Hush money trial: Trump’s fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen, returns to the witness stand

The former United States President Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer turned foe Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand, on Tuesday (May 14) amid the ongoing historic criminal trial of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. This comes a day after Cohen, a key witness, testified that the former president had personally authorised him to make hush money payment to a porn star weeks ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

About Cohen’s testimony

At the beginning of his testimony, Trump’s former lawyer recounted an Oval Office meeting with Trump in February 2017 when the former president had just been inaugurated saying that he would receive his first two instalments of a bonus package.

The package in question, Cohen testified, included reimbursements for the hush money payment made to Daniels. The ex-Trump lawyer was asked about a series of invoices and checks – some of them signed by the former president himself – by Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.

Cohen said that those were falsely marked as paying for retainer services. “There was no retainer agreement, was there?” asked Hoffinger, as per Reuters, to which Cohen responded by saying “No, ma’am.”

Eight of the false checks were personally signed by Trump, reported the news agency.Trump's former lawyer also admitted that he repeatedly lied on behalf of the Republican.

"In order to protect Mr. Trump, to stay on message, to demonstrate my continued loyalty," Cohen testified.

After his home was raided by the FBI in 2018, the star witness said that Trump calmed him down. "He said to me, ‘Don’t worry, I’m the President of the United States, there’s nothing here...I felt reassured because I had the President of the United States protecting me," Cohen said.

Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, took to the standonce againon Tuesdaywhere he also was grilled byTrump attorney Todd Blanche after which he admitted tocalling the former president a "dictator douchebag" on TikTok.

Thecross-examination was predictably tense withBlanche questioning Cohen about his social media posts about Trump, and continued amidrapid-fire objections from Hoffinger.

On Monday (May 13), whenthe former lawyer first testified hesaid that he hadspoken to Trump immediately after wiring the $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and that it was one of the many times he worked “at the direction of and for the benefit” of the former president.

The former president is on trial based on the charges stemming from hush money allegedly paid to Daniels, 45, ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The prosecutors have alleged that Trump falsified business records to cover up the payment that Cohen made to the adult film actress in the run-up to the election.

House Speaker, Republican governors in court

The court also witnessed an entourage of Republican supporters along with Trump on Tuesday, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson.

Before entering the Manhattan courthouse, Johnson parroted Trump’s rhetoric and said that the justice system is being “weaponized” against the former president and is “not about justice” but rather “all about politics.”

While Trump has been barred by the gag order to not talk about those involved in the case, he seemed to have pushed the House Speaker to do his bidding asJohnsoncriticisedManhattanDistrict Attorney Alvin Bragg – who brought the case against Trump – and other court officials as partisans, reported the Associated Press.

He also called Cohen “a man who is clearly on a mission for personal revenge” and “has trouble with the truth.”

Other Republican supporters of the former president included his former GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and US Representatives from Florida, Byron Donalds and Cory Mills.

Notably, Burgum and Donalds are on Trump’s long list of potential vice presidential contenders.

New York court rejects Trump's appeal

In a five-page ruling, aNew York court, on Tuesdayrejected Trump's bid tolift the gag order imposed by JudgeJuan Merchan who is overseeing the hush money trial.

The judge "properly weighed petitioner's First Amendment Rights against the court's historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related or tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm," said the ruling.

So far, judge Merchan has held Trump in contempt of court for violating the gag order 10 times and fined him $1,000 per violation. The former president,last week, was also warnedthat he could be sent to jail for future violations.

(With inputs from agencies)