Here are they key takeaways from the first day of Michael Cohen’s testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial.
Cohen ties Trump to the Daniels hush money payment: Through roughly five hours of testimony Monday, Cohen walked jurors through how he worked with former National Enquirer editor David Pecker on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign to kill negative stories; how he kept Trump apprised of his hush money negotiations with Keith Davidson, the attorney for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal; and how Trump approved and was aware of how Cohen would be falsely repaid in 2017 for the Daniels payment as legal services. Cohen is the link connecting other witnesses we have heard from so far.
Cohen ties the hush money reimbursement to Trump, too: Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records – 11 invoices, 12 vouchers and 11 checks – records that prosecutors say stem from the monthly reimbursements Cohen received in 2017 for the hush money payment he made to Daniels. On Monday, jurors heard through Cohen for the first-time evidence directly connecting Trump to those reimbursements.
Cohen describes being Trump’s protector: Cohen, who used to say he’d take a bullet for Trump in the height of their relationship, testified Monday about everything he did to protect his former boss. As Cohen described each media story he killed and nondisclosure agreement he locked down ahead of the 2016 election, it was always in the name of protecting Trump.
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