Former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial continues in New York on May 13.
Follow here for the live updates:
What Happened Today
Michael Cohen testified today, intended to provide critical components to fill in the prosecution’s case against former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Cohen described his “amazing experience” during the decade of working for Mr. Trump, during which praise from his employer made him feel “on top of the world,” motivating him to do whatever he felt was necessary to accomplish tasks assigned. To Mr. Cohen, this would include lying, bullying, and threatening legal action. In interviews from this time period, he proudly referred to himself as a “pitbull” and “fixer” for the real estate mogul, highlighting his relentless tenacity.
He also testified that he had kept Mr. Trump abreast of the deals made to purchase tabloid stories, one of which resulted in the 34 counts of falsifying business records.
In court, prosecutors played a secret recording Mr. Cohen captured of a conversation with Mr. Trump, in which Mr. Trump mentions a $150,000 payment. Mr. Cohen said he had recorded this to reassure publisher David Pecker he would be reimbursed for buying up a story that might have hurt the Trump Campaign.
Mr. Cohen’s testimony often focused on the input and influence he believed he had over Mr. Trump’s affairs and other events. He said that he had sought “credit” for taking care of things even when he was not officially involved in the Trump Campaign.
At times, his testimony took on a very different tone from previous witnesses, who described the same events as unpleasant due to Mr. Cohen’s involvement.
Mr. Cohen is the most direct link prosecutors have to President Trump’s personal involvement or knowledge of a deal they allege was made to influence the 2016 elections.
When defense attorneys cross-examine him next, they will seek to discredit Mr. Cohen as a witness who has lied multiple times on the witness stand, before judges, and before Congress under oath.
In the defense’s opening statement, they argued that Mr. Cohen has made a career out of attacking President Trump, and claimed he is on a “revenge” campaign against his former boss after he failed to receive a White House position.
Trump: Case Is ‘Threat to Democracy
After court adjourned, President Trump addressed media gathered outside the courtroom.
“What’s going on in that courtroom is a threat to democracy and we cannot have a country where we get to prosecute your political opponents, instead of persuading voters,” he said.
He said the case could have brought years ago, instead of right in the middle of his presidential campaign, except federal prosecutors had declined to pursue any charges.
“They’ve kept me here for three and a half, four weeks, instead of campaigning. Yet we still have the best poll numbers,” he said.
He called Justice Merchan a “corrupt judge” and accused him of being politically motivated.
Cohen: Weisselberg Told Trump Cohen Payments Were for Legal Services
“We went to Mr. Trump’s office in order to speak to him about this,” Mr. Cohen said. “Right before he left for inauguration.”
Mr. Cohen said during that conversation, Mr. Weisselberg “turned around and said to me, come over here, what we’re going to do is, we’re going to pay you over 12 months.”
“It will be paid out to you monthly, as like, a legal service rendered, as I was being given the title of personal attorney to the president,” Mr. Cohen said. That came out to $35,000 monthly.
“What, if anything, did Mr. Trump say?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“He approved it,” Mr. Cohen said.
“And did Mr. Weisselberg say in front of Mr. Trump those monthly payments would be a retainer for legal services?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said Mr. Weisselberg kept the statement with his handwriting and put it in his file. He said Mr. Weisselberg told him to submit invoices monthly and “we’ll get you a check out.”
Court adjourned for the day.
Cohen Says Weisselberg Asked for Bank Statement
Mr. Cohen said after the new year, there was no conversation about the reimbursement.
“So Allen Weisselberg asked for me to bring him a copy of the statement showing the $130,000 transfer from First Republic Bank,” Mr. Cohen said. He said this was a meeting about his position and other outstanding matters like his bonus.
Prosecutors showed documentation of Mr. Cohen’s wire transfer, and then the bank statement Mr. Cohen brought to Mr. Weisselberg.
Mr. Cohen said the handwriting on the document was his and Mr. Weisselberg’s.
He said Mr. Weisselberg told him to “include everything, as I was obviously no longer going to have a position at The Trump Organization.”
He said he was told to add $50,000 for Red Finch, which was two years ago, to the $130,000. Then he was told to gross it up because he was taking it as income, and would need to double it for tax purposes because Mr. Cohen was in the 50 percent tax bracket, making it $360,000.
“He said I should take it as income,” Mr. Cohen said, not reimbursement.
Mr. Cohen said the $50,000 was a payment he made to Red Finch after Mr. Trump stopped working with them, but they still needed payment for the IP addresses Trump Organization obtained. He said he had constantly reminded Mr. Weisselberg he needed to be reimbursed for that.
“Did you pay Red Finch less than $50,000?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“I did,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Then why did you ask for $50,000 back?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Because that’s what I was owed and I didn’t feel Mr. Trump was coming up with the difference,” he said.
The total payment included a $60,000 bonus, adding up to $420,000.
Mr. Cohen said he didn’t know or ask why Mr. Weisselberg asked him to gross the money up because “honestly I didn’t really think about it, I just wanted to get my money back.”
Cohen Angry About 2016 Bonus
Mr. Cohen said it was customary for him to receive a year-end bonus.
“So after. Mr Trump would leave, he would be on a plane or would have already arrived to Mar-a-Lago, Rhona would walk around with a Christmas card and it would be signed by Mr. Trump and others, and in it would be a check. And that’s how you would find out what your bonus was,” Mr. Cohen said.
“When you opened up the card and saw the check, how did you feel about your 2016 bonus?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Angry. Beyond angry,” Mr. Cohen said. “Cut my bonus by two-thirds.”
He said he was also mad that he had paid $130,000 and had not been reimbursed.
