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Donald Trump's former ‘fixer’ Michael Cohen blew the former president's defence on the first day of hush-money trial
Michael Cohen testifies to Donald Trump's direct involvement in the hus-money transaction.
On Monday, former US President Donald Trump's “fixer”, Michael Cohen, took a stand in a New York court, and he has created a big gap in the legal defence of the former president.
Against everything Trump’s lawyers tried to convince the jury that Trump wasn't aware of any detail about the $130,000 payment made to the porn actress Stormy Daniels, Cohen testified on Monday that the former POTUS knew the details of every penny he transferred to Daniels. Indeed, not only did Trump author the payments for the cover-up of his affair with Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, but he also personally pledged to pay Cohen for them.
Cohen said Trump asked him to “take care of it”.
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Cohen's testimony unveiled Trump's direct involvement
When questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Cohen explicitly stated that Trump's approval was a prerequisite for any such disbursements.
Cohen emphasized Trump's explicit promise to reimburse him for the expenses incurred.
“Everything required a sign-off from Mr. Trump,” Cohen asserted in court.
“But on top of that, I wanted the money back.”
This testimony directly contradicted Trump's legal team's defence, which has sought to distance Trump from the hush-money payments, claiming they were done by Cohen and was unknown to Trump. However, Cohen's account aligns with similar accusations from other witnesses, notably Daniels's former attorney Keith Davidson, who testified to his understanding that Trump was the ultimate source of the funds.
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Trump's reaction to these revelations was swift
Exiting the Manhattan courthouse, he lambasted the hush money trial Judge Juan Merchan and decried the trial as a “scam.”
Trump said, “This is a scam, I think it’s it’s terrible thing that’s happening to democracy in this country,” and labeled the case a “rigged deal.”
“There’s no fraud here, there’s no crime here,” Trump reiterated.
The Republican presidential hopeful is charged with 34 felony charges, accusing him of falsifying business records with the intent to advance an underlying crime.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.
