Donald Trump's Trial Entering 'Tricky Territory': Attorney

The hush-money trial involving Donald Trump is entering a crucial but complicated stage of proceedings, according to a legal expert.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance suggested the trial—in which the former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records—is entering "tricky territory," with Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, set to take the stand Monday.

Cohen's testimony has long been considered a potential key moment in the case, with Trump's former fixer expected to tell the jury about the $130,000 he paid adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 election. The money was later listed in Trump's company records as Cohen's "legal fees."

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office increased the charges against Trump to felony counts, saying the apparent attempt to hide the sum paid to Cohen amounted to another crime of concealing an election campaign violation. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges in relation to hush money paid to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, which prosecutors said violated the amount a person can contribute to an election campaign.

"But this is tricky territory for both sides," Vance wrote in her Civil Discourse blog regarding Cohen's testimony, given his prior convictions.

Vance continued: "For Trump, Cohen's conviction could imply his own guilt. For the prosecution, the fact that Cohen was prosecuted, but not Trump, could be used to suggest that Trump did not violate the law in this regard.

"Both sides will try to use Cohen's testimony to their advantage to insinuate as much as possible without violating the Judge's directives on what can and can't be said."

Newsweek has contacted Trump's legal team and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for comment via email.

Vance added that questions about Cohen's character would almost certainly be raised during the upcoming proceedings, with Trump's legal team attempting to paint the prosecution's key witness as unreliable.

Cohen previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in connection with a real-estate deal the former president's company was pursuing in Russia during the 2016 campaign.

In March, a federal judge also ruled that Cohen may have committed perjury while testifying under oath during Trump's civil fraud trial in October. While on the stand in the Manhattan courtroom, Cohen said that he had never committed tax evasion despite pleading guilty to federal charges in 2018.

When pressed by Alina Habba, Trump's lawyer, on whether Cohen was admitting he had lied "more than once" in federal court, Cohen replied, "Correct."

In a written order, Judge Jesse Furman said Cohen must have therefore committed perjury when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges or when he testified during the civil fraud trial in October.

"The defense will try to have a field day on cross-examination with the man who once said he'd take a bullet for Trump," Vance wrote.

"The prosecution, which has meticulously pre-corroborated Cohen's testimony knowing this was coming, will tell the jury they don't have to approve of Michael Cohen to believe his testimony, which is substantiated by documents and other witnesses," she added.

John J. Perlstein, a litigator in Los Angeles, previously said that trying to attack Cohen's character may backfire for Trump's legal team in the hush-money trial.

"I don't know whether or not Cohen being liked will really matter when it comes to this witness. I think the issue will come down to whether or not he is believed," Perlstein told Newsweek.

He continued: "The defense attorneys attempting to portray him as despicable could certainly backfire if he is credible with respect to the pertinent facts. I tend to think he will be credible when it comes to the information relative to the charges against Trump, who is also disliked in my humble opinion."