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Michael Cohen faced a second day of cross-examination in the hush money trial against former President Donald Trump. Live updates have ended.
May 16, 2024 at 04:56 PM EDT
Week 5 wraps up
Week 5 of former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial has concluded, but star witness Michael Cohen's testimony will go into yet another week.
On Thursday, Trump attorney Todd Blanche attacked Cohen over his history of lying under oath. He also tried to poke holes in Cohen's recollection of a 2016 call during which he claimed Trump green-lit the payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Pointing to text messages that Cohen exchanged with former Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller moments before that call, Blanche argued that the conversation had not been about the Daniels matter, but rather harassing phone calls Cohen was receiving at the time.
More GOP allies in court: Trump was joined by nearly a dozen Republican elected officials in court today, including Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert.
Week in review: This was a short week, with just three days of court. Cohen testified all three days. He is prosecutors' 20th and final witness. The defense would like to to call a campaign finance expert to testify, it's unclear if that will happen. It's also still unclear if Trump himself will take the stand.
What does the prosecution need to prove? Prosecutors must prove that Trump knowingly falsified business records relating to Daniels' payment in order to illegally conceal information that could impact his 2016 election campaign.
Scheduling: Court will be out Friday so that Trump can attend his son Barron's high school graduation in Florida. Cohen will return to the stand on Monday. Blanche expects to finish cross-examination by Monday's morning break.
Trump's reaction: Former President Donald Trump addressed the media after court Thursday afternoon, as he does each day. "I think it was a very interesting day, it was a fascinating day, and it shows what a scam this whole thing is," Trump said.
May 16, 2024 at 04:17 PM EDT
Cross-examination expected to wrap early Monday
Trump attorney Todd Blanche tells the court he expects to finish cross-examining Michael Cohen before Monday's morning break.
"It sounds like we might be done the presentation of evidence by Monday," Judge Juan Merchan says. If so, they'll have pre-charge conference on Monday.
We still don't know if Trump himself will testify–Blanche said there is no decision yet.
Merchan tells counsels to have summations prepared for Tuesday. Court is adjourned until Monday.
May 16, 2024 at 03:58 PM EDT
Defense raises issue with their potential witness
It's now 4 p.m. and the remainder of court had been allotted for the defense to raise an issue with their expert witness regarding a campaign finance law.
Trump attorney Emil Bove is speaking for the defense and explains they don't want to encroach on Merchan's instructions for testimony.
Prosecutors argue that "95 percent" of the testimony that defense wants to allow from former FEC commissioner Bradley Smith "flies directly in the face" of Merchan's order, which says the witness can't testify about application of federal campaign finance laws.
"What Mr. Bove just described is totally outside and way beyond what your honor already ruled," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo argues.
After re-reading his decision, Merchan tells Bove, "It sounds to me like what you're asking is [that] I enlarge this decision quite a bit." He says Bove's use of the words like "interpretations" and "past decision" sound like opinions of law.
In fairness, Merchan said he'll take the weekend to restudy the submissions and review defense's arguments. "But until you hear differently from me, my ruling has not changed," the judge says.
May 16, 2024 at 03:56 PM EDT
Judge pauses Cohen’s testimony for the week
Judge Juan Merchan stops Michael Cohen's testimony so the jury can be dismissed by 4 p.m., as promised. This means Cohen will return to the stand on Monday to finish cross-examination and any possible redirects.
May 16, 2024 at 03:51 PM EDT
Cohen had no retainer agreement while at Trump Org.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen if he did "legal work" for the Trump Organization over his 9.5 years there. Cohen answers, "not that much."
He said he assisted with new projects, including The Apprentice, but makes a distinction for the show, arguing that work was for Trump, not his company. Cohen did perform legal work for Trump and his children, but he never had a retainer agreement while working for his former boss or the Trump Organization.
Blanche noted that has always been the case, not just in 2017 when Trump goes to the White House. Cohen agrees.
Blanche asked Cohen to confirm there's nothing wrong with that, pointing out that you don't need a retainer to do legal work in New York state. "I was an employee at the Trump Organization, nothing unethical," Cohen agrees.
