Trump's "hush money" trail: Cohen admits to making the $130k transfer
On Monday, Michael Cohen testified in Trump's trials concerning attempts to silence the ex-Playboy model, Stormy Daniels, revealing a secretly recorded conversation with the former president during the 2016 campaign.
12:12 PM EDT, May 14, 2024
Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, who personally made the "hush money" $130,000 payment, serves as a crucial witness in the trial. Recordings of his conversation with Trump just a week before the 2016 election show Cohen planning to open a separate bank account for the payment.
"Just get past the election because if I win, it will have no relevance since I’ll be president, and if I lose, no one will care," Trump reportedly said, according to Cohen.
Cohen admitted to making the transfer due to the urgency posed by Daniels' threat to go to the Daily Mail and expose her affair with Trump.
"What I was doing, I did at the direction and for the benefit of Mr. Trump," Cohen testified.
Trump still owes Cohen's money for the Daniel's payment
"Just days before Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017, Cohen said, the three of them assembled in Trump’s corporate office. There, with Trump looking on, Cohen said Weisselberg outlined a plan to pay Cohen back in monthly installments for the money he had shelled out to suppress Daniels’ story — as well as some other costs Cohen had incurred — and then nearly doubled it to cover Cohen’s tax liability as well," we read in Politico.
Donald Trump faces 34 felony charges, including falsifying business records. Cohen mentioned that Trump never returned the money. During the trial, Essential Consultant, the company used for the payment, had already shared the bank statement covering Cohen's reimbursement, with notes signed by Trump.
Cohen's questioned credibility
However, Cohen’s credibility is questioned by Daniels' attorneys. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the "hush money" payment and lying to Congress about a Moscow real estate project.
Several Republicans have also defended Trump during the trial.
"Direct evidence is someone saying they saw or heard something, and that can be unreliable. Eyewitness testimony is unreliable, Michael Cohen can be unreliable, but circumstantial evidence, the documents, don’t lie," Danny Cevallos, MSNBC legal analyst, stated.
Source: FoxNews, CBS News, Politico
