It was to be a day of deceleration before the big finale, the upcoming oral arguments from both sides. But a criminal trial is a living and unpredictable body, especially when the accused is Donald Trump. The courtroom of the Manhattan Criminal Court experienced two unexpected twists and turns on Monday, May 20. One of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Michael Cohen, admitted that he stole money from his former employer, the Trump Organization. Then the second and main witness called by the defense, although experienced in these judicial forums, so exasperated Judge Juan Merchan that the latter had the room evacuated.
It was 3 p.m. when Joshua Steinglass, the deputy district attorney, uttered the long-awaited words: “Your honor, the prosecution is done. » After five weeks of trial against Donald Trump for “falsification of accounting documents”, it was an important moment. The end is coming. The pleadings will be a fundamental moment for both parties, undoubtedly at the beginning of next week. They will seek to reconstruct, each in their own way, the scattered material documents and the testimonies delivered over the days of the hearing. The prosecution will want to confirm its demonstration about a conspiracy, aimed at protecting candidate Trump against any sexual scandal, before the 2016 presidential election. The defendant’s lawyers intend to torpedo this presentation by introducing doubt at each hotspot.
On Monday, the end of the hearing of Michael Cohen, the billionaire’s former handyman who became a key witness against him, illustrated these two approaches. We had to come back, once again, in October 2016. Michael Cohen then managed several fires at the same time. Donald Trump’s lawyer is trying to protect his boss, confronted by Hillary Clinton, against any compromising revelations from an ex-mistress, Stormy Daniels, porn actress.
Satisfying Trump’s ego
But Michael Cohen is also following other files, such as an extortion attempt against Tiffany Trump, one of the billionaire’s daughters, or a complex personal investment in a taxi licensing business. Todd Blanche, the former president’s lead lawyer, emphasizes these multiple concerns. Then he attacks the payments made to Michael Cohen by Donald Trump, once in the White House, in the form of monthly checks. His strategy is clear: convince the jurors that this money corresponds to the continuation of his legal advice to the president but also to the first lady, Melania Trump. The amount – $420,000 – was agreed between the lawyer and the CEO of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, now in prison. It far exceeds the $130,000 paid by the witness to Stormy Daniels, in disaster, just before the presidential election, and whose existence the defense still does not justify.
You have 65.27% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.