Michael Cohen, Key to Trump Case, Tells Jurors of Seedy Hush-Money Plot – The New York Times
Trump Hush-Money Trial
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Donald J. Trump’s former bulldog told jurors about his work: threatening enemies, cleaning up problems and burying embarrassing stories.
Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and
Michael D. Cohen, the do-anything fixer who once boasted of burying Donald J. Trump’s secrets and spreading his lies, took the stand at the former president’s criminal trial in Manhattan on Monday and exposed those machinations to the jury and the world.
Narrating the prosecution’s case in tell-all detail, Mr. Cohen testified that Mr. Trump in 2016 had personally directed him to pay off a porn star and had approved a dubious reimbursement plan.
“Just do it,” the former fixer recalled Mr. Trump saying about the hush-money payment to the porn star, Stormy Daniels.
After Mr. Trump had won the White House, Mr. Cohen demanded his money back, he said, and met with Mr. Trump, who approved monthly reimbursements. Then, the president-elect changed the subject to his new job, saying “This is going to be one heck of a ride in D.C.”
Over nearly five hours of testimony, Mr. Cohen painted a damning portrait of his relationship with Mr. Trump, decoded their shady vernacular and spotlighted the conduct at the center of the first criminal trial of an American president: the silencing of women who had stories of sex with Mr. Trump to tell and to sell.
Here’s how key figures involved in making hush-money payoffs on behalf of Donald J. Trump are connected.
The first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump is underway. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.
The indictment unveiled in April 2023 centers on a hush-money deal with a porn star, but a related document alleges a broader scheme to protect Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign.
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