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In a dramatic turn of events, Michael Cohen, after a decade of unwavering loyalty, took the stand on Tuesday, testifying against his former boss, Donald Trump. Cohen’s decision to break ranks came only after immense pressure from his family and the aftermath of an FBI raid on his office, apartment, and hotel room.
Following his guilty plea in 2018, which involved federal charges related to paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels to silence her alleged affair with Trump, Cohen has become a key witness in the Manhattan prosecutors’ case against the former president.
They argue that the payment was an illegal attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election.
During his testimony, Cohen admitted to compromising his moral compass in order to maintain Trump’s loyalty, leading to personal and familial consequences.
However, the defense team sought to portray Cohen as driven by a vengeful motive against his ex-boss. They confronted him with his own profane social media posts about Trump and alleged his desire to see the former president in handcuffs.
The trial took an unexpected twist outside the courtroom when House Speaker Mike Johnson arrived with Trump, who used his influential platform to rally against the trial’s legitimacy.
Trump, along with other Republican lawmakers, served as surrogates, expressing their belief that the trial was a grand deception.
Trump, presently under a gag order due to an appeals court ruling, remarked that his surrogates, highly respected individuals from various corners of Washington, considered the trial to be the greatest scam they had ever witnessed.
Trump, who maintains his innocence, has pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against him, denying the occurrence of any encounters mentioned in the trial.
As prosecutors laid out their case, Cohen’s testimony shed light on purposefully mislabeled checks, false receipts, and unwavering loyalty that placed Trump at the center of the alleged scheme.
Although Cohen’s testimony highlighted the prosecution’s argument that the case was not about the nature of Trump’s payments but rather his illegal attempt to conceal them, it also exposed the risks of relying on a witness with a tarnished past.
Cohen’s disbarment, prison sentence, and guilty plea for lying about a Moscow real estate project on behalf of Trump could potentially undermine the prosecution’s case, especially as Trump’s attorneys continue to cross-examine him.
Throughout the trial, defense attorney Blanche focused on questioning Cohen’s credibility and motivation for assisting prosecutors in their efforts to incriminate Trump.
Blanche highlighted Cohen’s hyperfocus on Trump, suggesting that he sought a reduced prison sentence, court supervision for his own crimes, and a lucrative career criticizing Trump by leveraging his insider knowledge.
Blanche played a snippet of Cohen’s podcast for him, asking if he recalled the episode in which he advocated for Trump to be handcuffed and paraded as a criminal. Cohen, with a touch of self-awareness, replied, “I don’t recall saying that, but I wouldn’t put it past me.”
Blanche also inquired whether Cohen was motivated by fame, to which Cohen denied, stating that he was driven by various factors.
Cohen is set to be the prosecution’s final witness, after which Trump’s defense will commence. It remains unclear whether Trump’s lawyers will call any witnesses or if Trump himself will testify in his own defense.
Jurors have already heard how Trump and his associates were rattled by the release, just weeks before the 2016 election, of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which he boasted about groping women without consent.
According to Cohen’s testimony, the revelation hastened the payments to Daniels. Cohen claimed that Trump remained fully informed about the efforts to bury potentially damaging stories throughout the campaign.
Furthermore, Cohen testified that Trump had promised to reimburse him for the $130,000 payment to Daniels.
Prosecutors meticulously guided Cohen through the reimbursement process, presenting business records and other paperwork to demonstrate what they contend was an extensive cover-up to disguise the true purpose of the payments.
The focus was on proving that the payments were not for legal services under a retainer but rather for hush money.
Prosecutors argued that the Trump records falsely described the payments as legal expenses, forming the basis for the 34 felony counts against Trump for falsifying business records. In total, Cohen received $420,000, paid from a personal Trump account.
When asked about the accuracy of the check stub descriptions, Cohen admitted they were false. Additionally, he confirmed that there was no retainer agreement in place.
Prosecutors also took time to address potential credibility issues, emphasizing Cohen’s long-standing loyalty to Trump, which led him to commit crimes on the former president’s behalf.
During his testimony, Cohen vividly described the April 2018 raid, which marked the beginning of the end of his unwavering devotion to Trump. He conveyed his concerns, feelings of despondency, anger, and admitted to being frightened by the events that unfolded.
Check also;
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