Mahattan DA Asst. prosecutor Susan Hoffinger questioned Michael Cohen about his role in arranging payments for Stormy Daniels and Susan McDougal, both claiming they had affairs with Trump back in 2016, 10 years before he ran for president. Hoffinger tried to establish that former Prsident Donald Trump was fully aware of his instructions to his former personal Atty. Michael Cohen, now a disbarred, felon, who served months in prison. Cohen went to jail primarily for his own corruption and criminal behavior related to illegal NY City tax medallion sales, income tax evasion, lying to Congress, bank and wife fraud, etc., all unrelated to his work for Trump. Cohen plead guilty for one count violating campaign laws paying hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and the National Enquirer, both to prevents defamatory stories about Trump’s alleged affairs from going public.
Hoffinger wanted the jury to hear from Cohen, once Trump’s “fixer,” to arrange payments for two women claiming to have affairs with Trump, years before he ran for president. Cohen testified that Trump was fully on board making payments to Daniels and McDougal for the purpose of preventing their defamatory stories from going public. Cohen told Hoffinger that he set up a shell corporation to pay Daniels the $130,000 “to hide the intent of the reason for opening Essential Consultants, which is to pay for a nondisclosure agreement,” Cohen told Hoffinger. But whatever Cohen did, he had the approval of Trump to deal with a legal problem, putting in confidence into Cohen. Hoffinger wants the jury to believe Trump was involved in setting up a shell company to pay for the nondisclosure agreement, but Trump would never know those legal details.
Cohen’s only concern about paying Stormy Daniels for a nondisclosure agreement was about getting reimbursed for laying out the $130,000 payment he obtained from his private home equity line of credit. “I wanted to ensure that once again he approved what I was doing because I require approval from him on all of this,” Cohen told Hoffinger, showing an inconsistency. Trump never approved Cohen setting up a shell company to pay Stormy Daniels. He gave Cohen the green light to take care of a legal matter, whatever he had to do to fix it. “There is no reason to keep this thing out there, so do it,” Cohen said to told him. Cohen recalled Trump telling him. “Just do it.” “Meet with Trump organization financial officer Allen Weisselberg and figure this whole thing out,” Cohen said told Trump told him, reassuring him that he’d get reimbursed. Trump told Cohen to take care of business.
Whatever payment Trump authorized to Cohen, it was for the purpose of getting a nondisclosure agreement to a defamatory story about an alleged affair, all a legal matter. So, when Bragg tries to convict Trump of illegally making a payment to Stormy Daniels, the jury must know that Trump thought he was paying for legal services. What else could it be dealing with blackmail and extortion, something that happens too often to wealth celebrities? Hoffinger tries to establish through Cohen’s testimony that Trump instructed him to do something illegal. Trump would know nothing about what could constitute any illegal when dealing with an extortionist, trying to squeeze him for cash. Cohen insists that Trump said he was more concerned about the 2016 election than Melania Trump knowing about any alleged affair. Hoffinger wants to establish an election law violation.
Jurors aren’t in a position to know why Trump would want a nondisclosure agreement other than protecting his reputation or sparing his family any embarrassment. Cohen testified that Trump could care less about his wife Melania, only wanted to protect his polls. “He wasn’t thinking about Melania,” Cohen stated. “This was all about the campaign,” telling Hoffinger what she wants to hear but engaging in wild speculation. Trump’s attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles told the jury that Trump wanted the nondisclosure agreement to spare his wife and family and embarrassment. Bragg and Hoffinger expect the jury to believe their star witness despite his past criminal history having nothing do with Trump. Cohen played it to the edge while he worked for Trump illegally selling NY City tax cab medallions for millions and not reporting income to the IRS. Cohen likes to blame Trump for his crimes but clearly it was his own doing.
Cohen’s direct testimony shows a pattern of bolstering his credibility for the jury when he’s a highly suspect witness based on his criminal past, convictions and jail time. When Cohen says anything remotely factual or not, no juror should believe his testimony based on his criminal history but, more importantly, his vendetta against Trump for not giving him a presidential pardon before he left office. How can any juror trust the factual accuracy of anything Cohen says because of his longstanding vendetta with Trump? When he says under oath that Trump ordered him to set up a shell corporation to pay Stormy Daniels it’s complete rubbish. Whether Bragg likes it or not, Trump asked his attorney to take care of nuisance matter, considering it a garden variety legal problem. Bragg wants to convict Trump of making an illegal payment to an adult film star.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
