By Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney and fixer for Donald Trump, is set to take the stand as the most pivotal witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s hush money case against the former president. Cohen’s testimony, expected to last at least two days, marks the first time a former U.S. president has faced criminal charges in a trial.
At the heart of the case is a $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign. The payment was allegedly made to keep Daniels from going public with her claim of a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, faces charges of falsifying business records to conceal his reimbursement to Cohen for the hush money.
Cohen’s journey to this moment has been lengthy and complex. He has been in communication with prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office for the past five years, including three visits from investigators while he was serving time in federal prison in 2019 and 2020. His testimony is crucial to the prosecution’s case, as he has previously stated that he made the payment to Daniels “at the direction” of Trump.
In court, Cohen will be seated just feet away from Trump, whom he has repeatedly mocked on social media and in interviews since the start of the trial. Veteran prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, who has been preparing Cohen for his testimony for about a year, will question him, while Trump’s lead attorney, Todd Blanche, will handle the cross-examination.
Prosecutors allege that Trump falsified business records by classifying his reimbursements to Cohen as legal services pursuant to a non-existent retainer agreement. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo stated in his opening statement, “Cohen was not being paid for legal services. The defendant was paying him back for an illegal payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election.”
Blanche, however, argued that Cohen was indeed being paid for his legal services and “cannot be trusted.” He pointed to Cohen’s history as a convicted felon and perjurer, referencing his 2018 guilty plea to making false statements to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow. Cohen also pleaded guilty to other criminal charges, including tax fraud, which a federal judge described as a “veritable smorgasbord” of criminal conduct when sentencing him to three years in prison.
Blanche also told the jury that Cohen is “obsessed” with Trump and blames him for “virtually all of his problems.” Despite Cohen’s public assurances that he would stop bashing Trump, he recently wore a T-shirt depicting the former president behind bars in an orange jumpsuit during a TikTok stream.
The judge presiding over the trial, Juan Merchan, has ordered prosecutors to communicate to Cohen that he should refrain from making any more statements about the case, Trump, or anything related to the process. Trump, who has repeatedly trashed Cohen since 2018, has been fined thousands of dollars for violating the gag order by attacking witnesses on social media.
Cohen’s testimony this week comes as the hush money trial nears its conclusion. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass indicated that the prosecution will likely rest by the end of this week, with only two witnesses remaining. It remains unclear whether Trump will testify in his own defense, as he is under no obligation to do so.
The trial proceedings will be shortened this week due to scheduling conflicts, with no court sessions on Wednesday and Friday to accommodate Trump’s attendance at his son’s high school graduation. As the case unfolds, the nation watches closely to see how this unprecedented criminal trial of a former U.S. president will conclude.
