Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is scheduled to take the stand Monday morning to testify in former President Trump’s criminal trial.
Mr. Cohen cited Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team’s efforts to prove that the former president falsified business records in connection with a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He is said to be a powerful witness.
Mr. Bragg indicted Mr. Trump on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains his innocence.
Trump, who once famously said he would “take a bullet” for his longtime boss and friend, is also credited with arranging a hush-money payment to keep Daniels in place ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He is expected to testify against Mr. Cohen about his role. Allegations of sexual contact with President Trump in the early 2000s were not made public.
Michael Cohen to testify at Trump trial on Monday
Michael Cohen mocks former President Trump on TikTok. (Getty Images)
Mr. Trump has long denied that he ever met Mr. Daniels.
Mr. Trump later made multiple payments of $35,000 to Mr. Cohen, who was serving as his personal attorney at the time. The total amount paid was $420,000.
Mr. Trump’s payments to Mr. Cohen are the basis of Mr. Bragg’s indictment of Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg seeks to prove that the payments were repaid to Mr. Cohen as hush money to Mr. Daniels.
But Trump’s lawyers argue that the $35,000 payment was not a “repayment” but a legal payment.
In an exclusive interview with FOX News Digital, President Trump said, “If a bookkeeper records “legal expenses” when paying a lawsuit, that’s falsification of business records, then that’s not falsification.” .
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“They call it litigation costs, but that’s the real costs,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “These were legal costs. These are legal costs paid to a lawyer. That’s called legal costs.”
Judge Juan Melchán imposed a gag order on the former president, prohibiting him from speaking about witnesses. Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal, arguing that this was a violation of his First Amendment rights.
President Trump has already been fined $10,000 for violating the gag order ($1,000 for each violation) and has been threatened with jail time if he violates the ban again.
Mr. Cohen has not been placed under a gag order, but Mr. Marchan on Friday directed prosecutors to instruct Mr. Cohen not to speak about Trump or the case.
In a courtroom sketch from Manhattan State Court in New York City on May 9, 2024, Stormy Daniels appears before Trump on charges of falsifying business records to hide funds paid to hush Daniels in 2016. Testifying at the president’s criminal trial. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
“I will direct Mr. Cohen to tell the public that the judge has asked him to refrain from making any further comments” about the case and Mr. Trump, Marchand said.
Marchand told prosecutors to let Cohen know this was an order from the court.
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Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges including campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
House Republicans, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, The case was referred to the Department of Justice for investigation, with the view that Mr. Cohen should be subject to further prosecution. For lying to Congress.
President Trump boards Air Force One before departing from Harlingen, Texas, on January 12, 2021. (Mandel Gunn/AFP via Getty Images)
Republicans recently said Mr. Cohen “admitted to lying to Congress” during his testimony in the Letitia James case against Mr. Trump.
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Asked in February 2019 before the House Intelligence Committee if he had been “honest,” Cohen said “no.”
“So you lied under oath in February 2019? Is that your testimony?” President Trump’s lawyer Alina Haba asked him.
“Yes,” Cohen replied.
