Michael Cohen, Once Trump's Right-Hand Man, Set to Testify Against Him

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, is not well-liked by anyone.

He is set to testify on Monday as the main witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s case against Trump. Cohen will talk about the $130,000 payment he made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, before the 2016 election, linking it to Trump.

Jurors have been learning a lot about Cohen from various witnesses over the past three weeks. They have described him as aggressive, impulsive, and unlikeable.

David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., mentioned that Cohen tended to exaggerate. Hope Hicks, a former Trump aide, revealed that Cohen referred to himself as a "fixer," a title he earned by being the first to take action. Additionally, Keith Davidson, a former attorney for Daniels, admitted to working with Cohen even though he found him to be difficult to deal with. Daniels' then-manager, Gina Rodriguez, shared the same sentiment.

Get up to speed on Trump's criminal trial

A timeline of the Donald Trump-Stormy Daniels hush money case

Your questions about Trump’s trial, answered

Fact check: Trump’s false and unsubstantiated claims about his Manhattan criminal case

Do you have any questions about Trump's hush money trial? Feel free to ask us here.

During the third week of the trial, Davidson testified about a phone call he received from Gina. She informed him that a person had called her, acting aggressively and threatening to sue her. Gina asked Davidson to contact this individual on her behalf.

“I hate to ask it this way, but who was that jerk?” asked Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass.

“It was Michael Cohen,” Davidson responded.

Cohen is a key witness for prosecutors in the case against Trump. They are counting on his testimony to prove that Trump falsified business records by allegedly reimbursing Cohen $130,000 for the payment to Daniels. This payment was made to prevent her from going public about a past encounter before the 2016 election. Trump maintains his innocence and denies any affair.

As the only witness to Trump's alleged involvement in the payment to Daniels and the reimbursement plan, Cohen plays a crucial role in the case. He is expected to guide the jury through the events, starting from the initial meeting where Pecker, Cohen, and Trump reportedly agreed to purchase negative stories that could harm Trump's presidential campaign. This narrative will likely include the payment to Daniels just days before the election and a meeting in the Oval Office in February 2017, shortly after Trump took office.

Prosecutors claim that Trump and Cohen discussed how Cohen would be reimbursed during their February meeting. According to prosecutors, this agreement involved a fabricated story that Cohen was being paid through a retainer agreement. The evidence, including invoices, general ledger entries, and checks signed by Trump, form the basis of the 34 criminal charges in the case.

Some witnesses may have questionable credibility.

Prosecutors have kept Cohen as the last witness in their case. They presented phone records, emails, text messages, and bank records to show his credibility to the jury. They were honest about the fact that Cohen and other witnesses have their own issues.

During jury selection, Steinglass informed the prospective jurors about the witnesses' "baggage" upfront. He made it clear that some witnesses in the case have their own challenges.

Trump and Cohen will face off in a testimony, despite Cohen previously claiming he would protect Trump at all costs. Their last encounter was during Cohen's testimony in Trump's New York civil fraud trial. Although Cohen's testimony was short, the atmosphere was intense.

This week, the situation is more serious as Trump could face criminal charges and a potential jail sentence, adding more pressure as he is the expected Republican presidential nominee.

Cohen's long journey finally comes to an end. He is still upset about serving three years in prison and home confinement after admitting guilt to federal campaign finance charges, including the payoff.

Cohen cooperated with prosecutors, meeting with them multiple times and testifying before the grand jury in the hush money trial. He has immunity from state charges related to the alleged conspiracy.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche will subject him to tough questioning. The former president’s legal team will try to discredit Cohen's credibility by delving into his past. They will argue that Trump was unaware of Cohen's actions and how they were recorded.

Before testifying, Cohen has already faced criticism from the prosecution's witnesses. This could harm his credibility. However, he may also benefit if the jury is pleasantly surprised by his testimony, according to Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst and former prosecutor.

After serving time in jail, Cohen has been busy releasing books and hosting a podcast where he criticizes Trump. The charges against Trump are related to incidents from the 2016 election. However, much of the case against Trump originates from his ex-fixer's guilty plea in 2018. Cohen admitted to making illegal campaign contributions, implicating Trump in the scheme and confessing that he arranged the payment to Daniels on Trump's behalf.

Cohen admitted to tax offenses and lying to Congress about a project to construct a Trump Tower in Moscow. He was given a three-year prison sentence, serving time in jail and then on house arrest.

Following Cohen's confession, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office began looking into the hush money payments that ultimately resulted in Trump being indicted last year.

Cohen dedicated himself to provoking Trump by releasing two books, "Disloyal" in 2020 and "Revenge" in 2022. He also started a podcast called "Mea Culpa", all aimed at criticizing Trump and supporting his prosecution.

On social media, Cohen continued to criticize Trump leading up to the trial and even during it. Judge Juan Merchan had to intervene and advised prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop discussing the case on social media, as he could not legally silence a witness.

Trump has frequently responded aggressively in interviews and on social media, even going as far as violating the judge's gag order on him by discussing witnesses in the case.

According to reports, Cohen mentioned that nobody was interested in speaking with him.

Jurors have heard criticisms of Cohen from witness after witness, starting with the first witness in the case, Pecker. During a key Trump Tower meeting in 2015, Pecker met with Cohen and Trump. Trump's attorney, Emil Bove, questioned Pecker about whether Cohen tended to exaggerate.

Pecker agreed with Bove. Then, Bove questioned if Pecker had doubts about Cohen's credibility. The judge interrupted, saying the question was not appropriate at that moment and advised Trump's lawyer during a private conversation on the side.

More witnesses would continue to testify regardless.

Cohen’s ex-banker, Gary Farro, shared that he was assigned to Cohen’s account due to his ability to handle difficult individuals. Farro described Cohen as a tough and assertive person.

The banker mentioned that whenever he needed something, Cohen would call him, and it was always for something urgent.

Davidson, who handled the hush money deal with Cohen for Daniels in 2016, had a particularly negative view of Cohen. He recalled a conversation in 2011 regarding a blog post about Daniels and Trump on thedirty.com, where Cohen made a series of insults, insinuations, and allegations.

Davidson reassured us that he wasn't accusing us of anything, just screaming.

He then shared how he got involved in the hush money deal at the request of Daniels' manager to help finalize a nondisclosure agreement.

Davidson explained that he became involved because no one else was willing to talk to Cohen. He shared that Cohen reached out to him in December 2016, feeling extremely downhearted after Trump's election.

"He expressed his frustration by exclaiming, 'Jesus Christ. Can you believe I'm not going to Washington? After everything I've done for that guy. I can't believe it. I've saved his butt so many times, you don't even know.'"

Those who didn't have as much interaction with Cohen, like Jeff McConney, the former Trump Organization controller, didn't have much positive to say when asked about Cohen's position at the company.

“He said he was a lawyer,” McConney responded.

“Did he work in the legal department?” asked prosecutor Matthew Colangelo.

McConney replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Hicks, who previously worked at the Trump Organization and later became an important aide during the 2016 campaign, told the jurors about Cohen's tendency to exaggerate his importance in the campaign.

Bove asked Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary if there were times when Mr. Cohen did things that were not helpful to what she was trying to accomplish.

Hicks responded, saying, "Yes, I used to say that he liked to call himself 'a fixer' or 'Mr. Fix It.' It was only because he first broke it that he was able to come and fix it."

Editor's P/S:

The article provides an in-depth look at Michael Cohen's role as a key witness in the Manhattan district attorney's case against former President Donald Trump. Cohen, once Trump's trusted fixer, has become a central figure in the trial, painting a damning picture of his