CNN
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Considered one of Donald Trump’s closest White Home aides wrapped up her testimony Friday within the former president’s hush money trial, clearing the best way for the prosecution’s key witness to take the stand on Monday.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, is predicted to testify Monday, in response to an individual aware of the case, the place he’ll converse to the hush cash settlement he helped negotiate in 2016 with Stormy Daniels and the way Trump repaid him the next 12 months.
Cohen’s testimony is the lynchpin to prosecutors’ fees that Trump illegally falsified enterprise data by concealing the reimbursement of Cohen to maintain the funds hidden earlier than the 2016 election.
In anticipation of calling the previous president’s onetime fixer, nonetheless, prosecutors launched a slew of textual content messages and cellphone data into proof for the jury, by way of a number of custodial witnesses.
Prosecutors say it’s completely attainable they may relaxation their case by the top of subsequent week.
Listed below are the takeaways from day 15 of the Trump hush cash trial:
Cohen is predicted to take the stand Monday, placing him face-to-face together with his former boss.
He’s anticipated to testify to his function in negotiating the hush cash fee to Daniels on Trump’s behalf, in addition to how he was reimbursed by retainer funds in 2017 which are on the coronary heart of the fees towards Trump.
With Cohen’s testimony implicating Trump, nonetheless, comes the entire baggage that accompanies the previous president’s longtime fixer. Cohen himself was federally charged with marketing campaign finance violations, tax crimes and mendacity to Congress in earlier testimony.
He’s modified his story as he turned from loyal Trump defender to chief antagonist after pleading guilty to the federal charges in 2018.
His testimony within the fall throughout Trump’s civil fraud trial foreshadowed among the challenges prosecutors can face having him on the stand, as he appeared to vary his story in regards to the path he acquired from Trump about his monetary statements throughout his testimony.
Cohen’s credibility with the jury could make-or-break Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg’s case, so will probably be excessive stakes for the prosecution when Cohen is sworn in subsequent week.
Forward of Cohen’s anticipated testimony, Trump legal professional Todd Blanche urged Decide Juan Merchan to order Cohen to cease speaking in regards to the trial and Trump.
Trump isn’t allowed to speak about Cohen due to the gag order in place. However, Blanche stated, Cohen is nonetheless allowed to assault him, pointing to a TikTok video Cohen posted this week carrying a T-shirt displaying Trump behind bars.
“Our request that the court docket order the federal government to instruct the witness to not discuss president trump or this case till the case is over,” Blanche stated.
Assistant District Legal professional Joshua Steinglass responded that prosecutors have repeatedly instructed Cohen and the entire different witnesses within the case to not converse publicly about it. “The actual fact of the matter is, we now have no management over what they do,” he conceded.
Pollster: Trump’s trial will not have an effect on votes in November
Merchan has already stated he can not gag witnesses within the case. However he sympathized with Blanche’s place and stated that he would “direct the folks to speak to Mr. Cohen that the choose is asking him to chorus from making any extra statements” about this case or Trump.
Merchan informed the prosecutors to ship the message saying that it “comes from the bench and also you’re speaking that on behalf of the bench.”
Cohen has posted on social media attacking Trump for the reason that trial started, although he claimed at one level he was going to cease. Trump, usually in response, has repeatedly been present in violation of the choose’s gag order for his feedback about Cohen.
Trump exchanged smiles together with his former White Home assistant Madeleine Westerhout, who wrapped up her testimony Friday that started in the future prior. She raised her eyebrows and smiled at Trump who smiled again at her and mouthed one thing as she left the courtroom.
On cross-examination, Trump legal professional Susan Necheles pressed Westerhout to reiterate that she is aware of the previous president to care about his household.
Westerhout testified that she remembered Trump was upset after the Stormy Daniels story got here out in 2018. Trump acknowledged on the stand that he didn’t particularly discuss his household of their dialog in regards to the story, however, “My understanding was he knew it might be hurtful to his household.”
