Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen took the witness stand on May 13 as prosecutors hope to use him to make their case in the “hush-money” trial of former President Donald Trump.
When he was called to the stand, Mr. Cohen gave his personal and professional background information. Court papers say that he is testifying pursuant to a subpoena in the case.
Before arriving at the courthouse, Mr. Cohen was seen leaving his New York City home. He did not take shouted questions from reporters.
Mr. Cohen testified at the trial that he would speak to President Trump only in person or via phone calls. “Mr. Trump never had an email address,” he said.
Mr. Cohen also said “it’s fair” to describe him as having been President Trump’s personal “fixer” when he was asked about the term that’s often used in the media to reference him. However, former Trump aide Hope Hicks testified earlier in May that Mr. Cohen “used to like to call himself Mr. Fix It, but it was only because he first broke it.”
The former president cannot publicly respond to Mr. Cohen’s remarks in the trial because of a gag order that was imposed on him in March by Judge Juan Merchan. His attorneys have attempted to fight the gag order, but to no avail, with the judge late last week denying an attempt to allow President Trump to respond to another witness in the trial, Stephanie Clifford.
Last week, Judge Merchan told prosecutors that they need to inform Mr. Cohen to not make more public comments about the trial. It came after a Trump attorney asked the judge to tell Mr. Cohen to refrain from making public comments on the case after he was seen in a TikTok video wearing a shirt that featured a cartoon depicting President Trump in jail.
“I will direct the People to communicate to Mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about this case. That comes from the bench, and you are communicating that on behalf of the bench,” the judge said, according to court reporters.
Mr. Cohen is widely seen as the Manhattan district attorney’s most important witness in the case, and his expected appearance signals that the trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors have said they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.
Mr. Cohen, a former lawyer who spent time in prison after pleading guilty to several felonies, is expected to testify about his role in arranging payments during the 2016 presidential campaign, including to Ms. Clifford, a pornography performer whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, to prevent her from making public allegations about an alleged affair in 2006.
The former president has denied her claims, which she re-aired last week during her testimony in the trial.
The reimbursements that Mr. Cohen received form the basis of the charges—34 felony counts of falsifying business records—against President Trump. Prosecutors say the reimbursements were logged as legal expenses to conceal the payments’ true purpose. President Trump’s attorneys say that he did nothing illegal, and he has pleaded not guilty.
Defense lawyers have suggested that there will be a bruising cross-examination of Mr. Cohen, telling jurors during opening statements that the fixer-turned-foe is an “admitted liar” with an “obsession to get President Trump.” Court papers submitted by the defense have said that Mr. Cohen, who frequently appears in the media, has essentially made a post-prison career criticizing President Trump.
“He has talked extensively about his desire to see President Trump go to prison,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said during opening statements. “He has talked extensively about his desire to see President Trump’s family go to prison. He has talked extensively about President Trump getting convicted in this case.”
Other witnesses, including former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Trump adviser Ms. Hicks, have testified at length about the role that Mr. Cohen allegedly played in the midst of the 2016 election.
Notably, a former model, Karen McDougal, will now not testify in the trial, according to a comment that President Trump’s attorneys made in the courtroom last week. The former president also denied having an affair with Ms. McDougal.
Outside the courtroom on May 13, President Trump argued that polls show that he has a lead over President Joe Biden in several swing states, touting a recent survey released by another media outlet. He said that the trial against him blocks him from campaigning in those swing states because the judge several weeks ago warned him that he could be arrested if he doesn’t attend the court proceedings.
President Trump stated that the poll shows that he is leading in five of six swing states. The former president, who did not take reporters’ questions, then criticized the trial and likened it again to a “witch hunt.”
