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 acted at Trump's direction
Michael Cohen testified that he understood Trump would eventually pay for the rights to Karen's McDougal's story, which AMI had purchased for $150,000.
"What I was doing, I was doing at the direction of, for the benefit of Mr. Trump," Cohen said.
But Cohen and AMI's David Pecker, in their testimony, offered slightly different accounts of why Trump ultimately did not reimburse AMI for the McDougal payment.
According to Cohen, Pecker said that McDougal's cover on Men's Health magazine prompted massive sales, making the McDougal agreement an "excellent business deal" for AMI.
"It was no longer necessary," Cohen said.
"He told me to rip it up, forget it," Cohen said about the deal.
According to Cohen, Trump responded to the news by saying, "Wow, that's great."
According to Pecker, when he told Cohen that the deal was off, Cohen was furious -- and said Trump would be as well.
"He was very, very, angry, very upset, screaming basically, at me. And I said, 'I am not going forward with this agreement -- rip it up,'" Pecker testified earlier in the trial. "Michael Cohen said, 'The boss is going to be very angry at you.'
Weisselberg allegedly sought to distance Trump from repayment
Michael Cohen said then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg suggested using a non-Trump entity to make the $150,000 payment to AMI to distance Trump from the deal.
"I went to Allen's Office. I expressed to him that we need funding of $150,000 to consummate this transaction. Allen then said to me, 'Well, if we do it from a Trump entity, that kind of defeats the purpose,'" Cohen recounted.
Cohen said Weisselberg suggested using a non-Trump entity for the transaction to distance Trump from the deal. Cohen said Weisselberg asked him to "think about ways that we could raise the $150,000."
"It was in order to keep it separate," Cohen said.
Cohen told the jury that he created the company "Resolution Consultants LLC" to purchase the life rights to McDougal's story. When asked about the purpose of the company, Cohen responded that it was "to use this entity for the assignment of the McDougal matter as well as the other information."
The "other information" appears to be a reference to the National Enquirer's other records on Trump that Cohen sought to attain.
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard from Cohen's banker Gary Farro about Cohen's frantic effort to create a bank account for Resolution Consultants LLC and saw the bank records associated with the company.
Cohen addresses why secretly made recording ended
According to Michael Cohen, the recording he secretly made of a 2016 meeting with Trump abruptly ended because he took an incoming phone call on his phone.
"I must have believed it was an important phone call," Cohen testified.
Cohen added that he believed he recorded enough to prove to Pecker that the $150,000 reimbursement was coming, which he said was the the goal of the recording.
"I didn't want to record more -- I already had enough," Cohen said.
Jurors saw a phone record from AT&T that suggested Cohen received a call around the time of the recording.
The conversation briefly continued after the recording ended, according to Cohen.
Cohen said he told Trump, "I am going to head over to Allen Weisselberg's office and I will get back to him with more of an update."
Jurors briefly saw the metadata for the recording.
"Did you ever alter that recording?" Hoffinger asked.
"No," Cohen said.
Trump, at the defense table, shook his head "no" at Cohen's response. The former president appears much more engaged now, thumbing through a stack of papers in his hands.
Cohen's testimony resumes after break
Judge Juan Merchan restarted the proceedings after the mid-morning break. Before prosecutor Susan Hoffinger resumed her direct examination of Michael Cohen, Merchan instructed the jury that, in regards the secretly made recording the jury just heard, the recording itself is evidence in the case, not the transcript.
“It is the tape itself that is the evidence,” Merchan said, though he said the transcript will be accessible to the jury during deliberations.
Trump, back from the break, appears much more alert, sitting in his chair with his body angled directly toward Cohen as Cohen recounts more of the recording.
Twice, Trump shook his head "no" as Cohen spoke.
Proceedings are underway
Judge Juan Merchan took his seat on the bench and opened the day's proceedings.
Each of the lawyers made brief introductions before Merchan addressed Trump in his usual fashion.
"Good morning, Mr. Trump," Merchan said from the bench.