Westerhout testified that Trump signed scores of paperwork a day whereas multitasking on the cellphone or in conferences, and she or he stated she’d seen him signing checks with out reviewing them.
She additionally testified that non-public mail like Trump’s checks used a again channel by way of an worker’s house tackle so he might get and deal with them sooner than in the event that they have been processed by the White Home’s cumbersome system for processing private mail.
Westerhout additionally distanced Trump from then-Trump Org. Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg as soon as he took workplace.
“In truth, you actually don’t recall any calls particularly between him and Allen Weisselberg?” Necheles requested.
“No, he spoke to so many individuals,” Westerhout stated.
Trump’s former assistant stated she’s “not even certain it’s true” that Trump spoke with Weisselberg a couple of test – one thing prosecutors have steered in reference to the Cohen reimbursements.
Prosecutors introduce key textual content and name data into proof
After Westerhout left the stand, prosecutors spent the remainder of the day calling a collection of custodial witnesses to introduce mobile phone data into proof.
It made for a dry day of testimony, however it additionally offered key proof that prosecutors plan to make use of to attempt to persuade the jury that Trump is responsible of falsifying enterprise data.
These data included a abstract of the 34 fees towards Trump – 11 invoices, 12 vouchers, and 11 checks. Via a Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace paralegal, prosecutors launched a abstract explaining how the fees correlated with the paperwork in proof.
As well as, prosecutors launched a collection of textual content messages between Stormy Daniels’ then-manager Gina Rodriguez and Nationwide Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard in 2016.
Within the messages, the 2 focus on whether or not American Media Inc. would purchase Daniels’ story – and for the way a lot – earlier than giving a play-by-play of the standing of the negotiations and fee Cohen finally made to Daniels’ legal professional in late October 2016.
The texts are notable as a result of neither Howard nor Rodriguez is predicted to testify within the trial. A number of the texts have been launched by David Pecker, who was Howard’s boss, however prosecutors used a paralegal to point out extra of them to the jury this week.
“We’re not doing the Trump deal,” Rodriguez texted Howard on October 17, 2016.
“Keith (Davidson) gave me a heads up. What occurred?” Howard responded.
“They didn’t pay once they stated they’d and so they preserve attempting to purchase extra time,” Rodriguez responded.
The texts corroborate what Daniels and Davidson have testified to date that the deal briefly fell aside in mid-October – and also will doubtless assist bolster Cohen’s credibility when he takes the stand subsequent week.
Steinglass stated that prosecutors count on to name two extra witnesses, after which relaxation. “And I believe it’s completely attainable we’ll relaxation by the top of subsequent week,” he added.
When the prosecution rests, will probably be Trump’s flip. It’s not clear how lengthy he’ll placed on a case in protection – a query that’s prone to relaxation largely on whether or not or not Trump himself takes the stand.
The choose additionally threw a possible curveball of his personal on Friday when Trump’s legal professionals objected to permitting the settlement settlement of Weisselberg into proof.
Trump’s legal professionals argued that the severance settlement was prejudicial to the jury, calling Weisselberg an “uncalled authorities witness” as a result of he’s presently in jail after pleading guilty earlier this 12 months to perjury fees.
Prosecutors responded that the settlement settlement itself would assist to clarify why Weisselberg was not referred to as and likewise argued that they count on Weisselberg to invoke his Fifth Modification rights towards self-incrimination.
Merchan interjected by asking prosecutors whether or not they had really compelled Weisselberg to testify, which they’d not.
“It appears to me we wish to clarify why he’s not right here with out taking the trouble of attempting to clarify that we tried to get him right here,” Merchan stated, suggesting they may deliver Weisselberg in with out the jury current to see what he would say.
Prosecutors didn’t appear thrilled by the concept – Trump’s attorneys famous he wasn’t on prosecutors’ authentic witness checklist – however it’s the form of sudden look that might lengthen the size of the trial.