NEW YORK – New York state prosecutors reopened their case against Donald Trump on Monday after four days of testimony from their star witness, former Trump handyman Michael Cohen, who claims the former president was well aware of hiding the money. The defense portrays Cohen as a liar.
The sixth-week criminal trial in Manhattan, the first in the history of a former president, was scheduled to end with closing arguments on Tuesday. But New York State Judge Juan Merchan indicated Monday that the proceedings would continue beyond Memorial Day.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, continued to screw over Cohen during a long and at times tardy and messy hearing on Monday, asking for evidence that would convince jurors that the former forger cannot be trusted.
Cohen’s earlier testimony that Trump reimbursed him for paying a porn star to remain quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election is at the heart of the prosecution’s case.
Trump was charged with falsifying 11 invoices, 11 checks and 12 ledger entries for routine legal expenses rather than repaying hidden money, a 34-count offense.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and maintains he never had sexual relations with actress and adult film director Stormy Daniels. She he testified otherwise in excruciating and awkward detail in early May.
Monday’s proceedings were riddled with reservations and technological problems and ended with tense testimony from the defense’s second witness, Robert Costello, Cohen’s legal counsel, who promised Trump backdoor communications after Cohen came under FBI scrutiny in 2018.
The day ended with an unexpected but expected request from the defense to dismiss the case. Merchan dismissed the court, saying it would issue a ruling on Tuesday. Then the defense will likely concede its case as well.
Closing arguments are expected after the holidays.
On the “journey”
Blanche began the day by asking Cohen about his previous businesses, income and the money he has made since cutting ties with the former president.
Cohen testified that he made millions of dollars from his books “Disloyal” and “Revenge” and his podcast “Mea Culpa,” all of which are sharply critical of the man he used to seek praise from, as he testified days earlier.
At Blanche’s urging, Cohen confirmed that he was considering a third book, was working on a TV show called “The Fixer” and was considering running for Congress because he had “the best name recognition” in the market.
When Blanche suggested that Cohen’s name recognition depended on Trump, Cohen disagreed.
“I wouldn’t characterize it that way. “My name is recognized because of the journey I have been on,” Cohen said.
“Well, the journey you went on… included daily attacks on Trump,” Blanche replied.
During Blanche’s interrogation, Cohen again confessed to his previous crimes and also admitted to stealing $30,000 from the Trump Organization when Trump did not pay a tech company to rig a CNBC survey of high-profile business executives.
A few minutes later, Blanche asked, “Do you have a financial interest in this matter?”
“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.
When Blanche pressed whether a guilty verdict was Cohen’s preferred outcome, Cohen replied, “The answer is no. It will be better if he is not (guilty) to me, because then I will have something to talk about in the future.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger performed the redirection at a neat and quick clip, leading Cohen through each questionable line of Blanche’s questioning to corroborate Cohen’s testimony to the jury that Trump’s hand was behind the hush-hush refund.
“They asked you a lot of questions about how you make money and (your) podcast… Financial issues aside, how has speaking the truth impacted your life?” – Hoffinger asked.
“As a result, my entire life has been turned upside down,” Cohen replied.
Before the prosecution dropped its case, the defense filed a lengthy objection to a still frame of a C-SPAN video showing Trump with his bodyguard Keith Schiller just before 8 p.m. on October 24, 2016. The parties ultimately agreed to admit it.
Evidence that Trump and Schiller were together that night appears relevant to Cohen’s claim that he spoke to both of them on the phone about repaying Daniels.
Trump support in the courtroom
The GOP’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee has a steady stream of significant GOP supporters.
Monday’s supporters included Trump ally and lawyer Alan Dershowitz; legal adviser Boris Epszteyn, who is himself accused in Arizona of attempting to falsify the results of the 2020 presidential election; and Chuck Zito, actor and one of the founders of the New York chapter of the Hells Angels in the 1980s.
Several Republican lawmakers, including vice presidential candidates, have done so came to Manhattan for the trial.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio and former GOP primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were on hand on May 13. Meaning. Florida’s Rick Scott and Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville as well performed last week with Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.
On May 14, House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered a speech outside the courthouse, sharply criticizing the “sham trial” and accusing New York prosecutors of merely trying to keep the former president off the campaign trail.
The Louisiana Republican called Trump a victim of a “travesty of justice.”
Nearly a dozen members of the far-right House Republican Caucus, led by Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida, showed up Thursday. Gaetz was accompanied by other right-wing members of the House Freedom Caucus: fellow Florida Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Waltz; Arizona’s Eli Crane and Andy Biggs; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Ralph Norman of South Carolina; Diana Harshbarger and Andy Ogles of Tennessee; Mike Cloud of Texas; and club chairman Bob Good of Virginia.
Gaetz speaks on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse described allegations as “Mr. Potato doll of crime”, accusing the prosecutor’s office of combining things “that did not fit together”.
Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills of Florida were in attendance earlier this week.