“I was truly insulted, personally hurt, didn’t understand it, made no sense,” he said. “After all that I had gone through in terms of the campaign as well as things the Trump Organization was laying out, $130,000 to protect him, it was insulting that the gratitude shown back to me was to cut my bonus by two thirds.”
He went to Mr. Weisselberg and expressed his anger. “I used quite a few expletives,” he said.
Mr. Weisselberg’s response was “take it easy,” Mr. Cohen said. “You know that Mr. Trump loves you and will do right by you. Just go and enjoy your vacation and relax, we’re going to make this right.”
Mr. Cohen said he believed his anger impacted Mr. Weisselberg.
“I was, even for myself, unusually angry,” he said.
“After laying out $130,000 to protect him, this is the best that I get? It wasn’t really so much about the number as it was about the disrespect that came with it, I was just personally insulted,” Mr. Cohen said.
Ms. Hoffinger asked whether he complained to Mr. Davidson as well.
“I may have mentioned it,” Mr. Cohen said. “Keith Davidson I didn’t really know other than through his representation of Ms. Daniels whereas David Pecker I had a much longer relationship.”
Mr. Cohen said Mr. Trump called before the new year.
“Just to say how are you enjoying your vacation, you should come to Mar-a-Lago, don’t worry about the other thing, I’m going to take care of it when you get back,” Mr. Cohen said. “That he spoke to Allen and that he knows I was angry, but was going to take care of it when I got back.”
Cohen Wanted Personal Attorney Position
Ms. Hoffinger asked what role Mr. Cohen pitched instead.
“Personal attorney to the president,” Mr. Cohen said. “First of all, I thought that he would need it because there were still outstanding matters that we were dealing with, and every president has a personal attorney. So I thought that I could continue to protect him.”
Last fall, Mr. Cohen testified that he had not been offered a White House role and did not want one. Earlier in this case, Mr. Davidson testified that he received a long call from Mr. Cohen that led Mr. Davidson to believe Mr. Cohen was suicidal after being passed over for a White House role.
Mr. Cohen said he was also thinking of consulting, so he could stay in New York. He said his family did not want to go to Washington.
“As personal attorney for the president, it opens a lot of doors,” Mr. Cohen said. “Mr. Trump was an enigma. He was a businessman, and nobody knew what his feelings were, what his positions were on a multitude of different areas. Because of my close proximity to him, I did understand.”
“Did you think in a way that you could monetize your being personal attorney to the president?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Absolutely. As consultant to different companies that wanted to understand Mr. Trump or wanted to understand what his views were on different issues,” he said.
Mr. Cohen said he didn’t expect to be compensated as personal attorney to the president. “I knew that the compensation was going to come from the companies that were already interested in speaking with me,” he said.
Emails were exchanged between Mr. Cohen and his daughter, then in university, about his not being given a White House role and his other opportunities.
Cohen Says He Didn’t Want White House Role
After a short break, attorneys showed texts between Mr. Cohen and Ms. Hicks. The two had been monitoring coverage of the Karen McDougal agreement, and found that few outlets picked up the story. Days later, Mr. Trump won the presidential election.
“My service was no longer necessary, as I was special counsel to Mr Trump and he was now President-elect,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Did you want that role of assistant general counsel?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Did Mr. Trump or anyone else working on the transition team offer you the role of chief of staff?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said. “I didn’t want the role. I didn’t believe the role was right for me or even competent as chief of staff. I just wanted my name to be acknowledged as surrogate.”
“It was more about my ego than anything,” Mr. Cohen said. “I would have liked to be considered, but again it was solely for my ego.”
Cohen Says Call Log With Schiller Was ‘Serious’ Talk With Trump
Mr. Cohen received a call from Mr. Schiller on Nov. 4, 2016, asking him to call.
“Do you believe that you spoke to Mr. Trump using Mr. Schiller’s phone at that time?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Cohen said. “This was a serious, again, problem, especially so close to the election day, and I told him exactly who I had spoke to, the substance of the conversations with each of them. David said he was going to get to the bottom of this … we were going to do everything in our power to protect Mr. Trump.”
Cohen Tried to Connect With Campaign After WSJ Story
Mr. Cohen said when he found out the Wall Street Journal was to publish an article about the nondisclosure agreement he contacted Mr. Davidson. He said he called Hope Hicks and David Pecker about this.
“Trying to get my head around the article and figuring out how to change the narrative and quash negative results that would come from it, because it was days before the election,” Mr. Cohen said.
He had sent Ms. Hicks draft statements for Mr. Trump and the campaign, including on casting a story as a distraction “by the liberal media and the Clinton machine.”
He confirmed that Mr. Davidson had issued denial statements to the press.
“That was the way he was going to appease me,” Mr. Cohen said. “More importantly, to appease Mr. Trump.”
Mr. Cohen said he also contacted Mr. Howard in a “rather angry manner” demanding AMI have Ms. McDougal issue denial statements as well.
Cohen Says He Signed NDA
Prosecutors showed wire transfer authorization forms signed by Mr. Cohen. He confirmed the purpose listed on the form was not truthful.
Mr. Cohen said he sought assurance from Mr. Davidson that his funds would be held in a trust account and demanded a fully executed nondisclosure agreement before the funds could be distributed from the account.
Mr. Cohen affirmed that Mr. Trump’s name did not appear on the nondisclosure agreement, saying it would have looked very bad. He said he signed the agreement on behalf of David Dennison.
“On Oct. 28, 2016, I made a call to Mr. Trump,” Mr. Cohen said. He told Mr. Trump “that this matter was now completely under control and locked down pursuant to the NDA.”
