May 13, 2024, 3:50 PM ET
May 13, 2024, 3:50pm ETC Clockwise from top left: Judge Juan Marchan, Donald Trump, Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, and Michael Cohen.Credit…Josh Cochran
When Michael Cohen took the witness stand for the first time in Donald Trump's hush money trial on Monday morning, he almost accidentally sat down without being sworn in. But it seemed he did, after he raised his hand and vowed to tell the truth.
With no signs of impulse control issues, he delivered blow after blow to the former president with dry words.
Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former lawyer and fixer, was made to look like a pawn in order to instill in the minds of jurors that he should be believed even if there were no incriminating emails. He is pathetically longing for praise from his superiors. He spent his time looking for brownie points from Trump. When he did that, he was hinting at Trump.
Mr. Cohen's testimony about Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who said he had a nine-month affair with Mr. Trump, is even more important than Mr. Trump's description of her as “beautiful” to Mr. Cohen. This reinforces President Trump's attention to detail, which is already well known. He continued to ask for an update on the hush money paid to McDougall at his direction by American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer, to which he responded, “Great!” “Fantastic,” as Cohen put it.
Mr. Cohen's tape of President Trump discussing the deal was a huge hit when played. It wasn't just because it was Trump's voice talking about “150.” This is an apparent reference to the $150,000 in hush money that Trump was originally scheduled to pay through Cohen and AMI. McDougall. The micromanagement we've been hearing about from Trump for two weeks now has materialized in a way that doesn't help him. And when Cohen analyzed nearly every moment of the call, there was no mistaking the meaning of the brief conversation.
When Cohen told Trump that Stormy Daniels was promoting her story, “Trump was really mad at me,” he said. Trump told Cohen: “'I thought you had this under control, I thought you were handling this!'” ……be careful! ”
Cohen said Trump believed that if Daniels' story came to light, he would surely lose the 2016 election. He testified that President Trump said, “This is a disaster, a complete disaster.” “Women are going to hate me,” she said, adding, “You guys think it's cool to have sex with porn stars, but this would be a disaster for the campaign.” They agreed that, combined with the impact of the “Access Hollywood” tape, already low approval ratings for women would be further depressed.
“Control it!” Trump barked, Cohen testified. “Just get over the election. If I win, it won't matter if I become president. And if I lose, I don't really care.”
Here, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked whether Cohen had asked about Melania Trump. He said, “Yes,” and Trump replied, “Don't worry. How long do you think I'll be on the market? Not long.”
oh. With Trump, every time you think you've hit rock bottom, you hit the floor. Here he was already looking ahead to his third divorce.
Cohen has performed very well on direct testing. The exam will take place on Tuesday afternoon, when cross-examination is likely to begin.
