Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former attorney, was called to testify on Monday morning as one of the final witnesses for the prosecution in the New York criminal case.
Cohen, often referred to as Trump’s “fixer” by the corporate media, is a key witness for the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors in the case. Last year, Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records concerning payments made to Cohen, who claims he was reimbursed for a $130,000 so-called hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels for her to keep quiet about an alleged affair. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied the affair allegations.
‘I was even for myself unusually angry.’
The prosecution previously called Trump’s former White House communications director and campaign aide, Hope Hicks, to the witness stand, Blaze News reported. She claimed that Cohen told her the rumors about the payment to Daniels were not true and that it “would be out of character” for Cohen to make such a payment himself.
Hicks further contended that Cohen was the one who referred to himself as Trump’s “fixer” and that he would “insert himself” into the 2016 presidential campaign, despite not being a part of it, and go “rogue.”
“He would try to insert himself at certain moments, but he wasn’t supposed to be on the campaign in any official capacity,” Hicks told the jury. “He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It, and it was only because he first broke it that he was able to then fix it.”
During his direct examination on Monday, Cohen testified that he formed Resolution Consultants LLC to pay American Media Inc. $125,000 as compensation for its payment to Karen McDougal, who claimed she had an affair with Trump. The company allegedly purchased the story rights from McDougal and agreed to have her contribute a monthly column. However, Cohen stated that he never sent the funds to AMI because National Enquirer’s then-publisher, David Pecker, allegedly told him McDougal’s cover on Men’s Health magazine sold more copies than anticipated, so the deal was worth it.
“He told me to rip it up, forget it,” Cohen said.
Cohen also testified that Trump told him to “take care” of the Daniels story. He created a separate LLC called Essential Consultants to execute the payment after realizing someone he knew owned a company with the same name as his previously opened LLC, Resolution Consultants. He admitted that he provided false information on paperwork to get the bank to create his accounts.
According to Cohen, Trump told him at the time, “I want you to just push it out as long as you can just get past the election,” referring to the acquisition of Daniels’ story. “Because if I win, it will have no relevance because I’m president. And if I lose, I don’t even care.”
He noted that Trump “wasn’t even thinking about Melania” and that it was “all about the campaign.”
Live reports from the courthouse on Monday stated that Trump shook his head in response to Cohen’s allegations.
Cohen said, “[Trump] stated to me that he had spoken to some friends, some individuals, smart people, and that it’s $130,000. You’re a billionaire, just pay it.”
“He stated to me, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get the money back,’” Cohen told the jury.
Cohen claimed he reached a settlement deal with Daniels’ then-attorney, Keith Davidson, to ensure the story would not be published by the media. He noted that it was his idea to add a $1 million damages clause to the agreement to “ensure that she didn’t speak.” He further alleged that he was the only person to retain the side-letter agreement to guarantee “the information would never get out.”
Davidson previously testified that he had never seen a copy of the agreement signed by Trump, Blaze News reported. The contract was between “David Dennison,” allegedly Trump, and “Peggy Peterson,” allegedly Daniels. Davidson claimed a side agreement included the parties’ real names. The side agreement listed Peggy Peterson as Stephanie Gregory Clifford, Daniels’ legal name. However, the line next to “David Dennison” was left blank.
According to Cohen, the nondisclosure agreement and corresponding side agreement did not include Trump’s name, and he did not sign it “because the purpose of it was to ensure his name didn’t appear anywhere because he’s the candidate for president of the United States of America and this would not have been in his benefit to do so.”
During his testimony, Davidson revealed that he received a call from Cohen after Trump won the 2016 presidential election. According to Davidson, Cohen was frustrated and angry Trump had not given him a position in his administration “after everything I’ve done for that f***ing guy.”
On Monday, Cohen told jurors he was disappointed that he was not considered for White House chief of staff.
“I didn’t want the role, I didn’t believe that the role was right for me or that I was even competent to be chief of staff. I just wanted my name to have been included,” Cohen testified. “I wanted to at least be considered. It was more about my ego than anything.”
“Every president has a personal attorney. So, my thought was that way I could continue to protect him, to do the things he needed with these other matters. And he would be protected,” he continued.
Cohen explained that he partnered with an attorney to help him pitch the idea to Trump to hire him as his personal attorney. He said he did not expect to get paid directly but planned to monetize his relationship with Trump.
Cohen stated he was “angry, beyond angry” that after he paid “$130,000 on [Trump’s] behalf to protect him, it was insulting that the gratitude that was shown back to me was to cut the bonus by two-thirds.”
“I was even for myself unusually angry,” Cohen admitted, adding that he even told Pecker about his dissatisfaction.
Cohen claimed he was reimbursed for the Daniels settlement through a series of future legal services as Trump’s personal attorney. He stated he was to receive $420,000 over a 12-month period.
The prosecution will continue its direct examination of Cohen on Tuesday.
Trump told reporters Monday afternoon, “There’s nothing illegal, a lot of people say that, they’re all saying that. The only person who won’t say it is the judge because it’s a rigged deal, he’s conflicted.”
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