Cohen Recorded Weisselberg Call
Mr. Cohen painted the picture of urgency as he received news that another publication was interested in buying up Ms. Clifford’s story, and he didn’t know anyone willing to put the $130,000 he had agreed to.
He said he hoped AMI would pay it but Mr. Pecker gave him a firm no, saying the last $130,000 payment nearly cost him his job. Call records showed a “flurry” of calls to Mr. Pecker, and Mr. Cohen said it was because signal was terrible so they were constantly going back and forth.
Mr. Cohen said he went across the street from his Trump Tower office to First Republic Bank, where he had a line of credit on his home.
Mr. Cohen said he then recorded a call with Mr. Weisselberg as a guarantee.
“I wanted to ensure that he approved of what I was doing because I required proof on all of this,” he said. “In order to ensure that the story didn’t get sold to the Daily Mail or someone else.”
“Everything required Mr Trump’s sign-off. On top of that, I wanted the money back.”
Cohen Says Weisselberg, Trump Assured Him of Reimbursement
“I said to Allen Weisselberg, you’re CFO, you’re making seven figures, why don’t you pay it? You’ll get paid back. He said, Michael as you know, I have kids in prep school … I just can’t do it.”
“I ultimately said, OK, I’ll pay it,” Mr. Cohen said.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll make sure you get paid back,'” Mr. Cohen recalled Mr. Weisselberg telling him.
“Allen and I spoke to Mr. Trump and expressed to him that I was going to front the money for it, to which he was appreciative: good, good. He stated to me, don’t worry, you’ll get the money back,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Would you have paid the $130,000 yourself if you did not know you would be paid back?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No, I was doing everything that I could and more in order to protect my boss, which was something I had done for a long time, but I would not lay out $130,000 for an NDA needed by somebody else,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Says He Acted as Surrogate of Campaign
Prosecutors showed a text from Melania Trump to Mr. Cohen the morning of Oct. 18, 2016: “Good morning, Michael. Can you please call DT on his cell. Thanks.”
Mr. Cohen confirmed he also appeared on CNN that day.
“In order to respond to a series of topics that affected Mr. Trump and the campaign,” he said. “As a surrogate.”
He said he responded to questions about Mr. Trump and women and “advocated for Mr. Trump in the best light possible.”
“Denials, as well as exclamations that I have never seen him in this sort of manner before, I was doing everything I could to change the direction,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said he discussed with Mr. Weisselberg, who asked if AMI could pay the $130,000.
Mr. Cohen said he thought another idea was to see “whether I knew anybody who wanted to purchase a golf membership at one of the various gold courses, or somebody who was having a family affair, a wedding, a bar itzvah, who would be interested as taking credit there.”
He said that wasn’t a possibility because then the Trump name would be attached.
Cohen Says He Told Trump
“I called Mr. Trump,” Mr. Cohen said. “In order to advise him of this situation, that because I didn’t forward the funds, she’s now declared the agreement void and we’re not going to be in a position to delay the post until after the election as he had wanted us to do, and the story was now going to go to the Daily Mail.”
Mr. Cohen confirmed he believed he could no longer delay the transaction after Mr. Davidson’s email.
Cohen Says He Lied to Bank
Mr. Cohen continued his testimony discussing the Stormy Daniels contract. He said he sent his bank representative Gary Farro, who previously testified, documents to open a bank account for Resolution Consultants LLC.
“In the event that the need for an account to be open, to transfer the funds,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Is this what you anticipated might need to happen soon?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Cohen said emphatically.
Prosecutors showed documents used in opening the accounts, signed by Mr. Cohen.
“The account documents that we just looked at, were they truthful as to the date you opened the account?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No,” Mr. Cohen said.
“I’m not sure they would have opened the account if it stated, ‘To pay off an adult film star for a nondisclosure agreement,'” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said he changed the name of the LLC to Essential Consultants after he discovered Resolution Consultants was the name of a business owned by someone he knew.
Prosecutors showed email exchanged between Mr. Cohen and Mr. Davidson, who was asking for payment.
“My intent was to continue to delay it as per Mr. Trump’s demand, and I clearly did not send fund to Mr. Davidson’s. I opened a lawyer’s account,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Davidson then emailed on oct. 17, 2016: “Please be advised that my client deems her settlement agreement cancelled and void ab initio.”
Mr. Cohen said, “we were losing control over this agreement.”
He said he was “very much” concerned about this. Prosecutors showed messages he exchanged with Mr. Howard, asking him to call.
“This was obviously incredibly stressful and incredibly important,” Mr. Cohen said.
Lawmakers Stick By Trump in Courthouse
After a lunch break, Rep. Malliotakis and Sen. Vance were seen reentering the courtroom with President Trump.
Cohen Testifies About Stormy Contact
Mr. Cohen confirmed he received a settlement agreement on Oct. 11, 2016, for Ms. Clifford’s story.
He also affirmed that he insisted on a provision whereby Ms. Clifford would need to pay $1 million per violation of the contract.
He said he was the only one who would have page one of the contract, which indicated the pseudonyms used in the contract.
“During my conversations with Mr. Trump, it was again about delaying the deal and trying to push it past the election which was upcoming,” Mr. Cohen said.
He said he told Mr. Davidson he would need 10 days in order to fund the transaction.
“I would wait 10 days and then do it again, try to push it past the election,” Mr. Cohen said. “I was following directions.”
“Were you intending to meet that deadline of October 14?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said.
The court took a break for lunch.
Cohen Says Trump ‘Wasn’t Thinking About Melania’ When It Came to Stormy Story
Ms. Hoffinger asked if he had a conversation with Mr. Trump “about a particular strategy about how to deal with it.”
