Michael Cohen, previously a loyal lawyer and executive for Donald Trump’s New York real estate firm, is anticipated to give important testimony on Monday, which might play a crucial role in establishing whether the former US president illegally concealed a payment to muffle an adult film actress who claimed to have had an intimate encounter with him.
Although Cohen, 57, previously declared he would put his life on the line for Republican Trump who is vying to reclaim the presidency from Joe Biden in the current US election, his loyalty shattered under the scrutiny of federal investigators examining Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen, an ardent detractor of Trump who frequently criticises him on digital platforms like podcasts and social media, separated from his legal duties for Trump at the start of his term at the White House in 2017.
On Friday, Todd Blanche, a defence lawyer, brought to light Cohen’s social media activities, which included him wearing a t-shirt featuring an image of Trump in prison. This led Judge Juan Merchan to caution prosecutors to urge Cohen to refrain from public commentary about the case.
The ongoing trial, which began on April 15th in a Manhattan state criminal court in New York, centres primarily on the $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult actress Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election to ensure her silence regarding a 2006 purported intimate encounter with Trump. Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office contend that Trump falsely recorded his remuneration payments to Cohen in 2017 as legal expenses on his real estate company ledgers in New York.
The prosecutors argue that this intentional misrecording of business accounts masks violations of election laws and tax laws, escalating the 34 counts he currently faces from minor offences to serious crimes that could warrant up to four years of imprisonment. Trump, however, has denied all 34 charges and refuted the claims of an alleged intimate encounter with Daniels. Trump insists that the allegations are politically driven to sabotage his campaign and has publicly criticised Democrat prosecutor Bragg.
As per the prosecution, the payment to Daniels was part of an illicit plan to manipulate the 2016 election by purchasing the silence of individuals with potentially compromising information. However, Trump’s legal team argues that it was an effort to avoid any familial embarrassment.
In 2018, Mr. Cohen admitted to violating the rules of federal campaign finance via a payment directed at Ms. Daniels. This act, he alleged, was instructed by Mr. Trump. However, federal prosecutors did not pursue charges against Mr. Trump in regard to this case.
Mr. Trump’s defence team, consisting of 12 principal jurors and six substitutes, has labelled Mr. Cohen as dishonest, challenging his trustworthiness. They banish the notion that Mr. Trump had any connection to the reimbursement slips and invoices intrinsic to the case, arguing that Mr. Cohen independently made the payment to Ms Daniels.
Mr. Cohen has acknowledged falsifying statements while under oath on numerous occasions, presenting an opportunity for the defence team to compromise his reliability. He confessed to providing false information to the US Congress about a Moscow-based property venture of the Trump Organisation in 2017, but he rationalises this by claiming he was safeguarding Mr. Trump.
In addition, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to contravening tax laws in 2018, but he now rebuts this admission of guilt, stating he didn’t commit the offence. – Reuters