In court on Monday, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s ex-personal attorney, delivered testimony that could potentially undermine the prosecution’s narrative in the high-profile case against the former president by the Manhattan District Attorney. Cohen’s statement implied that Trump didn’t display excessive concern regarding the Stormy Daniels story, thereby contesting the core assertions of the case, according to reports.
Formerly a trusted confidant and legal advisor to Trump, Cohen has played a pivotal role in the legal drama surrounding hush money payments purportedly made to silence Daniels, the adult film star alleging an encounter with Trump in 2006. The prosecution has portrayed these payments as Trump’s desperate efforts to prevent potentially damaging information from affecting his 2016 presidential campaign. However, Cohen’s recent testimony offers a contrasting perspective, suggesting that Trump regarded the allegations as not important to the outcome of his campaign.
Cohen stated that Trump showed no concern about the potentially embarrassing story, indicating Trump’s confidence that it would carry no significance if he won the election. Such testimony could significantly affect the prosecution’s case, which relies on proving that Trump deliberately participated in a cover-up to sway the election outcome.
According to Cohen, the former president’s main concern was not the exposure of the affair itself but rather the potential campaign repercussions. Per NBC News, he testified that Trump said, “If I win, it won’t have any relevance. If I lose, I don’t really care.”
In 2016, Daniels claimed that she had engaged in an affair with Trump in 2006 and alleged that shortly before the 2016 election, she received $130,000 in hush money from Trump’s then-lawyer to prevent the story from becoming public. The narrative suggesting that Trump was deeply troubled by the potential consequences of the Daniels story has been a central point in discussions regarding the hush money payment. It was thought that Trump aimed to evade any scandal that could harm his presidential campaign, thus prompting the agreement with Cohen.
But Cohen’s court testimony on Monday appeared to contradict that. If Trump truly didn’t care about the story, it calls into question the motivations behind the hush money and the narrative that it was a desperate attempt to protect his candidacy.
JUST IN: Michael Cohen just blew the entire case apart as he spent the later part of the morning talking about Trump’s knowledge of the Stormy Daniels situation. According to him, Trump didn’t care about the story being embarrassing because he only cared about the campaign.… pic.twitter.com/DqCKxguDZA
— ??Travis?? (@Travis_4_Trump) May 13, 2024
The timing of the payments to Cohen, which occurred after the election, adds complexity to the prosecution’s case. The payment timing contradicts the claim that they were aimed at manipulating the electoral process. Described by Cohen as reimbursement for legal fees, these payments now seem more like post-election aftermath management rather than a calculated effort to influence voters beforehand.
Cohen’s credibility is poised to become a central point of scrutiny as the case unfolds. His legal track record includes a conviction for lying to Congress, among other charges, a fact that Trump’s defense team is anticipated to exploit in order to cast doubt on his reliability as a witness. Trump’s lawyers contend that Cohen’s testimony is erratic and driven by personal animosity towards Trump.