May 16, 2024 at 03:49 PM EDT
ABC News’ interest in Stormy Daniels story
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked prosecutors' star witness Michael Cohen about ABC News' interest in the Stormy Daniels story. At the time, Daniels was negotiating a deal with ABC and Cohen wanted to buy her story.
"I spoke to Mr. [John] Santucci about it," Cohen recalls. "He contacted me and asked me whether or not I was responsible... for them not getting the story."
"In your mind there were two choices: pay or don't pay and the story comes out?" Blanche asks. "Yes, sir," Cohen says.
"But you went a long time without paying?" Blanche asks. "Yes, we went several weeks without paying," Cohen answers. Cohen agrees that the NDA with Daniels is "a perfectly legal contract" and that these types of settlements happen all the time.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger calls for a sidebar. Counsels approach the bench.
Michael Cohen also confirms that Donald Trump never signed the NDA.
May 16, 2024 at 03:21 PM EDT
Break
Court is taking an afternoon break.
Judge Juan Merchan previously told the court that one of the jurors has an appointment next Thursday afternoon. He asked one counsel from each side to stay during the break to discuss scheduling.
Update: The potential conflict was discussed but since it involves one of the alternate jurors, the parties and judge agree to play it by ear and see where things stand next week.
May 16, 2024 at 03:01 PM EDT
Cohen recorded dozens of conversations
Trump attorney Todd Blanche has turned questioning to Michael Cohen recording his phone conversations with various people without their knowledge.
Cohen recalls having phone conversations with about 40 reporters. Blanche asks Cohen if he told these reporters he recorded their conversations. He replies, "It's not illegal in New York." Cohen is asked who else he recorded aside from reporters, he lists former CNN President Jeff Zucker and former President Donald Trump.
"You understand that it's not ethical for a lawyer to record a conversation with their client, right?" Blanche asks. Cohen says yes, but "there's a crime-fraud exception."
Cohen agrees that earlier this week, he testified the former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story would have a "significant" impact on Trump's 2016 campaign.
"President Trump didn't share your view, did he?" Blanche asks. "I'm not sure I agree with that," Cohen says.
"Didn't you previously tell the government that President Trump didn't think the story would hurt him?" Blanche asks. Cohen asks to see that document. He agrees that Trump "initially" did not think it would hurt him. When asked about the call with Trump's bodyguard Keith Schiller, Cohen says, "What I did recall was the conversation that I had, not the specific time of the conversations."
He remembers telling Trump things like going to First Republic or when the transaction was done "because it was that significant."
Blanche asks about the audio recording where Trump talks about paying cash.
"There were times when President Trump bought property as part of his business and didn't finance it right?" Blanche asks. "I'm not aware of that," Cohen responds.
"When you say he's very rich and he pays all cash, you're not saying that you or Mr. Trump or his sons go down to the banks with bags full of cash," Blanche pushes back, just that they're not going to finance it.
Cohen disagrees, saying it's why he used the word "check."
May 16, 2024 at 02:30 PM EDT
Defense reviews Cohen’s texts with 14-year-old harasser
The defense again pulls up text messages between Michael Cohen and the 14-year-old who harassed him, but this time, with redactions. Trump attorney Todd Blanche says he doesn't want to "rehash" everything they covered before lunch, but wants to highlight the gist of the messages exchanged.
Cohen informed the teen that he was forwarding the matter to the Secret Service. After the teen asked him not to, Cohen replied, "Please have your parent or guardian contact me before secret service reaches out to them." This exchange unfolded in late October of 2016.
Blanche is now asking Cohen about his communication with reporters. Cohen says it was "routine" to "always" advise Trump before going back to the press with a statement. If it wasn't the way Trump wanted, it would "cause him to blow up at me" and could "be the end of my job," Cohen testifies.
Cohen says he met The New York Times' Maggie Haberman over 20 years ago, agrees their relationship is "very strong." He says he would give her scoops, but disputes doing so "in exchange" for positive coverage. "I would use Ms. Haberman if the story was something I believed the NYT would run," he says.
Legal take: Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett calls prosecutors' decision to put Cohen on the witness stand "beyond foolish."
"Cohen has essentially been lying about the two pivotal legal issues in the case and prosecutors know it, they wanted him to lie," Jarrett said on Fox and Friends Thursday morning, referring to Cohen saying he kept "Trump in the dark" and "acted on his own" regarding the payment to Stormy Daniels.