“Well, he told me to work with David and purchase the life rights,” Mr. Cohen said. “We need to stop this from getting out.”
“During the negotiation and purchase to acquire the life rights, what he said to me was, I want you to push it out as long as you can, past the election, because if I win, it will have no relevance, I’m already president, and if I lose, I don’t really care,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said he had also asked Mr. Trump, “how’s things going upstairs?”
“He said, ‘how long do you think I’ll be on the market for?’ He wasn’t thinking about Melania, it was all about the campaign,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Says Trump Was Angry Over Stormy Story
Mr. Cohen said he spoke to Mr. Trump after hearing from Mr. Howard.
“Because it was a matter that affected him, and also because that was what I always did, to keep him abreast of everything,” Mr. Cohen said. “He was really angry with me. ‘I thought you had this under control. I thought you took care of this.’”
“I expressed to Mr. Trump, we did in 2011, and I have no control over what she goes out and does,” Mr. Cohen said. He said he was told “just take care of it.”
“He said to me, ‘this is a disaster, a total disaster. Women are going to hate me. Guys may think it’s cool but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign,’” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said at the time Mr. Trump was “polling very poorly with women.”
“And this, coupled with the previous Access Hollywood, he just stated it’s a disaster, get control over it,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Testifies About Stormy Daniels Story
Mr. Cohen said on Oct. 8, 2016, he was also aware that Ms. Clifford was trying to sell her story. He thought it would be “catastrophic” for the Trump campaign if it came out.
“After I received the information from Dylan Howard, I immediately went and knocked on his door, can I speak to you, and I told him about the substance of the conversation I had with Dylan Howard,” Mr. Cohen said. He said Mr. Trump told him “do it, take care of it.”
Mr. Cohen said Mr. Trump told him about meeting her at the golf tournament in 2006, and that “women prefer Trump even over someone like Big Ben,” referring to NFL quarterback Benjamin Roethlisberger.
“Did he mention anything about what she looked like?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“He said that she was a beautiful woman,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen affirmed that he had conversations with the general counsel of Life and Style about what he might do if the article was not taken down.
“Would file an immediate lawsuit against him,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said he had told Mr. Trump previously when he succeeded in making sure an InTouch article about Ms. Clifford didn’t come out, and also about the article takedown from the blog thedirty.com in 2011.
“Yes, and gave Keith Davidson credit,” Mr. Cohen said.
Texts between Mr. Cohen and Mr. Howard on Oct. 9, 2016, were shown. Mr. Howard said he emailed Mr. Cohen and that “Keith will do it,” referring to Mr. Davidson. Mr. Cohen texted back “Resolution Consultants is the name of the entity that I formed a week ago.”
On Oct. 10, 2016, Mr. Howard connected Mr. Davidson and Mr. Cohen. “Over to you two,” he wrote.
Cohen Says He Asked for Related Article Takedown ‘To Get Credit’ After Access Hollywood Tape
On Oct. 8, 2016, Mr. Cohen also learned about a story titled “DONALD TRUMP, PLAYBOY MAN” that was published on Radar Online, which talked about the audio clip.
Mr. Howard had sent Mr. Cohen an email about it, and Mr. Cohen asked them to take it down.
“It was negative to Mr. Trump, it would have impacted the campaign,” Mr. Cohen said.
The article, which Mr. Pecker said was published before AMI acquired Radar, was taken down.
“You said Dylan Howard, as referenced here, took the article down?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“That’s right. I told him so that he would know the task or situation had been handled,” Mr. Cohen said, and also “to get credit.”
“I was in London for two important events, my daughter’s 21st, my anniversary. I wanted Dylan Howard to get credit as well,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Discussed Story With Chris Cuomo
Oct. 8, 2016, texts between Mr. Cohen and former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo were shown.
“You going to defend him?” Mr. Cuomo wrote.
“I’m in London. I’ve been asked by everyone to do shows starting Tuesday,” Mr. Cohen texted. “Not sure what I will do.”
“Will be too late. He is dying right now,” Mr. Cuomo texted.
Mr. Cohen said his understanding was that the story was “tremendously damaging” to the campaign. He believed the tape would be “significantly impactful, especially with women voters.”
Cohen Says ‘Locker Room’ Response Was From Melania
He confirmed that on Oct. 8, 2016, Mr. Trump joined a call that Mr. Cohen and Ms. Hicks were on. Mr. Cohen said he was with his family and friends in London at the time.
“He wanted me to reach out to all my contacts in the media. We needed to put a spin on this, and the spin that he wanted put on it was that this is locker room talk, something that Melania had recommended, at least he told me, that’s what Melania had thought it was, and use that in order to get control over the story and minimize its impact on him and his campaign,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said he reached out to members of the media, and they had also reached out to him.
“The substance of the recording was quite damaging, and they wanted comment,” Mr. Cohen said.
Attorneys Show Campaign Emails About Access Hollywood Tape
Mr. Cohen said he became aware of the Access Hollywood tape when communications director Hope Hicks forwarded him an email with questions from a Washington Post reporter. The email had been forwarded to key members of the Trump Campaign.
Replies read: “Need to hear the tape to be sure” and “Deny deny deny”.
Mr. Cohen replied asking Steve Bannon to call him. He wrote, “It’s all over the place. Whose [sic] doing damage control here?”
“Because I wanted to be sure that things were being properly taken care of to protect Mr. Trump,” he said.
Cohen, Pecker Give Different Takes On Contract Fallout
“In your understanding, who was going to pay that $125,000?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Mr. Trump,” Mr. Cohen said. “I gave him a complete and total update on everything that had transpired the day before.”
