Former Trump lawyer says he was a “do-it-all” ex-president

Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, stated during testimony this Monday (13) that he had been the Republican's “handyman” for years. The expectation is that he will confirm to the jurors that he helped the Republican illegally hide the money used by the Republican to buy the silence of a porn actress.

Cohen was one of Trump's closest advisors and now appears as the prosecution's main witness in the trial against the former president, which is now entering its fifth week of sessions at the New York State Criminal Court.

He began his testimony by explaining that he studied law at the urging of his own grandmother, despite “not really wanting to be a lawyer”.

In 2007, Cohen resigned from a law firm to join Trump's family development company. He got the job after presenting Trump with an invoice for US$100,000 related to services provided by the company to the Republican's company.

“I was honored. I was surprised, and I accepted,” said Cohen, who also stated that Trump never paid the invoice he presented.

For nearly a decade, Cohen, 57, worked as an executive and lawyer for Trump's company. He even said he would take a shot to save his boss. Trump is trying to return to the White House and will run against the current president, Democrat Joe Biden, in the elections on October 5 this year.

Cohen made a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, intended to prevent her from speaking publicly about a sexual relationship Daniels claims she had with Trump in 2006. That payment is at the heart of the trial against Donald Trump.

Cohen says it's fair to describe him as a “handyman” for Trump, saying he took care of “anything he needed.” Instead of working as a traditional corporate lawyer, Cohen reported directly to Trump and was never part of the firm that provided services to the Trump Organization.

Among his tasks, Cohen renegotiated invoices from business partners, threatened to sue people and planted positive stories in the press, he said.

Trump, he claims, communicated primarily by phone or live and never had an email address.

“He claimed that e-mails are like papers, and that he knew many people who were arrested because of e-mails that prosecutors had access to,” says Cohen.

The former advisor, who became a personal lawyer when the Republican assumed the presidency in 2017, got rid of him when federal prosecutors investigating Trump began to focus on Cohen's role. He has become one of Trump's most vocal critics, frequently attacking him on social media or in podcasts.

Even though jurors are seeing Cohen in person for the first time, his presence has been a constant in the courtroom. Witnesses described his role dozens of times, while Trump's lawyers attacked Cohen's credibility from the start of the trial, calling him an untrustworthy liar at the trial's opening.

On Friday, Judge Juan Merchan called on prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop speaking publicly about the case. Defense attorney Todd Blanche says Cohen posted a photo on social media wearing a T-shirt with an illustration of Trump in jail.

Investigators working on attorney Alvin Bragg's team accused Trump of fraudulently classifying Cohen's reimbursement for the 2017 payment to Daniels as legal expenses in the company's accounting.

They claim that the maneuver hid electoral and tax violations that total 34 misdemeanors that could land Trump four years in prison.

Trump maintains he is innocent in all cases. And he denies having sexual relations with Daniels. He claims that the case is politically motivated and that the objective is to influence the presidential campaign. Bragg, the prosecutor, is a Democrat.

“Fat Alvin, corrupt man,” Trump said at a campaign event in New Jersey on Saturday night.

Trump arrived at the court this Monday (13) with several Republican parliamentarians, including senators JD Vence and Tommy Tuberville and federal deputy Nicole Malliotakis.

Cohen is a frequent target of Trump

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal election campaign finance law by paying Daniels and testified that Trump directed him to make the payment. Federal prosecutors have not charged Trump with any crimes.

Trump's defense lawyers told the 12 jurors and six alternates that Cohen acted on his own, seeking to distance Trump from the payment that is central to the case.

Cohen has admitted to lying under oath several times, giving the defense ammunition to undermine his credibility.

He acknowledged that he lied to the US Congress in 2017 when asked about the Trump Organization's assets in Moscow, Russia. He then went on to say that the purpose of the lie was to protect Trump.

Cohen also admitted being guilty of violating tax law in 2018, but now says he did not commit the crime.

He has been one of the main targets of Trump's attacks on social media. The judge in the case claims that some of these publications violated the confidentiality imposed on Trump in relation to witnesses, prosecutors, jurors and their families.

Trump has said the secrecy violates his right to free speech and has said it is unfair to prevent him from responding to attacks made by witnesses like Cohen and Daniels.

Merchan fined Trump $10,000 for repeated violations and warned the former president that he could be arrested if he continued the attacks.

This case is seen as the one with the least criminal potential of the three allegations against Trump, but it is the only one that will certainly end before the election.

Trump still faces accusations of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and keeping classified documents even after leaving the White House. He claims to be innocent in all cases.