Cohen said he was given the title of personal attorney to the president around the same time but wasn’t going to be paid for that title because it was meant as "reimbursement of my money.”

Day 2 of Cohen's testimony (Tuesday):

Cohen walks through his decision to stop being loyal to Trump:

• He explained that he lied on Trump’s behalf to Congress in 2017 during the Russia investigation and that he was “misleading” when he told the Federal Election Commission about the $130,000 payment to Daniels in a 2018 letter. He described how he was given reassurance by Trump’s allies – and Trump’s tweets – that his loyalty was appreciated and that he should not “flip” on Trump. After the FBI seized Cohen’s phones and records in a search warrant in 2018, he said Trump called him, which was the last time they spoke.
• Ultimately, Cohen described how a conversation with his family in August 2018 convinced him to change his tune, plead guilty and tell the truth about Trump. “I regret doing things for him that I should not have,” Cohen said. “I don’t regret working with the Trump Organization. As I expressed before, some very interesting, great times. But 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.”

Defense tries to discredit him:

• Trump attorney Todd Blanche’s used a series of colorful quotes from Cohen to try to paint him as someone who hated Trump and who was hellbent on getting revenge while making money off the former president and trying to get his prison sentence reviewed. Blanche had plenty of material to work with. Cohen has written two books, “Disloyal” and “Revenge,” and has recorded hundreds of podcasts – confirming he mentions Trump in every episode of “Mea Culpa.”
• Cohen tried to put another spin on it. Asked what his goal was of putting out a TikTok nearly every night, he said: “Build an audience, to create a community, to really vent because I have a difficult time sleeping, so I found an outlet.”

Day 3 of Cohen's testimony (Thursday):

The biggest blow to Cohen's credibility over a key phone call:

• Cohen had told the prosecution on Monday that an October 24, 2016, phone call between him and Trump’s bodyguard was about discussing “the Stormy Daniels matter.” But on Thursday, Blanche used texts to challenge Cohen's account of the call, claiming it was a teenager prank calling him.
• In the afternoon, Cohen defended his memory of his calls – arguing that while he’s had thousands of calls and did not remember all of the circumstances surrounding them, he did remember the details of important ones. “Because these phone calls are things that I have been talking about for the last six years. They are and they were extremely important and they were all-consuming,” Cohen said. “So while I did not know that it took place at 8:02 p.m., what I did recall is the conversation that I had had.”

The hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump is one of four criminal cases he faces while juggling his presidential campaign.

The former president faces at least 88 charges over the four criminal indictments in Georgia, New York, Washington, DC, and Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge in these cases. 

Here's a recap of each case: 

• Hush money: Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush-money payment to an adult film star in 2016. Prosecutors allege Trump was part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. Further, they allege he was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including the $130,000 payment. 
• Classified documents: Trump was indicted in June 2023 by a federal grand jury in Miami for taking classified national defense documents from the White House after he left office and resisting the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials. The National Archives said in early 2022 that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from the estate, including some that were classified. The charges were brought by special counsel Jack Smith. However, Judge Aileen Cannon has indefinitely postponed the trial, citing significant issues around classified evidence that would need to be worked out before the federal criminal case goes to a jury.
• Federal election interference: Smith separately charged the former president last August with four crimes over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results. The indictment alleges Trump and a co-conspirator "attempted to exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol by calling lawmakers to convince them ... to delay the certification" of the election. That case is currently on hold as the Supreme Court weighs Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the matter. The court held a hearing on the issue of immunity in late April. Every day the court doesn’t issue a decision will play into Trump’s strategy of delay, jeopardizing the likelihood that Smith can bring his case to trial before the November election. 
• Fulton County: State prosecutors in Georgia brought a similar election subversion case against Trump and others. An Atlanta-based grand jury on August 14, 2023, indicted Trump and 18 others on state charges stemming from their alleged efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. A trial date has not yet been set in that case, and the Georgia Court of Appeals will consider an effort by Trump and his co-defendants to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the case.

Read more about the four criminal cases Trump faces. 

Donald Trump’s defense team focused on challenging what Michael Cohen said in his direct testimony during cross-examination on Thursday. 

Trump attorney Todd Blanche sought to highlight inconsistencies with the aim of at least making jurors realize they shouldn’t want to make an important decision based on Cohen’s word alone. Cohen is the only witness who has directly tied Trump to the $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels and the allegedly falsified documents that described the repayment as a retainer. 

The court is off Friday so Trump can attend his son’s high school graduation. The defense will finish its cross-examination on Monday before the prosecution has an opportunity to conduct redirect questioning.

