Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was called to testify Monday morning as one of the prosecution’s final witnesses in the New York criminal case.
Mr. Cohen, often referred to as Mr. Trump’s “fixer” by the corporate media, is a key witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution in the case. Last year, Mr. Bragg indicted Mr. Trump on 34 felonies for falsifying business records related to payments made to Mr. Cohen, while Mr. Cohen allegedly tried to keep porn actress Stormy Daniels quiet about his alleged affair. He claims he was reimbursed $130,000 in fees. President Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied allegations of his extramarital affair.
“I was also extremely angry.”
Prosecutors previously called Hope Hicks, President Trump’s former White House communications director and campaign aide, to the stand. blaze news report. She claimed that Cohen told her that the rumors about the payments to Daniels were not true and that it was “against common sense” for Cohen to make such payments himself.
Hicks went on to say that Cohen, who referred to himself as Trump’s “fixer,” was “participating” in the 2016 presidential campaign despite not participating in it and was a “rogue”. argued that it would be.
“He tried to insert himself at certain moments, but he was not supposed to participate in the campaign in an official capacity,” Hicks told the jury. “He liked to call himself the Fixer, or Mr. Fix-It, and it was only because he broke it first that he could fix it afterwards.”
Under direct examination Monday, Mr. Cohen said that Resolution Consultants LLC had agreed to pay $125,000 to American Media Inc. to compensate for payments to Karen McDougal, who claims she had an affair with Mr. Trump. He testified that he established the The company is said to have bought the rights to her articles from McDougall and agreed to have her contribute her own column every month. But Mr. Cohen was told by David Pecker, then publisher of the National Enquirer, that it was worth signing because Mr. McDougall’s Men’s Health cover had sold more than expected. He said he did not transfer any funds to AMI.
“He told me to destroy it and forget about it,” Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen also testified that Mr. Trump told him to “be careful” about Daniels’ story. He discovered that an acquaintance of his owned a company with the same name as Resolution Consultants, an LLC he had previously formed, and formed another LLC called Essential Consultants to make the payments. He admitted that he provided false information on documents to get the bank to open an account.
Cohen said Trump said at the time that he had obtained Daniels’ story, saying, “I want you to push this plan through as long as you can get through the election.” “Because I’m president, even if I win, it doesn’t matter. And if I lose, I don’t care.”
He said that President Trump “wasn’t thinking about Melania Trump” and that “it was all about the campaign.”
live report A Monday statement from the court said President Trump shook his head at Cohen’s claims.
Mr. Cohen said,[Trump] He told me he talked to some friends, some individuals, smart people, and it’s $130,000. You’re a millionaire, so pay up. ”
“He told me, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get your money back,'” Cohen told jurors.
Mr. Cohen claimed that he had reached a settlement agreement with Mr. Daniels’ then-lawyer, Keith Davidson, to prevent the article from appearing in the media. He said it was his idea to add a $1 million liquidated damages clause to her contract to “keep her from speaking out.” He further claimed that he was the only one who maintained a side letter agreement guaranteeing that “information would never be leaked.”
According to Blaze News, Davidson previously testified that he had never seen a copy of the agreement signed by President Trump. The contract was between “David Dennison,” allegedly Trump, and “Peggy Peterson,” allegedly Daniels. Mr. Davidson argued that the side agreement contained the real names of the parties. The side agreement listed Peggy Peterson as Stephanie Gregory Clifford, Daniels’ legal name. However, the line next to “David Dennison” remained blank.
Cohen said the non-disclosure agreement and corresponding side agreement do not include Trump’s name, and Trump did not sign them. “The purpose was to make sure that Trump’s name doesn’t come up anywhere because he’s a candidate for president of the United States.” It’s not in America’s interest or this in his interest to do so. right. ”
Davidson said in his testimony that he received a call from Cohen after Trump won the 2016 presidential election. Davidson said Cohen was frustrated and angry that Trump had not given him a position in the administration “despite everything he had done for that son of a bitch.” .
On Monday, Cohen told jurors he was disappointed he was not selected as White House chief of staff.
“I didn’t want the role. I didn’t believe I was right for the role and I didn’t think I was capable of being chief of staff. I just wanted my name to be on it. ” Cohen testified. “I wanted them to at least consider it. It was more about my ego than anything else.”
“Every president has a personal attorney, so I thought I could continue to protect him and do what I need to do on other issues. That way he would be protected,” he continued.
Cohen said he partnered with a lawyer to pitch Trump on the idea of hiring him as his personal attorney. He did not intend to receive any direct compensation, but said he planned to monetize his relationship with Trump.
“After paying $130,000, I was beyond angry,” Cohen said. [Trump’s] It was insulting that the appreciation shown to me meant cutting my bonus by two-thirds in order to protect him. ”
“I was extremely angry myself,” Cohen admitted, adding that he also shared his frustrations with Pecker.
Mr. Cohen claimed that he was repaid the settlement with Mr. Daniels through a series of future legal activities as Mr. Trump’s personal attorney. He said he would receive $420,000 over 12 months.
Prosecutors will continue their direct investigation into Cohen on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing illegal,” Trump told reporters Monday afternoon. “A lot of people are saying it, everyone’s saying it. The only people who won’t say it are the judges. This is a fraudulent transaction. He is conflicted.”
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