Michael Cohen called to the stand
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, has been called to the witness stand.
Cohen entered judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom just before 9.40am ET.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, called to testify in hush-money trial – live
Trump’s former attorney and personal fixer is taking the stand as prosecution’s star witness
Mon 13 May 2024 09.52 EDT
First published on Mon 13 May 2024 07.59 EDT
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Michael Cohen says that he worked as Donald Trump’s special counsel for 10 years, until January 2017.
Asked how old he was when he started to work at the Trump Organization, Cohen chuckled. He didn’t recall exactly but was in his 30s.
Approximately all in, how much were you making at the Trump Organization?
Cohen said $525,000.
Michael Cohen is testifying about how he came to work for Donald Trump.
Cohen says he was initially introduced to Trump by Donald Trump Jr as he was moving into one of his properties. He says there was “an issue with the board” at Trump World Tower that Trump had asked him. Cohen says:
What we did was we ended up overtaking the board and resolving the issue … he liked the way that occurred and then continued to ask me if I would assist in other issues, legal issues, or other matters that he had.
Who is Michael Cohen?
Michael Cohen is Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer who was for more than a decade his Mr Fix-It, but is now the prosecution’s star witness as it builds its case that the former president sought to conceal hush-money payments to the adult film star, Stormy Daniels.
Cohen served as Trump’s trusted adviser, personal attorney and self-described “attack dog with a law license”. But the relationship soured after Trump won the US presidential election in 2016 and did not offer Cohen a role in his administration.
Cohen, a native of Long Island, began practicing law as a personal injury lawyer in 1992 and joined the Trump Organization in 2006. He’d told Trump he’d read his book The Art of the Deal twice and soon became a close confidant.
In a 2018 profile, it was noted that Cohen performed a role much like that of Roy Cohn, the notorious New York political and legal fixer who had worked for Trump and his father. Cohen’s duties led him into fixing situations of a sensitive nature, including setting up “catch-and-kill” arrangements with David Pecker, publisher of the National Enquirer, which has circuitously led to today’s court confrontation.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is asking Michael Cohen background questions as she’s warming up her direct.
Cohen is coming across as charming. She asks about his time in law, and whether he always wanted to be a lawyer.
Actually, I didn’t want to be a lawyer, my grandmother didn’t want me to be a lawyer.
He said that in his family, people became doctors or lawyers.
I wanted to go to Wall Street.
His grandmother said “no.”
Michael Cohen, wearing a pale salmon-color tie, just swore to tell the truth and sat at the witness stand.
He was asked to spell his name. “Michael Dean Cohen, C-O-H-E-N.”
Michael Cohen called to the stand
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, has been called to the witness stand.
Cohen entered judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom just before 9.40am ET.
Cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom once proceedings begin, but a group of photographers were permitted to take pictures of Donald Trump at the defense table before court began this morning.
Court is starting. Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench.
Merchan will not allow prosecutors to introduce former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s severance agreement.
More people here this morning in support of Donald Trump, per poolers:
JD Vance, the Ohio senator who is being floated as a potential Republican running mate to Trump
Tommy Tuberville, the Republican senator of Alabama
Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump aide who was charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery in Arizona
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign adviser
Alina Habba, who has repped Trump in other cases, is also present.
Meanwhile, in a positive development for press access, a pool of photographers is once again being permitted to take photos of Donald Trump at the defense table prior to trial proceedings beginning.
Photographers had been barred from taking photos inside the courtroom for several days last week following an allegation that one snapped Trump from outside of the well which, if proven, would represent a violation of rules established by the judge, Juan Merchan.
Trump enters courtroom
Donald Trump just entered the courtroom. He was carrying papers, once again.
He was indeed trailed by supporters, including son Eric Trump and Nicole Malliotakis.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, has been pictured arriving at the Manhattan criminal court where he is expected to take the stand as the key witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s case against the former president.