What does the prosecution need to prove? Prosecutors must prove that Trump knowingly falsified business records relating to Daniels' payment in order to illegally conceal information that could impact his 2016 election campaign.
Read more from Newsweek's Mandy Taheri here.
May 16, 2024 at 02:22 PM EDT
Cohen back on the stand
Court is back from lunch and discussing another scheduling matter, one of the jurors has an appointment next Thursday afternoon. Judge Juan Merchan says he will take up the matter during afternoon break.
Michael Cohen is now back on the stand and the defense is resuming its cross-examination. Trump attorney Todd Blanche previously signaled he would finish his cross by the end of today.
Later: Merchan will take up the defense's matter of an expert witness they'd like to call at 4 p.m.
...
May 16, 2024 at 12:57 PM EDT
Lunch break
Court is now breaking for lunch. Trump attorney Todd Blanche will resume cross-examining Michael Cohen when we return.
May 16, 2024 at 12:57 PM EDT
Cohen’s 2016 phone call over Stormy Daniels’ deal
Trump attorney Todd Blanche moves to the Oct. 24, 2016 call that Cohen says he had with Trump through bodyguard Keith Schiller's phone.
Cohen says they discussed the Stormy Daniels matter and that it was resolved, but does not remember if Trump was on speaker or Schiller passed the phone directly to him. Blanche pulls texts that show Cohen had texted Schiller the phone number that he was receiving the harassing phone calls from shortly after the call. Cohen says they did discuss the teenager, but that he also spoke to Trump about Daniels.
"You did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller about what we just went through!" Blanche exclaims at Cohen. Cohen says he's "not certain that's accurate," adding his testimony from Tuesday was based on what documents he reviewed.
"Were you ever shown in prep the texts that I just showed you between you and Mr. Schiller about harassing phone calls?" Blanche asks. "No, sir," Cohen responds.
Cohen maintains his testimony from Tuesday is truthful because it was based on the other text messages he was shown.
May 16, 2024 at 12:27 PM EDT
Gaetz: “There are things we can say” that Trump cannot
Members of the House Freedom Caucus gathered outside of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse to speak with reporters late Thursday morning.
"I watched Michael Cohen get dog-walked through the series of lies he has told," Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said. There is literally no branch of government that he has not lied to."
"We're here of our own volition because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say," Gaetz continued, referring to the gag order. "This is a corrupt judge, these are corrupted witnesses, this is a corrupt prosecution... and so we're going to keep speaking out against this."
May 16, 2024 at 12:06 PM EDT
Trump attorney continues grilling Cohen
For the second day, Trump attorney Todd Blanche continues to cross-examine prosecutors' star witness Michael Cohen.
Blanche has focused most of his questioning this morning on previous examples of when Cohen lied under oath. He's now asking the former Trump attorney and fixer whether he wanted to work at the White House.
"The truth is, Mr. Cohen, you really wanted to work in the White House, correct?" Blanche asks. "No, sir," Cohen responds. Blanche continues to question Cohen about the chief-of-staff role he testified about wanting to be considered for.
Blanche asks if Cohen was disappointed that no one, including Trump, had offered him a position at the White House. "That's not accurate," Cohen replies. Blanche asks if Cohen was "embarrassed" by the role he received–personal attorney to POTUS. "That's the role I wanted," Cohen responds.
Blanche asks Cohen about submitting fake legal citations in a motion to terminate his supervised release. Cohen blames it on an AI he used, but concedes those cases did not exist.
Legal take: Cohen is the Manhattan DA's office 20th and final witness. Several previous witnesses painted an unflattering picture of Cohen – legal analyst Norm Eisen says this "skillfully" managed the jury's expectations of the key witness.
"Credit where credit is due to the D.A. [district attorney], because they very skillfully played the expectation game throughout the trial," Eisen said. "They elicited criticism of Cohen from every witness."
Read more from Newsweek's Kaitlin Lewis here.
May 16, 2024 at 11:52 AM EDT
Scheduling updates
Court is back from a brief morning recess. Judge Juan Merchan informs the court that the jurors cannot work next Wednesday, "so that's off the table." This was being considered due to various upcoming holidays.