“Why did you speak with him the day before you signed it?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“In order to let him know that it was being taken care of, that the matter was being resolved,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen confirmed he received an invoice from Investor Advisory Services Inc. on Sept. 21, 2016, which was the contract for the life rights to Ms. McDougal’s story.
“What was your understanding of why you received this invoice from IAS?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“I didn’t know who they were. It was clearly for separation, in order to mask the transaction,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said then Mr. Pecker contacted him and “stated it was no longer necessary to have Mr. Trump pay the $125,000.”
“I asked him why. The reason was because the Karen McDougal front cover on Men’s Health magazine had sold more copies than they had not only anticipated, but the way David expressed it to me, that they had ever sold, and they made a lot of money on that,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Pecker had testified differently, explaining that he thought the agreement was a “bad idea.”
“He told me to rip it up, forget it,” Mr. Cohen said.
“What was Mr. Trump’s reaction?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Ah, it’s great. Doesn’t have to pay the $125,000,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen added that Mr. Pecker was no longer being considered to lead another media company and so he was also no longer worried about old Trump articles and information being used.
“So there was no longer any need to do the transaction, plus the materials in that file were no longer detrimental to Mr. Trump,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Says He Gave Trump ‘Complete and Total Update’ About Deal
Mr. Cohen said that Mr. Trump was the one who directed him to speak with Mr. Weisselberg.
“So when I went to Allen’s office I expressed to him that we needed funding, $150,000 to consummate this transaction. Allen then said to me, well if we do it from a Trump entity, that kind of defeats the purpose, because the point is not to have the Trump name affiliated to this at all, to create a barrier,” Mr. Cohen said. “So he asked me, think about ways that we could raise the $150,000.”
Mr. Cohen said he opened an LLC to “keep it separate.”
He said he had encrypted conversations with Daniel Rothstein, an employee at AMI, regarding this reimbursement.
Mr. Rothstein texted “please find possible names,” listing what Mr. Cohen explained were five corporation names he could use as the recipient of the agreement.
“Was that just one day after you taped the conversation with Mr. Trump?” Ms. Hoffinger asked. The text was sent Sept. 7, 2016.
“Yes ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said. “What he was referencing was to assign the life rights of Karen McDougal to the LLC entity that was being created.”
He affirmed there was a plan to sign that new contract that day.
Mr. Cohen said he formed Resolution Consultants LLC on Sept. 30, 2016.
“What was the purpose of the formation of this LLC?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“To use this entity for the assignment of the McDougal matter as well as other information,” Mr. Cohen said. “The transfer of McDougal life rights as well as other assignments.”
“David had discussed with me, we’re doing to reduce it from $150,000 to $125,000,” accounting for articles written by Ms. McDougal for AMI publications, Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Testifies About Conversation With Trump
After a break, Mr. Cohen continued testifying about the conversation with Mr. Trump.
“Why did you think it was a bad idea, to pay in cash?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Because we needed to acquire the information about the documents, and I believed the proper way to do it would be by check and make it appear to be a transaction,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen confirmed that his recording of Mr. Trump ended when he received a phone call and he picked up.
“I must have believed it was an important phone call,” he said. “I had more than enough to show David Pecker as to convince him that he was going to receive the $150,000 back.”
He reviewed phone records and said it was an incoming call from a branch manager at Capital One Bank.
Mr. Cohen said he continued his conversation with Mr. Trump after taking the call and told Mr. Trump he was going to head over to Mr. Weisselberg’s office with an update.
Mr. Cohen affirmed he did not alter the recording.
Prosecutors Play Cohen-Trump Tape
The first two minutes of the recording were unrelated to the McDougal contract, and Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen discussed Charleston.
“We need to open up a company for the transfer of all that info regarding our friend David, and I’ve spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set that up, the funding,” Mr. Cohen said. “I’m all over that, I’ve spoken to Allen about it when it comes time for the financing.”
Mr. Trump asks “what financing?” and later is heard saying “pay with cash.”
Mr. Cohen said he was talking about opening an LLC that would be the beneficial owner of all the information Mr. Pecker had related to Mr. Trump, including the McDougal story.
He said Mr. Weisselberg was the “chief financial officer, every penny that came in or went out went through Allen’s office.”
“Now, what did you understand Mr. Trump to mean when he said, what do we have to pay for this?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“We were referring to the $150,000 that was advanced by AMI in order to pay for the life rights from Karen McDougal,” Mr. Cohen said. “[Mr. Trump] already knew, based on conversations with David, which is why he mentioned the number $150,000.”
“‘All that stuff’ us referencing all the information that Mr. Pecker had accumulated about Mr. Trump, including the Karen McDougal story,” Mr. Cohen said.
“What did you understand Mr. Trump to mean by pay with cash?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“To pay with green, which would be obviously one way to avoid any paper transaction,” Mr. Cohen said.
The court took a break.
Cohen Taped Trump to Show Pecker
Mr. Cohen said he felt it was important to tape this conversation with Mr. Trump so he could reassure Mr. Pecker.
“It was so I could show it to David Pecker … Mr. Trump is going to be paying you back,” Mr. Cohen said. “A
Because it became a regular conversation between the two of us. And I also wanted him to remain loyal to Mr. Trump.”
“I had my cell phone in my hand, and I put it on voice memo, all iPhones have it, and I hit voice record and walked into Mr. Trump’s office,” Mr. Cohen said.
He said Mr. Trump was not aware he was being recorded.
Cohen Was Worried Pecker Had Other Articles on Trump
Mr. Cohen said he also had other conversations with Mr. Trump about Mr. Pecker. He said Mr. Pecker was being considered to lead another publication under Time magazine, and he was worried what might happen if he left.
