Trump trial: Cohen faces Trump team grilling over past lies, recollections

When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, Cohen testified there was no role for him in the incoming administration.

"My service was no longer necessary," Cohen said.

He was offered a position in the White House as "assistant general counsel" by Reince Preibus, but turned it down. He said he was disappointed he was not considered for chief of staff.

"I didn't want the role. I didn't believe the role was right for me or that I was even competent to be chief of staff. I just wanted my name to be included," he testified.

"It was more about my ego than anything," Cohen said about his disappointment. "I would have liked to have been considered."

Cohen said he pitched being "personal attorney to the president." He would need the role, Cohen said, because there were "outstanding matters" to be dealt with. Cohen conceded it would have helped him personally and professionally.

"I also had another thought in mind, which was consulting. That's what I really wanted because that afforded me the time to stay at home, in New York," he said.

Cohen testified it could have been lucrative to help people understand Trump's thinking.

"Mr. Trump was an enigma," Cohen said. "Because of my close proximity to him for a decade, I did understand."

"Did you think you could monetize being personal attorney to the president?" prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked.

"Absolutely," Cohen said.

Trump's eyes remained closed during this portion of the testimony.

After the mid-afternoon break, jurors saw text messages between Michael Cohen and Trump aide Hope Hicks regarding the impact of the Wall Street Journal story on Karen McDougal's catch-and-kill payment as well as Stormy Daniels' allegations.

Cohen said he was concerned the Journal story would "explode into a massive issue," but he said the denial statements were effective in "suppressing the story itself."

At the time, Cohen and Hicks only spotted six media outlets picking up the WSJ story -- relatively minor reach compared to the "Access Hollywood" tape.

"Even CNN not talking about it. No one believes it and if necessary, I have a statement by Stormy denying everything and contradicting the other porn stars statement. I wouldn't use it now or even discuss with him as no one is talking about this or cares!" Cohen texted Hicks.

Seven days after Michael Cohen finalized the nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels, the Wall Street Journal published a story about Stormy Daniels and AMI's $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal.

Cohen testified that he knew about it in advance, and when he found out he responded by "contacting Keith Davidson.," Daniels' attorney.

Cohen said he also talked with Trump aide Hope Hicks and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker "so that we could all coalesce around this issue." In a series of calls and emails Cohen said he suggested a response, blaming the "liberal media" and the Clinton campaign.

Cohen said he reacted angrily to Davidson when the Journal story came out, suspecting Davidson leaked the story.

"I wanted to ensure Mr. Trump was safe," Cohen told jurors.

Cohen said that he conveyed to Davidson that Trump was "really angry."

The night the Journal story came out, Cohen said he spoke to Trump just after 9 p.m. for about six minutes. The jury saw a record of the call.

"This was a real serious, again, problem, especially being so close to the election," Cohen recalled saying. He tried to reassure Trump that he, David Pecker and Dylan Howard at the National Enquirer and Keith Davidson were "doing everything in our power to protect Mr. Trump."

But Cohen told jurors he was concerned about the story "because there was a negative story that once again could impact the campaign as a result of women."

Jurors saw the finalized nondisclosure agreement between Trump and Stormy Daniels, guaranteeing Daniels $130,000 for her silence.

Cohen signed the document on behalf of Essential Consultants.

The agreement used pseudonyms for Trump and Daniels -- Trump's being David Dennison and Daniels' being Peggy Peterson.

"The purpose of it was to ensure his name didn't appear anywhere, as he is a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America," Daniels said.

Donald Trump's name briefly appeared on a side letter agreement to confirm that he was the David Dennison mentioned in the contract.

Both Davidson and Cohen were permitted to have a copy of the side letter agreement.

Jurors then saw a phone record showing a five-minute phone call between Cohen and Trump on Oct. 28, 2016.

Cohen said he told Trump that "this matter was now completely under control and locked down pursuant to the nondisclosure agreement."