Donald Trump’s attorney on Tuesday plodded cross-examination of Michael Cohen, who wanted to discredit his earlier allegation that he had participated in a calm money system to aid the then-president in influencing the 2016 election.
Todd Blanche, a Trump lawyer, questioned Cohen for about two hours during the calm cash trial, focusing on how his decade-long love for him deteriorated after he admitted to federal crimes in 2018 and spent time in prison.
Cohen was depicted by Blanche as a fawning acolyte who turned into a vengeful media hound, and the proceeds from his book,” The Wolf,” were all used to condemn Trump as a criminal who deserves to spend his time in prison.
Blanche asked Cohen if he was “obsessed” with Trump, serving as his plumber and attorney for a decade until after the 2016 election.
” I would n’t use the word obsessed, I admired him tremendously”, Cohen told a Manhattan state jury. But Cohen added:” At the time, I was thigh- deeply into the worship of Donald Trump”.
Blanche aimed to destroy Cohen’s legitimacy by paying$ 130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 after she claimed she had a sexual experience with Trump ten years prior. Cohen claimed that Trump had ordered him to pay the money to sway the outcome.
False Premise
Cohen testified Tuesday that Trump’s payouts to him in 2017 were all based on the misleading idea that he provided constitutional services, hardly a insurance. Trump is accused of falsifying company information to conceal the nature of the bills.
Blanche reviewed some of Cohen’s tweets and podcasting that, occasionally in simplistic terms, disparaged Trump. He called his former boss” a Cheetos- dusted cartoon villain” and a “dictator d__ _ _ bag”.
Susan Hoffinger, the counsel, before inquired about what Trump had told him after FBI agents raided his house, office, and resort hotel in April 2018.
Cohen said Trump told him:” Do n’t worry, I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing below. Whatever is going to be OK. Stay difficult. Everyone will turn out just fine.
In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to tax avoidance, lying to a bank and campaign finance violations. The jury was told by him that was the “worst moment of my life.”
Cohen afterwards admitted lying to Congress regarding a Moscow Trump resort job. In February 2019, he appeared in Congress and expressed regret for his earlier fabricating evidence.
‘ Lying to Them ‘
He claimed that he had made an apology to the Americans for “lying to them” and for acting in a way that” the population had a proper to know in order to make the decision of the person who was running for the highest office in the country.
A number of other important files from the Trump Organization were even shown to Cohen.
He claimed as part of an agreement with Trump’s business that he sent fake receipts for legitimate companies to getting paid.
” Was this receipt a false document”? Hoffinger asked.
” Yes, ma’am”, he said.
” Did each of those regular payments you submitted produce the same false picture”?
” Yes, ma’am”.
National Enquirer
The evidence supported earlier see accounts and documents that detail an alleged hush money plan that involved Trump, Cohen, and former National Enquirer editor David Pecker at a meeting in August 2015 at Trump Tower.
Cohen and Pecker both testified that Pecker agreed to submit good reports about Trump, criticize his competitors, and warn Cohen of any sexist reporting about women and Trump that might harm his campaign.
Cohen extensively testified about his efforts to stay in Trump’s great gifts while the calm money scheme was being implemented. The original attorney claimed that he was aware from the beginning that paying Daniels off was a part of an election-related plot.
” Why, in fact, did you pay that money to Stormy Daniels”? Hoffinger asked.
” To ensure that account did not come out, did not affect Mr. Trump’s odds of becoming president of the United States”, Cohen said.
” On whose way did you commit that offense?” Hoffinger asked.
” On behalf of Mr Trump”, he said.
Cohen, who prosecutors say is their last see, may returning to the walk Thursday when the trial resumes.