“And one of the concerns I expressed to Mr. Trump was, if he goes, there’s a series of papers that relate to you. I don’t know what those stories were, but they would be open for use. Because we didn’t know who the potential CEO or replacement would be,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Discusses Reimbursement for McDougal Story
Prosecutors asked if Mr. Cohen had conversations about Mr. Trump reimbursing AMI for buying the McDougal story.
“Yes. David asked me when they should anticipate AMI receiving the $150,000. He needed, he wanted the $150,000 back because it was too much money for him to hide from the CEO of the parent company, and he had just laid out $30,000 previous, so he was putting pressure on me to speak to Mr. Trump to get the money back,” Mr. Cohen said. “I don’t know if I would characterize it as urgent as much as he insisted.
Mr. Cohen said they had met at Mr. Pecker’s favorite Italian restaurant.
“And again he expressed his anger, because ‘I need this money back,’ and I said again Mr. Trump told you he would pay you back, he will pay you back,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Says He Worked With Davidson in 2011
Mr. Cohen said he had worked with Mr. Davidson back in 2011 when a story came out about Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, and Donald Trump that Ms. Clifford had wanted taken down.
“We had worked together effectually then,” he said.
Mr. Davidson’s recollection had been a tad more colorful, with him saying that he had called Mr. Cohen out of courtesy to inform him of a cease-and-desist letter Mr. Davidson sent, and Mr. Cohen had cursed and yelled.
Cohen Testifies About McDougal Agreement
Mr. Cohen said he was also aware of the contract with Karen McDougal, which he told Mr. Trump about.
Mr. Pecker previously testified about these two deals, saying he only dealt with Mr. Cohen and had lacked personal knowledge of Mr. Trump’s involvement for much of these events. Prosecutors need Mr. Cohen’s testimony to establish that Mr. Trump was involved in these deals as an accomplice.
“I went to the office, knocked on it, came in, said boss I’ve got to talk to you. ASked him if he knew anything about who Karen McDougal was. His response to me was ‘she’s really beautiful,’” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen told him Ms. McDougal was shopping around a story about an affair with Mr. Trump.
“We need to acquire the story, and so I went ahead and I reached back out to both Dylan Howard as well as David Pecker,” Mr. Cohen said.
He confirmed that he was in touch with Mr. Howard and Mr. Pecker from about June through August 2016 about this deal.
“Yes ma’am, for purposes of stopping the story from being sold or marketed to outside sources,” Mr. Cohen said. Several texts between the parties were entered into evidence.
On June 16, 2016, Mr. Cohen texted Mr. Schiller asking to speak with Mr. Trump.
On June 20, 2016, Mr. Cohen texted with Mr. Howard, who informed him about Ms. McDougal.
“I’m about to meet with her. Her name is Karen McDougal, former Playboy playmate,” Mr. Howard texted.
“Okay. We need to speak,” Mr. Cohen texted.
Mr. Howard agreed to do so after a meeting.
“Spoke to DP. We just broke. I’m wrapping up with them and then we will convene a three-way call to sort all of this out. Understand I’ve got this locked down for you, I won’t let it out of mr grasp,” Mr. Howard texted.
Mr. Cohen confirmed it was important to him to do a call with them after, and they told him they had it under control.
Texts between Mr. Howard and Mr. Cohen showed discussion of the monetary negotiations. Mr. Howard said he was working with his guy—his source Keith Davidson, who represented Ms. McDougal—”to get it done.”
Mr. Cohen said he felt pressure to close the deal because “it was the campaign, and we were concerned that this story was going to find its way to ABC, meaning ABC News.”
He said Mr. Pecker and Mr. Howard updated him on the terms of the agreement.
“We prevented the story from being on ABC News and, effectively, the story was now being ‘caught’,” he said.
“What was Mr. Trump’s reaction to hearing that an agreement had been signed and done, and that it was bulletproof?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Fantastic. Great job,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen Says Trump Told Him to ‘Handle’ Negative Story
Mr. Cohen confirmed that in the fall of 2015 he learned of a story alleging that Mr. Trump fathered an illegitimate child.
He said he provided Mr. Trump with all of the information, and “he told me to make sure that the story doesn’t get out. ‘You handle it.’”
“Now what did you do?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“I worked with David Pecker and Dylan Howard, in order to obtain the story, the life rights to the story,” Mr. Cohen said. He said they updated him on the $30,000 agreement they drew up to obtain the story.
“I also asked them to send it to me so that I could show Mr. Trump that it was being taken care of,” Mr. Cohen said. He said he reviewed the contract himself to make sure Mr. Trump was “fully protected” and added a clause with a $1 million penalty if the contract was violated.
“What I found out was that the agreement had what I considered to be an end date to it. So I said why not just make this in perpetuity. It means that they own the story forever and it can never come out,” he said.
Mr. Cohen said that Mr. Pecker had a call with Mr. Trump, which Mr. Trump took on speakerphone while Mr. Cohen was in the room.
“David said, we have this under control and we will, we’ll take care of this,” Mr. Cohen said. “David Pecker stated it was going to cost him $150,000 to call the story, to which Mr. Trump replied, I’ll take care of it. He was going to pay him back.”
Cohen Testifies About Key 2015 Meeting
Ms. Hoffinger asked Mr. Cohen what Mr. Trump said about possible problems when he announced his run, and asked him to share with the jury what happened in the 2015 Trump Tower meeting with Mr. Pecker.
“You know that when this comes out, there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward,” Mr. Cohen said he recalled Mr. Trump saying.