Court is out tomorrow for Barron's high school graduation. There is also no court next Friday due to a juror scheduling conflict nor the Monday of the following week for Memorial Day.
May 16, 2024 at 11:30 AM EDT
Cohen says trial outcome personally affects him
"Does the outcome of this trial affect you personally?" Trump attorney Todd Blanche asks Cohen. "Yes," Cohen answers.
Blanche turns to Cohen's congressional testimony. Cohen agrees he gave a statement under oath that he would never ask for or accept a pardon from Trump, but that 10 days later, told lawmakers he had directed his lawyer to explore the possibility and he was "100%" open to it. Cohen defends his remarks, saying he was talking in the present tense. He explains it was true at the time because he wanted "this nightmare to end."
Court is now taking a morning break.
May 16, 2024 at 11:06 AM EDT
Photos: A look inside the courthouse
Photos show a large group of Donald Trump allies supporting the former president Thursday at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is photographed walking into court and prosecutors' star witness Michael Cohen is seen leaving his residence for the courthouse earlier this morning.
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert seem to be paying more attention than some of Trump's other courtroom guests. She's been writing down notes throughout Cohen's testimony and has been carefully watching the witness, moving her gaze around court officers to get a better view.
While Boebert has been attentive, Gaetz has spent a good amount of time scrolling on his phone.
May 16, 2024 at 10:56 AM EDT
Trump appeals gag order to New York’s top court
Former President Donald Trump has asked New York's top court to intervene in the fight over the gag order.
"President Trump has filed a notice to appeal the unconstitutional and un-American gag order imposed by conflicted Judge Juan Merchan in the lawless Manhattan DA case," Trump presidential campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
Trump's lawyers filed a notice of appeal Wednesday with the state's Court of Appeals. The notice was listed on a court docket, but the document itself was sealed. Earlier this week, the former president's defense attorneys failed to get the order thrown out by New York's mid-level appellate court.
Judge Juan Merchan has fined Trump $10,000 for violating the gag order in 10 instances. Trump, on a daily basis, has called the order "unconstitutional" and has vowed to fight it. It prevents Trump from speaking about witnesses, jurors, and family members of the court in the criminal hush money case.
Read more from Newsweek's Martha McHardy here.
May 16, 2024 at 10:34 AM EDT
Cohen confirms he’s lied under oath
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen about all the times he's testified under oaths. This includes in depositions, before Congress and at trials. Cohen confirms the oath he took each time was the same oath he took Monday morning.
He also affirms he's met with feds about 17 times, and each time was warned that giving false statements is a felony. Cohen is now confirming that he lied when he testified before a congressional committee regarding Russia in 2018.
Cohen confirms he also lied during a meeting with special counsel two weeks before pleading guilty in SDNY. Blanche points out Cohen has repeatedly cited his loyalty to Trump for his lies. He asks Cohen, "Your reason for lying is different from whether you knew you were lying, correct?" Cohen agrees.
Blanche asks Cohen about his relationship with Gene Friedman, who cooperated with SDNY against Cohen, and gave evidence to investigators. Cohen pushes back on the description "business partner," saying he leased his taxi medallions to Friedman like someone might lease an apartment.
Blanche asks if anyone induced Cohen to plea guilty. Cohen reiterates that he was given 48 hours to accept the plea or face a long indictment from SDNY that included his wife. "I elected to protect my family," Cohen says.
Blanche asks again. Cohen says, "I never denied the underlying facts, I just don't think I should be criminally charged."
"I just want to focus on my questions," Blanche tells the witness. Asks again if Cohen felt like he was induced to plea guilty given the 48 hrs. "Correct."
The two spar again after Cohen tells Blanche that what he told the judge in teh case was "not true." Blanche seems upset as he questions Cohen about the difference between a lie and what's "not true" -- this was also an issue during cross-examination on Tuesday.
Cohen says it's just "different terminology" and admits he lied to the judge.
Blanche questions Cohen about lying to a federal judge when pleading guilty in order to get a shorter sentence. "You got that credit even though you lied," Blanche says. He asks if the judge would have wanted to know Cohen lied. Cohen says he doesn't know what the judge thought. When asked again, Cohen concedes that the judge would have "certainly" liked to know that he lied.