Donald Trump will apparently be joined in court by a coterie of supporters. Indeed, per a hallway pool report:
A number of people in Trump’s entourage stepped into the hallway just now. Nicole Malliotakis was among them. A pooler shouted ‘Nicole’ at her to confirm and she waved back. They stepped back into the adjacent courtroom after the exchange.
Malliotakis is a Republican congresswoman representing Staten Island.
Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse.
Key takeaways from Stormy Daniels's testimony last week
Donald Trump appeared frustrated at the Manhattan courtroom for his hush-money criminal trial on Friday, after sitting through two days of testimony from the adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who provided a detailed account of an alleged sexual liaison with him some 20 years ago.
Daniels’s testimony described their relationship in graphic detail and over lengthy periods of court time, despite the alleged criminal behavior at the heart of the charges being due to the way the payments were accounted for as prosecutors have claimed they were an election expense.
Here are the key takeaways from the first and second day of Daniels’s testimony.
Here is a reminder of the key players in Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial:
Donald Trump, defendant: the Republican nominee for president is the defendant in the case. Prosecutors allege that he orchestrated a $130,000 payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels when she threatened to go public with allegations of an affair on the eve of the 2016 election, and then conspired with others to cover up the payment.
Michael Cohen, key witness: Cohen was once a lawyer for Trump and one of the former president’s most loyal lieutenants and enforcers. He facilitated the payment to Daniels, funnelling the $130,000 to her through a shell company called Essential Consultants LLC. Trump later arranged to pay him back in monthly payment instalments of $35,000.
Stormy Daniels, key witness: Daniels, an adult film star, says she met Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament. Daniels was 27 at the time and Trump was 60. Just before the 2016 election, Daniels said she was approached by Cohen, Trump’s lawyer at the time, and offered $130,000 not to disclose the alleged affair.
David Pecker, key witness: Pecker was a key Trump ally who served as the CEO of American Media Inc (AMI), the publisher of the National Enquirer. Pecker helped Trump by purchasing the rights to potentially damaging stories and then never publishing them, a practice known as “catch and kill”.
Allen Weisselberg, key figure: Weisselberg is the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. He worked for the company for more than 50 years, and has refused to turn on Trump even as he has been sentenced to prison twice. He played a key role in concealing the purpose of Trump’s payments to Cohen, according to the indictment.
The biggest news out of Donald Trump’s trial on Friday wasn’t anything that was said on the witness stand, but who will be on it this week.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and attorney, is expected to be called by the prosecution as soon as Monday.
Cohen is at the center of the case: he’s the man Trump repaid for buying the silence of the adult film star Stormy Daniels, an arrangement that Trump allegedly falsified business records to conceal.
The biggest question is whether the jury will find him credible. Numerous witnesses made it clear during testimony just how bullying, aggressive and unlikeable he could be in their interactions with him.
But he’s the witness who can tie everything together. And we may start hearing his story when court resumes on Monday.
Michael Cohen, prosecution's star witness, expected to take the stand
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump’s criminal trial over his hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, which enters its fifth week today with proceedings due to start at about 9.30am ET in New York.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney and personal fixer, is expected to take the stand as soon as today. As trial wrapped for the week on Friday afternoon, the prosecution said they expected to call two more witnesses – one of whom will be Cohen. Last week, the jury heard testimony from Daniels, who provided a detailed – and embarrassing – account of an alleged sexual liaison with Trump some 20 years ago.
Cohen’s hush-money payment to Daniels is at the very heart of the historic trial in Manhattan criminal court. Prosecutors charge that Cohen wired $130,000 to Daniels’s then attorney just 12 days before the presidential election to keep quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments and had pleaded not guilty.
We’re at the courthouse again today. Stay with us.
Trump’s criminal hush-money trial: what to know
A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far
The key takeaways from Daniels’ testimony last week.
The jurors: who is on the Trump trial jury?
The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump
From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players