Mr. Cohen said the National Enquirer was sold at the checkout of supermarkets and bodegas, and that was powerful.
“That if we could place positive stories about Trump, that would be beneficial. If we could place negative stories about the other candidates, that would be beneficial,” Mr. Cohen said. “Pecker said he would be able to help us know in advance what was coming out, and to try to stop it from coing out.”
“Mr. Trump said, knowing my relationship with David, ‘the two of you should work together,’” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Cohen said AMI previewed negative articles they would run on Trump rivals with Mr, Cohen, including a story alleging Hillary Clinton suffered a brain injury, or one of Marco Rubio alleging a drug binge.
“Do you recall what in general his reactions were?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“‘That’s fantastic. It’s unbelievable,’” Mr. Cohen said.
Prosecutors showed an email from Mr. Cohen to Barry Levine at AMI, where he gives notes to an article.
“Yes. Take out the part of the Penthouse pet Sandra, as it offers nothing. Also, I would like to rework the part about Atlantic City. Let’s speak tomorrow,” Mr. Cohen wrote in the email. They were notes for a January 2016 story titled “The Donald Trump Nobody Knows.”
Cohen Testifies About Campaigning for Trump
Mr. Cohen said when Mr. Trump said he wouldn’t run in 2011, “he actually promised me he was going to do it in the next election cycle.”
“I wasn’t going to be part of it, I was just going to be a surrogate,” Mr. Cohen said. “Someone who speaks to the press but not as a member of the campaign, but as an outside person, it gives the appearance it’s unbiased.”
“I would make public appearances on TV, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, whoever. CBS. I would frequently provide comment to press regarding different matters that were popping up,” he said.
“So while watching the rallies, I had come to Mr. Trump and I said, one of the things that I notice is that it’s very white. And we really need diversity. If you’re going to win, you’re going to need diversity, and so I started the National Diversity Coalition for Trump along with an evangelical from Ohio.”
Cohen Said He Encouraged Trump Political Run
Mr. Cohen said he had come across a poll in 2011 that showed 6 percent of those polled thought Mr. Trump should be president.
“So I took that article, I brought it to Mr. Trump, and said what do you think? and he said it’s interesting, we should take a look at it,” Mr. Cohen said.
“I created a website called shouldtrumprun.com and many people came to that website, and it was further proof that his name recognition, his popularity, especially because of his hit show The Apprentice, was so strong,” he said.
Mr. Cohen said Mr. Trump did not run because he had several large real estate project and another season of The Apprentice.
“As Mr. Trump told me, you don’t leave Hollywood, Hollywood leaves you,” he said.
Prosecutors Ask About Story Suppression
“Prior to Mr. Trump announcing his run for the presidency, are you aware of AMI ever paying to suppress a story?” Ms. Hoffinger said.
“No ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Pecker had previously testified about his company’s practice of “checkbook journalism.”
Mr. Cohen confirmed that he communicated with Dylan Howard, chief content officer at National Enquirer.
“Dylan Howard was an employee over at AMI, he works for Mr. Pecker, to the same extent that I work for Mr. Trump,” he said.
Cohen Testifies on Contacts, Key Communications in Case
Mr. Cohen provided his cell phones to prosecutors in January 2023, in which he kept “names, email addresses, potential addresses, cell phone numbers, home phone numbers, fax numbers” that are synced with Mr. Trump’s own contact list.
He said they had decided it would be easier to sync contacts so when Mr. Trump was traveling Mr. Cohen could put Mr. Trump’s contacts on the line.
Mr. Cohen confirmed he was in contact with David Pecker, whom he knew even before he met Mr. Trump.
“We had mutual friends and we met at a function out on Long Island many, many years ago,” Mr. Cohen said. He said he spoke to Mr. Pecker by phone and Signal, an encrypted app.
He said they were in communication before 2015.
“There were some things that had come up,” he said. “For example Mr. Trump had donated money to a charity, come to information they had no funding and I brought it to Mr. Trump’s attention. To get a good story out. So there would be things like that.”
Cohen Says He Lied and Bullied to Accomplish Tasks
“During your years at The Trump Organization, did you at times lie for him?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“I did. If it was what was needed to accomplish a task,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Did you bully people for him?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes ma’am,” Mr. Cohen said.
“Why’d you do that?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“The only thing that was on my mind was to accomplish a task, to make him happy,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen: ‘Amazing Experience’ Working for Trump
”It was fantastic, working for him, especially during those 10 years was an amazing experience in many, many ways,” Mr. Cohen said. “There were great time, there were several less than great times, but for the most part I enjoyed the responsibility that was given to me, I enjoyed working with my colleagues at the Trump Organization, the children, it was a big family.”
Cohen: Trump Had ‘Open Door Policy’
Mr. Cohen said he spoke with Mr. Trump “every single day and multiple times per day,” sometimes in person and sometimes by phone.
Mr. Cohen said when it was by phone, Mr. Cohen would use his cell phone and one of Mr. Trump’s assistants, like Rhona Graff, Hope Hicks, or his bodyguard Keith Schiller, would put them in touch via an office line.
He added that “during certain conversations Trump would comment that emails are like written papers, it’s too many people who have gone down as a result of having emails that prosecutors can use in a case.”
He said he usually met Mr. Trump in his office throughout a work day, not through setting appointment and that Mr. Trump generally did not record meetings in a calendar.
“Mr. Trump had an open door policy,” he said. “When he would task you with something, he would then say, keep me informed, let me know what is going on.”
“If you didn’t immediately provide him with the information and he learned of it in another manner, that wouldn’t go over well with him,” Mr. Cohen said. He affirms that Mr. Trump, who he referred to as “boss,” was a micromanager.