He also adds, "I blame people yes." Those people include his accountant, the banks, prosecutors, the judge in the case and Trump.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks to approach after Blanche begins questioning Cohen about what he told his wife when he used the HELOC to get the money to Stormy Daniels without his wife's knowledge.
May 16, 2024 at 10:16 AM EDT
Clip from Cohen’s podcast played
The defense plays a clip of Michael Cohen's Mea Culpa podcast around the time of the indictment.
Cohen is heard thanking the DA's office and "fearless leader" Alvin Bragg. He says it "fills me with delight and sadness all at the same time" to imagine Trump being booked and fingerprinted.
Blanche shows Cohen the Truth Social post in which Trump calls him "convicted liar and felon, jailbird." Cohen confirms he responded on X, calling Trump names back. "You called him dumba** Donald?" Blanche asks. "Sounds correct," Cohen answers.
May 16, 2024 at 10:04 AM EDT
Jurors shown texts between Cohen, ex-detective
There have already been several sidebars since court began 30 minutes ago.
The defense is trying to show texts between Michael Cohen and a former detective from the DA's office. At first, there was some "miscommunication" from the defense side over which exhibit they were showing Cohen.
After Cohen confirmed the texts being shown were communications he and Rosenberg exchanged last year, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger cuts in to ask if there are large redactions that leave out important context. Cohen says he believes so.
Merchan sustains several objections over questions about the texts between Cohen former detective Rosenberg. However, Blanche is able to elicit confirmation from Cohen that Rosenberg complimented his appearances on CNN and Joy Reid's show at the same time DA's office was telling him not to do TV.
May 16, 2024 at 09:55 AM EDT
Michael Cohen returns to the stand
After a nearly 20-minute sidebar, Michael Cohen is being called back to the stand. The jury is now returning to the courtroom as well. We will likely learn more about what happened during the sidebar when a court transcript is released later today.
Judge Juan Merchan apologizes to jurors for the delay and informs them court may be in session next Wednesday given the various holidays. The jury will let the court know at break if that presents a scheduling conflict for them.
...
May 16, 2024 at 09:47 AM EDT
Attorneys approach the bench
Court is in session. Lawyers from both sides have been at the bench, speaking with Judge Juan Merchan, for the last few minutes.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche is over at the prosecutor's table leafing through documents in front of prosecutor Susan Hoffinger. She handed him something and he's looking through it now. Blanche is writing on the papers while prosecutors Joshua Steinglass and Hoffinger watch.
May 16, 2024 at 09:31 AM EDT
Trump in court with several GOP allies
Republican Representatives Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert are among nearly a dozen elected officials accompanying former President Donald Trump in court today. They are sitting the front row next to Eric Trump.
"We have a lot of congressmen and some senators down today, and they are all up in arms over this. They can't even believe it," Trump told reporters outside of the courtroom moments ago.
Boebert went off on the trial before court started, slamming the gag order, witness Michael Cohen and the judge's daughter.
She wrote on X: "They may have gagged President Trump. They didn't gag me. They didn't gag the rest of us. Why is that fraud Michael Cohen allowed on TikTok with a shirt of Trump behind bars but Trump can't speak out? Why is Merchan's daughter allowed to fundraise for every Democrat under the sun? This is a pathetic political witch hunt!"
Also on X, Gaetz just shared a photo from Trump's morning remarks, saying: "I'll always stand with President Trump!"
Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Bob Good are also part of the Trump entourage today. Alan Garten, general counsel at the Trump Org., and aide Boris Epshteyn are also here. Earlier this week, the defense said it decided against calling Garten as a witness.
May 16, 2024 at 09:00 AM EDT
Soon: Trump’s team to continue cross-examining Michael Cohen
Good morning, day 18 of the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump is set to begin in 30 minutes.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche is set to continue his cross-examination of Michael Cohen this morning. This will be Cohen's third day, and likely last, on the stand.
The former Trump fixer and attorney has remained calm during his testimony overall, but invoked several vague answers and "I don't recall"s during Blanche's questioning Tuesday.
Blanche said he plans to wrap up by the end of the day. Cohen will be the final witness for the DA's office, so prosecutors may rest their case by today. There is no court tomorrow.
Get caught up: Michael Cohen's second day on the stand.
Newsweek senior reporter Katherine Fung is inside the courtroom.
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