Trump’s former lawyer returns to the witness stand for a second day

Michael Cohen, former personal attorney, returns For Donald Trumptook to the witness stand today, Tuesday, to undergo what is expected to be harsh interrogation from the former US President’s lawyer in his historic trial about buying the silence of former porn star Stormy Daniels.

Cohen (57 years old) was considered one of the most loyal to the former president, and he was even nicknamed “Pitbull” Trump, but he has now become a sworn enemy of the Republican billionaire and the most prominent witness in the first criminal trial against a former American president.

Cohen’s testimony comes after a difficult week for Trump during which she testified Daniels Her testimony, which included details about the relationship she says she had with him in 2006, when she met him on the sidelines of a golf competition in a suite at his hotel, banished the Republican candidate to this year’s presidential elections.

At the end of the 2016 presidential campaign, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence about her relationship with Trump.

According to the prosecution, the amount was offset in 2017 as “legal fees” in the accounts of the Trump Organization’s holding company to conceal the use of funds to cover up the relationship with Daniels.

Trump is being prosecuted on charges of falsifying accounting documents to hide the effect of this amount.

Cohen’s credibility

Trump’s trial is taking place six months before the presidential elections scheduled for next November, in which Trump hopes to regain the White House from its current occupant, Joe Biden.

Yesterday, Monday, he responded Cohen On questions from the prosecution for more than five hours. Trump’s defense lawyers are expected to conduct intense questioning today.

Cohen plays a crucial role in the Manhattan prosecutor’s case, and Trump’s lawyers spent the first weeks of the trial trying to undermine his credibility.

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, making false statements to the US Congress, and violating campaign finance laws. The latest crime is directly related to the payment to Stormy Daniels.

In this context, Cohen spent nearly 13 months in prison and a year and a half under house arrest after he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of lying to Congress and committing financial crimes.

Silencing people

Yesterday, Cohen explained to the jury how he arranged the process of giving the money to Daniels to prevent her from publicly revealing her supposed relationship with Trump in 2006, which would have constituted a “disastrous” scandal for his candidacy to reach the White House.

“I was doing everything I could and more to protect my president, which I had done for a long time,” Cohen said.

Cohen explained to the jury how the Trump campaign sought to silence people by buying their silence, which is what is said to have happened with Daniels.

He noted that Trump told him, “Buy the rights to (this story) for life,” and then said, “We have to stop this.”

Trump and Daniels, under the aliases David Dennison and Peggy Peterson, were parties to a non-disclosure agreement prepared by Cohen that appeared in the court files.

The presidential race continues

During approximately eight hours over two days last week, Daniels testified about the sexual relationship she says she had in 2006 with Trump.

The former president denied this happened, and his lawyers last week asked Judge Juan Merchan to mistrial on the grounds that her testimony included details that harm Trump’s image in a case primarily related to financial records and elections.

Trump will still be able to run in the elections scheduled for November and take the oath as president, even if he is convicted in the case of falsifying accounting documents.

In addition to the New York trial, he was indicted in Washington and Georgia on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 elections.

He was also accused in Florida of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House, but this case was postponed indefinitely.