Trump trial: Cohen faces Trump team grilling over past lies, recollections
The defense questioned Trump's former lawyer on Day 18 of the hush money trial.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Top headlines:
- No decision yet about Trump testifying
- Defense argues Cohen's lack of retainer agreement was not an issue
- Defense accuses Cohen of lying about Trump phone call
- Defense challenges Cohen on past perjury
- Cohen says Trump approved payment of $420K, paid monthly
- Jury hears secret recording of Trump discussing payment
What to know about the hush money case
READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.
Cohen says he and Trump were angry about WSJ article
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."
Jury sees nondisclosure agreement between Trump, Daniels
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."
Cohen says he wanted to hide intent of shell company
Jurors saw the form that Michael Cohen used to create the account for Essential Consultants LLC, the shell company he used to pay Stormy Daniels the $130,000 per their nondisclosure agreement.
"MICHAEL COHEN IS OPENING ESSENTIAL CONSULTANTS LLC AS A REAL ESTATE CONSULTING COMPANY TO COLLECT FEES FOR INVESTMENT CONSULTING WORK HE DOES FOR REAL ESTATE DEALS," the form said.
Asked about the veracity of the form, Cohen responded, "It's false."
Cohen said he filled out the form that way "to hide the intent ... which is to pay for a nondisclosure agreement."
Cohen said had he been honest on the form, the account would not have been opened by First Republic Bank.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger then walked Cohen through each of the documents used to create the shell company then wire $130,000 to an attorney-trust account for Stormy Daniels.
Cohen stated that wire transfer form he used for the payment was not truthful because it stated the purpose of the wire was a "retainer."
In reality, Cohen said, the wire was "in order to pay Stormy Daniels to execute the nondisclosure agreement and to attain the story -- her life rights."
Payment to Daniels 'required Mr. Trump's sign-off,' Cohen says
Jurors saw phone records showing a flurry of calls made by Michael Cohen in late October 2016, as Cohen finalized the Stormy Daniels payment.
The records included Cohen's calls between Keith Davidson, Allen Weisselberg, and David Pecker.
Jurors also saw a record of two phone calls Cohen made to Trump on Oct. 26, 2016, with durations of 3:01 and 1:28.
"I wanted to ensure that once again he approved what he was doing, because I required approval from him on all of this," Cohen said about the calls.
"Everything required Mr. Trump's sign-off," Cohen said. "On top of that I wanted the money back.
Defense asks Cohen about positive publicity he received
Defense attorney Todd Blanche then transitioned the topic of the cross-examination to Cohen's involvement in encouraging Trump to run for president.
Cohen earlier told jurors he created the website to encourage Trump, and that the National Enquirer ran a positive story about Cohen's involvement in the campaign.
"You worked very hard during your time working for Trump to get positive stories into the press about President Trump and all the things you were doing?" Blanche asked Cohen.
"Yes sir," Cohen said.
"You worked very hard to make sure there were positive stories about you at times?" Blanche asked.
"Yes sir," Cohen said.
The testimony slightly cuts against one prong of the alleged conspiracy with the National Enquirer -- running positive stories about Trump -- to show that Cohen got some positive press too.