Michael Cohen, former advisor to Donald Trump, said in testimony this Monday (20) that he stole money from Trump's company, an admission that could diminish his credibility as a main witness in the former US president's trial over the case. of a secret payment.
Under questioning from a Trump lawyer, Cohen acknowledged stealing from the Trump Organization by including a refund to a technology company in his bonus package and pocketing most of the money.
“So you stole from the Trump Organization, right?” asked attorney Todd Blanche.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen, 57, responded.
Cohen said he paid about $20,000 of the $50,000 Trump's company owed the technology company, delivering the money in a brown paper bag to his office. He said he kept the rest. He was reimbursed a total of $100,000 by the Trump Organization for this payment.
Cohen is the latest and most important witness for New York prosecutors as they try to convince a jury that Trump broke the law by covering up a $130,000 payment that bought porn star Stormy Daniels' silence just before the 2016 election.
But as a convicted criminal and self-confessed liar, Cohen is a problematic witness. Prosecutors bolstered their testimony with documentary evidence, while Trump's lawyers sought to undermine Cohen's credibility through their cross-examination.
After his testimony concludes, Trump's lawyers will have the chance to present evidence and witnesses of their own.
It was unclear whether Trump would testify as a witness. Defense attorneys often choose not to call witnesses or present their own evidence when they believe prosecutors have failed to make their case.
Although Trump said before the trial began that he planned to testify, Blanche told the judge last week that was no longer certain. Outside the courtroom on Monday, Trump did not tell reporters whether or not he would testify.
Closing arguments
At the beginning of this Monday's session (20), Judge Juan Merchan said he expected the prosecution and defense to conclude their presentations this week and present their closing arguments next week.
The first former US president to face a criminal trial has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to Daniels, who threatened to go public with her account of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 – a call that Trump denies.
Outside the courtroom, Trump, 77, criticized the trial as a politically motivated effort to derail his bid to retake the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.
Inside the courtroom, Trump sat at the defendant's table, listening to Daniels tell her version of their time together in lurid detail. Other witnesses, including Cohen, discussed efforts to bury unflattering stories involving Trump, who has faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
Trump's lawyers said last week that they did not think they would need much time unless Trump chose to testify.
“This is another decision we need to reflect on,” Blanche said on Thursday, the final day of the trial.
If he chooses to testify, Trump will have the opportunity to rebut Daniels' detailed account of the meeting in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He would not be restricted by an order that prevents him, in other settings, from criticizing witnesses, jurors and relatives of the judge and prosecutors.
However, he would face cross-examination from prosecutors, who could try to expose inconsistencies in his story. Any lie told under oath could expose you to additional criminal charges of perjury.
The last time Trump appeared as a witness in a civil commercial fraud trial was last year, giving defiant and rambling testimony that angered Judge Arthur Engoron, who was overseeing the case. Engoron ordered him to pay $355 million in fines after finding that he fraudulently exaggerated his net worth to deceive creditors.
The hush-money trial is widely seen as the least consequential of the four criminal cases Trump faces, but it is likely to be the only one to go to trial before the November election.
Trump faces charges in Washington and Georgia of trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden and charges in Florida of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021. He has pleaded not guilty in all three cases.
Source: CNN Brasil
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