Here are the key things that happened in court:

• Attitude toward Trump and the trial: Blanche asked Cohen about various times he insulted Trump and called him names. Blanche played a clip from a podcast where Cohen said he hoped Trump would “get a taste of what I went through” and pointed to a social media post where Cohen disparaged Trump.
• Lying under oath: The defense pointed out times Cohen lied under oath. Cohen said he lied to the House Intelligence Committee in 2017 and to the special counsel in 2018. Cohen also confirmed he lied to a federal judge because the stakes affected him personally.
• Pardon possibility: Blanche challenged Cohen on past statements that he never asked for nor would ever accept a pardon from Trump. Cohen said he did explore a pardon from Trump with his lawyers, contrary to what he had testified to Congress. Blanche pointed out that his attorney issued a public statement to correct what Cohen said to Congress. Cohen said a pardon was “being dangled.”
• Cohen’s desire to work at the White House: The defense asked Cohen about his desire to work at the White House, specifically as chief of staff. When he didn’t get picked to be chief of staff, Cohen said he wanted to be the “personal attorney to the president,” but texted his daughter that Trump was "not happy with the title I wanted." His daughter also said she thought Trump and his new officials were “walking all over” him, Cohen confirmed.
• Defense hones in on key October 2016 phone call: Cohen had testified that he told Trump in a 90-second call in 2016 that the Daniels payment was funded and the issue was resolved. On cross-examination, he said he was receiving multiple harassing phone calls from a 14-year-old around the same time. The defense showed call logs and text messages to show Cohen was asking Trump’s former bodyguard Keith Schiller for help with harassment he was experiencing, as opposed to talking about the Daniels deal he testified about. Cohen said they talked about both topics.
• Challenging Cohen’s recollection: Blanche challenged Cohen’s memory about specific details in phone calls. Cohen confirmed that he got about 14,000 phone calls per year in 2016 and 2017. Because of the sheer number, the defense pressed Cohen about how he made specific recollections about calls with people like National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, former editor Dylan Howard and Trump.

The latest on the gag order: Trump's attorneys have filed court documents indicating they will ask New York's highest court to weigh in on the gag order against him in his hush money trial. On Tuesday, a New York appeals court denied Trump’s latest attempt to end the gag order. The next day, Trump's attorneys submitted court filings indicating they will appeal the denied motion to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. 

No cameras are allowed inside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump's hush money trial is underway, but sketch artists captured the scenes as Michael Cohen was cross-examined by the defense today while the former president listened nearby.

The moment when defense indicated that Michael Cohen’s call to Donald Trump's bodyguard Keith Schiller was for help with harassment he was receiving — not to speak with Trump about Daniels, as he testified Monday — “was the most dramatic” point of the cross-examination, CNN’s Kara Scannell said.

“It was the most dramatic moment of the cross examination. Cohen looks like he made up that one call after he saw some records form the prosecution and filled in the blank. It casts doubt on Cohen's memory of phone calls in 2016," Scannell said.

But, she added: "It's up to the jury to decide whether he made up this one call or all calls."

Here’s how Cohen explained it in the afternoon, according to CNN’s Jeremy Herb: “Even if he didn't recall the circumstances of every call, he remembers the calls themselves.”

Donald Trump called Thursday another "interesting day" in court.

"I didn't violate any law," Trump said. "This is a scam."

The former president quoted commentary in various news outlets about his case, which he described as "political persecution" and a "joke."

"We're supposed to believe in equal justice under the law and this is not happening in America," he said.

Moments earlier, as the trial wrapped, Trump was seen looking at a white sheet of paper with the word "QUOTES" in all caps at the top.

The post was updated with more of Trump's remarks.

The court is adjourned for the week. Michael Cohen wrapped up his testimony for the day saying that he thought the Stormy Daniels contract was legally binding and answered questions on an alleged campaign finance violation.

Here are the highlights of his end-of-day testimony:

Former Trump Tower doorman’s claim: Cohen confirmed American Media Inc. paid former Trump Tower doorman Dino Sajudin to suppress his false claim that Trump had an alleged love child with a maid. Trump “initially” didn’t think the story would hurt his campaign.

Stormy Daniels contract: Cohen confirmed the contract for adult film actor Stormy Daniels was a legally binding document. Earlier, Cohen recalled saying he believed Stormy Daniels was extorting Trump.

Concerns about AMI files on Trump: In a 2016 call with Trump, Cohen expressed about the files American Media Inc. had on Trump. He said he was worried someone beside David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, could get control of the files.

Campaign finance allegations: Cohen’s attorney sent a letter in 2018 to the Federal Election Commission in response to a complaint from a watchdog group who alleged the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels was a campaign finance law violation. Cohen asserted the payment was a private transaction using his personal funds. In a statement to reporters about the complaint, Cohen said neither the Trump Organization nor Trump campaign was involved in the transaction.

Back on Monday: Cross-examination of Trump's former lawyer resumes Monday.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche said the defense could still call a rebuttal witnesses, but if they do, they won't be long.