#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
Word has gone out to #Trump allies over the past few days that Trump wants to see a bigger show of support inside the courtroom. Trump's entourage is big enough today that they’re having trouble arranging themselves in the 2 rows of seats set aside for supporters of the defense's side.
It’s worth noting that lawyers w/the defense are allowed to have phones, but members of the general public are not. The #Trump team has been pressing the rules on this for weeks now, & political allies live-tweeting from the courtroom is a new thing.
#MichaelCohen is called back to the stand.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger, will resume direct questioning.
Todd #Blanche, is expected to begin cross later.
#MichaelCohen is going through check stubs for the first 2 checks & saying the descriptions of them were “false.” Cohen says both #EricTrump, who is sitting in the courtroom, & #AllenWeisselberg signed the first 2, from Trump’s revocable trust account. At some point, it switched to #Trump’s personal account.
Cohen is now testifying about checks Trump started signing himself, from his personal account.
#MichaelCohen said that he made sure to tell #Trump that he got the denial from #StormyDaniels “to get credit that I was continuing to ensure he was protected.” He wanted Trump to know that he had “stayed loyal.”
Prosecution shows texts that Cohen was trying to get Daniels booked on #SeanHannity’s #FoxNews show on 18 Jan, 2018, to deny that she'd had an affair w/Trump.
Prosecution shows that as #MichaelCohen continued his denial tour in regard to the #HushMoney, he was texted by Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for #Trump. The text says “Client says thanks for what you do.” Cohen leaves no doubt in his testimony that “client” in the text refers to Trump, thanking Cohen for the denials.
Cohen testified earlier that he had shared his misleading statement about reimbursements w/Sekulow.
#MichaelCohen describes the #FBI’s raid on his Park Ave hotel room in April 2018. He says federal agents took his cell phones — including the one w/the recording on it that jurors already heard — & many of his documents. He says he was frightened, despondent & angry.
This was a major news event at the time, & now Cohen can reflect on his feelings about it in front of a courtroom full of reporters. He says he received a call from #Trump after the raid.
#MichaelCohen testifies that it was his understanding that #Trump wanted him to refrain from cooperating w/the government — you know the one he was in charge of — & “certainly not to provide information or flip.”
#MichaelCohen was in the midst of testimony about weighing whether to retain loyalty to #Trump, painting it as a very difficult decision, as he considered whether he would be loyal to his family, his country or Trump.
As he spoke, #VivekRamaswamy & a several other politicians supporting Trump walked back into the courtroom.
Never seen a display like that in proceedings — several ofcls marching in during testimony — it was indisputably disruptive.
As #MichaelCohen repeats that he worked w/David #Pecker & others at his company to do so, he again repeats that he took action at #Trump’s direction. The prosecutors use that testimony to lead into Cohen’s #guilty pleas in the federal case against him in 2018. Some of the charges against him were related to the #HushMoney payment.
#MichaelCohen reads aloud the tweets #Trump put out when Cohen pleaded guilty, saying that he felt “very badly for #PaulManafort & his wonderful family” & praising #Manafort for refusing to “break“
“Such respect for a brave man.”
A sitting president was tweeting these things.
Also shown: Trump's tweets attacking Cohen saying if anyone wants a good lawyer, he doesn’t recommend Cohen. He contrasts Cohen & Manafort, a #loyal ally, & criticizes Cohen for “breaking.”
Cohen, goes through his texts w/ Davidson & #DylanHoward, editor of The #NationalEnquirer, taking the jurors through material they're familiar w/from when Davidson testified, but it's more corroboration.
The language in these Cohen conversations is coded & very mob-like. The #HushMoney is described as a "business opportunity."
#MichaelCohen says that #Trump, upon learning that #StormyDaniels was shopping her story, was very angry w/Cohen, calling it a "total disaster" & saying "women are going to hate me." Cohen says he responded that he had no control over Daniels's story.
#MichaelCohen said that #Trump told him: "I thought you had this under control."
Cohen says Trump also said of #StormyDaniels's allegation: "Guys may think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign."
Cohen says that Trump explicitly told him they needed to do whatever they could to suppress Daniels's story until at least after the #election, because it wouldn't matter at that point.
Prosecutors show #MichaelCohen the same emails & bank paperwork they showed to Farro on the witness stand. Farro previously testified about Cohen’s urgency to open up an account for Essential Consultants LLC, which was ultimately used to pay the #HushMoney to #StormyDaniels.
We are heading into the part of Cohen’s testimony that is focused on the alleged falsification of business records.
#MichaelCohen, reads emails he exchanged in 2016 w/ #KeithDavidson, #StormyDaniels's lawyer, says that the correspondence represented that “we were losing control over the settlement of this agreement in order to prevent” Daniels’s story from coming out. He says that loss of control was a “direct result of my failure to wire funds.” Reportedly there’s still anxiety in Cohen’s voice about that “failure,” nearly 8 years later.
#Trump, who was sleeping, wakes up, leans over, taps his lawyer Todd #Blanche & whispers something in his ear.
#MichaelCohen says he then decided that he would pay the money, & that #AllenWeisselberg said, "I'll make sure you get paid back." Cohen says he alerted Trump to that decision & that Trump was appreciative, saying "good, good." And he says that Trump, too, told him he'd be repaid.
This testimony echoes #HopeHicks's remarks that she didn't think #MichaelCohen would have done this on his own.
The testimony is critical because it links #Trump not only to the #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels, but also to the scheme to reimburse Cohen for fronting the money — & that is what forms the basis of the falsification of business records charges.
Prosecutors have done a painstaking job of using hard #evidence like phone records, text msgs & emails to corroborate the Cohen’s testimony, knowing in advance that his credibility would come under assault on cross-examination.
One of the important things
Hoffinger did was to explain, thru #MichaelCohen, why there were no emails w/ #Trump: because Trump didn't believe in email or, at that time, texting.
#MichaelCohen says he told #Trump “immediately" once he'd resolved the #StormyDaniels#HushMoney deal & says that he told Trump right away because he wanted to get "credit" for resolving the task.
Cohen describes arranging every last detail of the payment to Daniels. Prosecution is doing this to use the incredible amount of documentary evidence they have to corroborate Cohen.
Prosecution shows that #MichaelCohen had a 5-minute call w/ #Trump on 38 Oct, 2016.
Cohen says that on that call he told Trump that, having signed the NDA, the #StormyDaniels "matter is completely under control & locked down."
This testimony underscores again how important documentary evidence is to this case. Here - how frequently Trump & Cohen spoke - facts seen in phone records.
The WSJ article about #KarenMcDougal from right before the election is shown on the screens in the courtroom.
#MichaelCohen says he contacted #HopeHicks & they spoke about how the campaign planned to respond. He says she shared a draft of the statement she planned to send, which is also shown onscreen.
#MichaelCohen reads draft statement from #HopeHicks, which included a line about how this was simply an effort to stop the historic Trump movement. That statement is quite similar to what the #Trump campaign has said in response to most stories since.
Cohen sent Hicks back a draft, & said she should simply describe the allegations as untrue & depict them as an effort to distract from the FBI investigation into #HillaryClinton's email server.
#MichaelCohen testifies about the point of this whole trial: the false business records.
Cohen describes his notes w/ #TrumpOrganization CFO #AllenWeisselberg, the notes are working out how to make it so that it appears he was being paid for another matter, & on how he would be reimbursed.
Prosecution again shows to the court Weisselberg's handwritten notes on the reimbursement to Cohen.