On Tuesday, May 14th, Donald Trump’s lawyers began questioning the star witness in the hush money case, trying to portray former lawyer Michael Cohen as a charlatan who was trying to attract media attention and trap Trump in a legal quagmire.
Cohen spent a total of 8 hours answering questions from the prosecution and providing crucial testimony. In the afternoon of Tuesday, Cohen began facing intense questioning from defense lawyer Todd Blanche.
Cohen is a key witness in the case. In the final stages of the 2016 presidential election, he paid $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her from publicly discussing rumors of her affair with Trump.
On Thursday, Cohen will return to the witness stand to answer more questions from lawyers. The prosecution will then reiterate their allegations that Trump illegally influenced the 2016 election by suppressing women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with him. Trump has denied any sexual contact with these women and denied any wrongdoing in this case.
It is currently uncertain whether Trump will testify in his defense.
Some points from the Tuesday court session:
The prosecution immediately confronted Cohen’s history of perjury, trying to preemptively address the issue before Trump’s lawyers could attack it. They attempted to portray Cohen as Trump’s loyal supporter who committed crimes on his behalf.
Under questioning from prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Cohen admitted to lying to Congress on some details in the 2016 Russia investigation.
Cohen also told the jury that he had lied for Trump multiple times, including paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 to prevent her from publicly claiming she had a sexual relationship with Trump before the 2016 election.
When Hoffinger asked why he did it, Cohen said, “Out of loyalty, to protect him.”
Cohen described to the jury how his life and relationship with Trump were upended after the FBI raided his office, apartment, and hotel room in 2018. This led to Cohen admitting to federal charges and implicating Trump in the hush money case.
When asked about his feelings at the time, Cohen said, “How would you describe having your life turned upside down? Anxiety, desperation, anger.”
Cohen initially felt reassured because Trump, who was in the White House at the time, assured him not to worry. He mentioned that Trump’s lawyers were still paying his legal fees and he was still part of a joint defense agreement with Trump and his lawyers.
But Cohen said his family eventually convinced him to betray Trump.
“My family, my wife, daughter, son all said to me: ‘Why are you holding on to this loyalty? What are you doing? We are the ones you should be loyal to,'” Cohen told the jury.
During his testimony, Cohen mentioned invoices he sent to the Trump Organization in 2017, requesting monthly payments for a “retainer agreement.”
He claimed that these invoices were fake as they were actually to reimburse him for the payment made to Daniels as hush money and what he alleged Trump owed him in remaining payments.
When Trump’s lawyer started cross-examining, they pressured Cohen about his extensive criticisms and vulgar posts about Trump on social media. On the first day of questioning, the lawyer did not address the core facts of the case but attempted to portray Cohen as someone who had been rejected by his former boss and sought fame and revenge.
After confirming they had never met, Blanche asked, “On April 23, you said on TikTok that I was a crybaby, didn’t you?”
Cohen responded, “That sounds like something I would say.”
Blanche also showed the jury other vulgar comments Cohen had made, such as describing Trump as a “dictator jerk” and saying Trump should go “back to that little cage, that’s where he belongs, like a damn animal,” after leaving the courtroom.
Cohen admitted he made those comments, saying, “Sounds like something I would say.”
Blanche also suggested that Cohen was trying to profit from his conflict with Trump. He asked Cohen if he mentioned Trump every night on his TikTok live stream.
“I only livestream six days a week,” Cohen said, “I do mention Trump every week.”
Cohen admitted he indeed encouraged viewers to subscribe for $5.99 per month.
Blanche also showed the jury various items for sale on Cohen’s podcast website, including a $32 T-shirt with a design of Trump’s silhouette behind bars and a $22 mug with the slogan “Send him to jail, not the White House.”
“Did you really wear that T-shirt on TikTok last week?” Blanche asked.
“I did indeed wear it,” Cohen said.
Blanche asked Cohen if he made $3.4 million from the two books he wrote about his experiences with Trump. Cohen confirmed the figure was accurate.
Blanche further asked if Cohen hoped to see Trump convicted in this case.
Initially, Cohen hesitated and said, “I hope to see accountability. This is not about me. This is about the jury and the court.”
But when asked the question again, Cohen replied, “Of course.”
Throughout the proceeding, Blanche also asked Cohen if he was “driven by a desire for fame.” Cohen denied this, saying that it was not fair to characterize his motivation and that there were “many reasons.”
While the jury listened to Cohen’s testimony, Trump faced another legal setback as the appeals court upheld the gag order against him, restricting his ability to comment on the case.
Trump had criticized the gag order, questioning the impartiality of prosecutor Matthew Colangelo and the judge’s daughter, who had served as a senior official in the Biden administration’s Justice Department and ran a political consulting firm that raised funds for Biden and other Democratic candidates.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the gag order violated the Constitution, limiting the free speech rights of the Republican candidate during the presidential campaign and while combating criminal charges.
The judge had fined Trump multiple times for violating the gag order and warned that further violations could result in imprisonment.
Unable to publicly comment, more Republican officials accompanied Trump to the court and expressed their dissatisfaction with the case.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was the latest supporter who criticized the judicial system as “corrupt” and called the case a “hoax.”
Johnson’s presence at the court was a significant moment that highlighted Trump’s political power as the November presidential election approached.
Speaking outside the court, Johnson stated that Cohen “was evidently engaged in personal retaliation.”
Johnson said, “People have lost confidence in this country and in our judicial system.”
“I am here today to support President Trump because I am one of hundreds of millions and a citizen deeply concerned about this,” he added.
In addition to Johnson, Representatives Byron Donalds, Cory Mills, and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also appeared in court on Tuesday to support Trump.
On Monday, Senators JD Vance, Tommy Tuberville, and Representative Nicole Malliotakis also went to New York to support Trump and made similar statements outside the court.