Michael Cohen will return to the witness stand in a New York courtroom for a third day of cross-examination by Donald Trump’s lawyers Monday in what could be the final day of testimony in the first criminal trial of a former president.
One possibility that could lengthen the trial would be Trump‘s taking the stand in his own defense. Trump said before the trial began that he would “absolutely” testify. He has softened that position since then, and his attorney Todd Blanche told the judge when they were last in court Thursday that he didn’t know yet whether Trump would take the stand. Court wasn’t in session Friday so Trump could attend his son’s high school graduation.
Blanche questioned Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, all day Thursday and part of Tuesday, pressing him about inconsistencies in some of his past claims about Trump and his admitted falsehoods on Trump’s behalf over the years.
“That’s a lie!” Blanche barked at Cohen at one point, after he challenged him about his account of having spoken to Trump on the phone at a specific time about the hush money agreement he’d struck with adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 election.
Cohen had testified earlier that he’d gotten ahold of Trump through Keith Schiller, his bodyguard, at 8:02 p.m. Oct. 24, 2016, to “discuss the Stormy Daniels matter and the resolution of it.”
Blanche confronted Cohen with a text message he’d sent Schiller at 7:48 saying, “Who can I speak to regarding phone calls to my cell and office, the dope forgot to block one of them.” Schiller responded with a text saying “call me” at 8:02, which Cohen did immediately.
Blanche noted that the call lasted 96 seconds and that at 8:04 p.m., Cohen texted Schiller the phone number of a 14-year-old he’d complained had been prank calling him. Blanche suggested the actual purpose of the conversation was to talk about the teenager.
“You were actually talking to Mr. Schiller about the fact that you were getting harassing phone calls from a 14-year-old, correct?” Blanche asked.
“Part of it was the 14-year-old, but I know that Keith was with Mr. Trump at the time and there was more than potentially just this. That’s what I recall based upon the documents that I reviewed,” Cohen replied, adding he believed he “was telling the truth” about the timing.
“We are not asking for your belief. This jury does not want to hear what you think happened,” Blanche snapped.
Cohen, 57, is a key witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump and the only one to directly tie Trump to the alleged falsifying business records scheme.
Cohen paid Daniels the $130,000 in return for a nondisclosure agreement barring her from talking about her claim of having had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier after they met at a celebrity golf tournament. Trump denies her claim.
Cohen said Trump authorized the deal and assured him he’d pay him back.
Prosecutors say Trump did so in a series of payments falsely recorded as legal expenses in a bid to conceal the real reason for them. He was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records and has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors had made it clear to jurors in his direct examination that Cohen had a track record of lying publicly, and they elicited testimony about his 2018 guilty pleas to various criminal charges, including some related to the Daniels payment and another of lying to Congress. Cohen said he’d lied to protect his then-boss Trump.
Cohen began testifying last week, and by the end of the day Thursday he had been on the witness stand for over 14 hours.
Blanche estimated Thursday he had two hours of questions left for Cohen, who prosecutors have said is their final witness. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is then expected to ask him questions on re-direct examination, which is likely to be followed by more questions from Blanche.
It’s unclear how many witnesses Trump’s lawyers will call, if any. Blanche has suggested he might call former Federal Election Commission chair Bradley A. Smith to testify about election laws but also said he might not. He also said he might call other witnesses, whom he didn’t identify in open court. He said the witnesses’ testimony would be brief if they do testify.
Prosecutors have said that if the defense does end up calling Smith, they might put on a witness to rebut his testimony. Their expert would be brief, as well, they said.
The state judge presiding over the case, Juan Merchan, told both sides they should be prepared to deliver closing arguments Tuesday. The schedule from that point is a bit hazy — court won’t be in session Wednesday because of a juror scheduling issue, and an alternate juror has to leave by 1 p.m. Thursday because of a scheduling issue. Merchan had said there would be no court on Friday or the following Monday, which is Memorial Day.
