Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is set to return to the witness stand on Tuesday, facing what is anticipated to be a rigorous cross-examination by the lawyers representing the ex-president at his landmark hush money trial.
Cohen, who previously served as Trump’s “fixer” for numerous years but has since become a vehement adversary of his former boss, stands as the key witness for the prosecution in the inaugural criminal trial involving a former inhabitant of the White House.
Trump faces accusations of tampering with business records to reimburse Cohen for a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. At the time, Daniels’s allegations of a sexual encounter with the Republican candidate posed a significant threat to his electoral campaign.
The high-stakes courtroom showdown is unfolding just six months before the November presidential election, with Trump vying to reclaim the White House from President Joe Biden.
Cohen endured over five hours of questioning from prosecutors on Monday and is anticipated to face Trump’s defense attorneys on Tuesday for what promises to be a contentious cross-examination.
As a pivotal figure in the Manhattan district attorney’s case, the 57-year-old Cohen holds significant importance. Trump’s legal team has devoted the initial weeks of the trial to challenging his credibility.
After pleading guilty in 2018 to charges of lying to Congress and committing financial crimes, Cohen served 13 months in prison followed by another year and a half under house arrest.
During Monday’s proceedings, Cohen recounted how he orchestrated the payment to Daniels to prevent her from publicly disclosing her alleged 2006 affair with the married Trump. He emphasized the potentially “catastrophic” consequences this revelation could have had on Trump’s presidential campaign.
“I was exerting every effort and more to safeguard my boss, a duty I had fulfilled for quite some time,” Cohen stated.
Cohen detailed for the jury the Trump campaign’s method of acquiring potentially damaging stories, referred to as “catch and kill,” which is purported to have occurred in Daniels’ case.
Court documents revealed a nondisclosure agreement between Daniels and Trump, identified by pseudonyms Peggy Peterson and David Dennison respectively, which Cohen drafted and is now being presented as evidence.
In extensive testimony spanning nearly eight hours over two days the previous week, Daniels recounted the alleged sexual encounter with Trump during a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, as well as the subsequent financial settlement.
Trump, aged 77, has consistently refuted claims of having engaged in sexual relations with Daniels. His legal team sought a mistrial from Judge Juan Merchan last week, arguing that Daniels’ explicit testimony could unfairly bias the jury in a trial primarily focused on financial records and election-related matters.
Even if convicted in the hush money case, Trump remains eligible to run in the upcoming November election and could potentially assume the presidency if elected.
Apart from the trial in New York, Trump faces indictments in both Washington and Georgia related to alleged efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election. Additionally, he has been charged in Florida with mishandling classified documents post his tenure in the White House, although proceedings for this case have been indefinitely postponed.
