The defense got its first crack at star witness Michael Cohen as cross-examination began on Tuesday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.
Trump’s former lawyer took the stand for the prosecution on Monday where he told the jury that his former client was deeply involved in the effort to hide the more scandalous stories that emerged during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump is facing 34 charges for allegedly paying hush money to former adult film star Stormy Daniels and subsequently falsifying business records to hide the payment.
In his testimony on Monday, Cohen claimed that Trump personally signed off on hiding the purpose of payments made to Cohen to reimburse him for the $130,000 he personally paid to Daniels in October 2016 to keep her from revealing her 2006 affair with Trump.
Cohen’s direct testimony wrapped up Tuesday morning with Cohen describing the lengths Trump went to maintain his loyalty after Cohen’s office and home were raided by the FBI in 2018.
Cohen also told the jury that he regretted doing the things Trump asked of him, saying the actions “violated my moral compass.”
When the defense began its cross-examination of Cohen, defense attorney Todd Blanche kicked it off by asking the former Trump fixer if he had previously described Blanche as “a crying little sh*t.” Despite an objection from the prosecution, Cohen responded that the comment sounded like something he would say.
Blanche also confronted Cohen about previous remarks he made about Trump, including calling the former president a “dictator d**chbag.”
Blanche also cited the many times Cohen effusively praised Trump in 2015, prompting Cohen to claim that he was still “knee-deep” in the Trump cult during that time.
The defense attempted to cast Cohen as opportunistic, accusing him of trying to capitalize on the anti-Trump sentiment to sell books and get invited onto cable news programs.
Blanche also tried to undermine Cohen’s credibility as a witness by highlighting his history of committing perjury.
Michael Cohen is expected to be the final witness called by the prosecution. The defense has not yet said if Donald Trump will testify in his defense. So far, only one expert witness is expected to testify for the defense.
