The state’s star witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, took the stand Monday in former President Trump’s criminal hush money trial.
The criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump reached a crescendo Monday when the state’s star witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, testified about his ex-boss directing him to “just take care of” a payment to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the waning days of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Cohen claimed that Trump blessed those negotiations, approved the final deal, and signed off on the reimbursement plan in the final days before his presidential inauguration. Cohen testified that the sole purpose of the scheme was to protect Trump’s political fortunes and obscure his role in orchestrating the arrangements.
“Everything required Mr. Trump’s sign off,” Cohen said on the stand.
Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment that Cohen made to Stormy Daniels in order to boost Trump’s electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. The payment was to buy Daniels’ silence about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump that the former president has steadfastly denied.
Cohen delivered critical testimony for prosecutors from a man who they acknowledge carries significant baggage. But instead of the hyperbolic bombast Cohen often espouses from behind his keyboard, the Michael Cohen jurors met on Monday stayed on message.
The big question now: Will jurors buy it?
Here are four big takeaways from Day 16 of Donald Trump’s hush money trial.
Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe claimed that the then-candidate ordered him to “just do it,” referring to the execution of a payment to Stormy Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 campaign.
It was the most direct testimony jurors have heard tethering Trump to the concept of “catch-and-kill” payments to keep unfavorable stories under wraps.