Cohen Says He Threatened Lawsuits
Ms. Hoffinger asked, “Did you threaten at times to sue people or companies?”
“Yes,” Mr. Cohen said, “It would depend on what the issue was. WE had an issue with a Miss USA pageant contestant, Mr. Trump being defamed, so we brought an arbitration with her. THat matter ultimately got resolved.”
“With press, if they said something that angered him, I would reach out to the press, and I would express to them their need to either redact or take the argument down, or we would file an action against them,” he said.
He described other tasks he had been assigned.
“In one instance, his limo was hit by a yellow cab, and knowing that I had deep roots into the yellow cab industry, he asked me to meet with the driver who provided me with the police report, and to have them pay for the repair,” Mr. Cohen said.
In another instance, an apartment unit flooded and caused damage, and Mr. Cohen handled the adjustment with the insurance company.
Mr. Cohen said he started with an office toward the back and later moved to an office about 50 feet away from Mr. Trump’s office.
He said he spoke with Mr. Trump “every single day and multiple times per day,” sometimes in person and sometimes by phone.
Mr. Cohen said when it was by phone, Mr. Cohen would use his cell phone and one of Mr. Trump’s assistants, like Rhona Graff, Hope Hicks, or his bodyguard Keith Schiller, would put them in touch via an office line.
He added that “during certain conversations Trump would comment that emails are like written papers, it’s too many people who have gone down as a result of having emails that prosecutors can use in a case.”
Cohen Describes Work for Trump: ‘Like I Was on Top of the World’
Mr. Cohen said he worked on “whatever concerned him, whatever he wanted.” He said early on he pitched a golf course redevelopment project that ultimately didn’t come to fruitition but was “an exciting project” because “it was new and I enjoyed the challenge.
Later, “Trump University fell into trouble” with some 50 vendors requiring payment and $2 million in the bank, Mr. Cohen said. “So what I did was put them into a handwritten spreadsheet … came up with basically 20 percent of each one’s invoice. I contacted the vendors and all but two accepted the 20 percent we had.”
He said each and every release was separate and “would go straight to Mr. Trump’s office and I advise him of the task we accomplished.”
“He said it was fantastic,” Mr. Cohen said.
“And how did that make you feel?” prosecuting attorney Susan Hoffinger asked.
“Like I was on top of the world,” he said.
Cohen Recounts Trump Meeting
He said he met Donald Trump through his son. Mr. Cohen was moving into one of the Trump properties and Donald Trump Jr. was doing construction.
“There was an issue over at Trump Tower, because not only did I own a unit there but my parents, and there was an issue with the board, and what we did was end up overtaking the board and resolving the issue to Mr Trump’s satisfaction,” Mr. Cohen said. “He liked the way that occurred and asked if I would assist in other legal issues that he had.”
He was asked to review documents for a deal with Trump Entertainment resorts.
“We ended up resolving it and the bill was approximately $100,000,” Mr. Cohen said. “I was then asked to meet Mr. Trump at the office, which I did, he asked about the bill, he asked it I was happy at my sleepy old firm. I said I was, and he asked, would you like to come and work for me.”
“I was taken by surprise, I was honored, and I agreed.”
Mr. Cohen said he was offered a position as executive vice president at Trump Organization and special counsel to Mr. Trump, answering only to Mr. Trump. They negotiated a salary of $375,000 and additional bonuses, coming out to about $525,000.
He worked there 10 years, from 2007 to 2017.
Michael Cohen Testifies
Mr. Cohen took the witness stand, outlining his background under questioning by prosecutors.
His testimony is expected to fill key gaps in the prosecution’s case presented so far.
“I really didn’t want to be a lawyer. My grandmother wanted me to be a lawyer. I wanted to go on Wall Street,” he said. He said he was admitted to the bar in 1992 and started his career in a personal injury law firm.
In 1995, one of his clients was moving to Israel, and gave Mr. Cohen the opportunity to buy 50 percent interest in a company called Manhattan Maintenance. He began purchasing new developments after.
“Specifically Trump properties. First one was at Trump Tower,” he said.
Judge Denies DA Motion to Enter Weisselberg Severance Agreement
Prosecutors sought last week to enter former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s severance agreement as a reason for his absence from court.
Justice Merchan denied the motion Monday morning.
“It would come in as a business record but I’m not going to allow it in,” he said. “This would be used as a justification as to why Allen Weisselberg is not here but it doesn’t meet the burden of evidence, as it doesn’t move the ball either way. I’m going to deny this application.”
Prosecutors had argued that the contract includes non-disparagement and confidentiality agreements that would prevent him from testifying, and defense attorneys argued that was misleading as Mr. Weisselberg’s absence would be due to the perjury plea deal negotiated by the district attorney’s office.
Mr. Weisselberg is currently serving a five-month prison sentence.
Lawmakers Stand By Trump in Courthouse
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) were among those who turned out to attend the historic trial against former President Donald Trump.
The lawmakers stood behind the former president in the hallway as he addressed the media before heading into the courtroom.
“It’s a witch hunt, I’ve never seen anything like it,” President Trump said. “It’s election interference at a level that nobody in this country has ever seen before.”
Massive Turnout as Trial Reaches Climax
This morning the lines were massive outside the courthouse as 100 Centre St., as journalists and citizens from around the world vied for a chance to take one of a limited number of seats in the courtroom where Michael Cohen is expected to testify in the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, or in the overflow room where the proceedings play out onscreen. Some people had reportedly been on line since 2:00 a.m. or even earlier. As on past trial days, members of local companies that show up to take places in line, and then sell them to members of the media, did a brisk business.
From The Epoch Times