Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer, is due to step up as a key witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump’s hush money trial begins in earnest today with witnesses, including former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, set to stand in New York over the coming weeks.
The first of four criminal cases the former president faces, Trump faces 34 felony counts of illegally falsifying business records to hide payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 White House campaign.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges; while the former president has said he reimbursed the $130,000 his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay Daniels, he denies having an affair with her.
On Monday, David Pecker, the former chairman of the National Enquirer’s parent company, was expected to be the first witness to be called.
Pecker was allegedly at a meeting with Trump in 2015 about how the Enquirer could get him elected. This allegedly led to the tabloid being used by Trump as a front to silence women he was said to have had affairs with.
Prosecutors say the magazine would buy up stories and never publish them to hide any scandal.
Pecker has been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
Among the other witnesses expected to be called up are Stormy Daniels, former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, former White House advisor Kellyanne Conway, and Michael Cohen.
