Michael Cohen walks jurors though Trump’s connection to Stormy Daniels deal

Cohen’s testimony wrapped up Monday shortly before 4:30 p.m., when the court usually lets jurors go home for the day. He’s expected to resume his testimony under direct examination by the state tomorrow.

Just before the break, Cohen testified that he did not expect to be compensated for his role as personal attorney to the president — the job he moved into after Trump won the election.

“I was proud to accept that title, which I wanted,” he said.

— Ella Lee

Cohen is explaining how he worked with then-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg in January 2017 to devise a scheme for how Cohen would be reimbursed for the Stormy Daniels hush money payment and get additional bonus pay.

The repayment scheme is at the heart of Trump’s charges in the case.

After their meeting, Cohen said the duo went to Trump’s office, where the then-president did not try to negotiate and approved a plan to provide Cohen a total of $420,000 paid in monthly installments.

— Zach Schonfeld

Trump has continued to keep his eyes closed for much of the afternoon as Cohen testifies, except for an occasional note he passes to his lawyers.

But in the last few minutes, Trump has been making edits to what appears to be a speech or some sort of statement. It is multiple pages long, and Trump has crossed out various lines of text while making additions to other sections.

The word “ADDITIONAL” is written in large, bold font at the top of the first page.

— Zach Schonfeld

Cohen testified that he was furious when he received his 2016 bonus, only to learn Trump had cut it by two-thirds its usual amount.

“I was truly insulted, personally hurt. I didn’t understand it,” Cohen said. “It made no sense, after all that I had gone through in terms of the campaign, as well as the things at the Trump Organization and laying out $130,000 on his behalf to protect him.”

“It was insulting that the gratitude shown back to me was to cut the bonus two-thirds,” he added, describing himself as “unusually angry” over the apparent snub.

Cohen said he went to Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, and “in some uncolorful language” described how “truly pissed off and angry” he was. Weisselberg said it would be made right, according to Cohen.

He added that, before New Year’s, Trump called him to assure him not to worry and that he would “take care” of the bonus “when we come back.”

The testimony marked Cohen’s most irritated moment on the stand so far, during what has been a largely mellow recounting of his role in the hush money deals.

— Ella Lee

Cohen acknowledged that he was disappointed when Trump didn’t consider him as a candidate to be his White House chief of staff following the election.

“I didn’t want the role; I didn’t believe that the role was right for me or that I was even competent to be chief of staff. I just wanted my name to be included,” Cohen said.

He added, “it was more about my ego than anything.”

Cohen also indicated that Reince Priebus, who ultimately got the chief of staff role, offered that Cohen could be an assistant general counsel in the White House, but he didn’t want the job.

— Zach Schonfeld

When The Wall Street Journal published its story exposing the Daniels hush money deal, Cohen and 2016 campaign press secretary Hope Hicks celebrated the little attention it got from other media.

“So far I see only 6 stories,” Cohen wrote in November 2016 texts to Hicks. “Getting little to no traction.”

“Same,” Hicks replied. “Keep praying!! It’s working!”

Jurors have already seen the texts between Cohen and the top Trump aide, but this time, Cohen explained them in greater detail.

He said that the concern among Trump allies was that the story would explode into a massive issue, and they hoped that their work denying it to other outlets was “suppressing the story itself.”

— Ella Lee

Cohen testified that the $130,000 wire transfer he authorized, described in documentation as a “retainer,” was no such thing.

The wire transfer from the shell company he created, Essential Consultants, was actually meant to pay adult film actor Stormy Daniels for her silence, executing a nondisclosure agreement regarding her alleged affair with Trump.

It was sent to Keith Davidson, who was Daniels’s attorney at the time.

The business records Trump allegedly falsified describe Cohen’s payment as legal fees, meaning Cohen’s admission on the stand strikes at the heart of the district attorney’s case.

— Ella Lee

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Cohen if he would’ve paid Stormy Daniels the $130,000 without getting Trump’s approval.

The ex-attorney said he wouldn’t have, “because everything required Mr. Trump’s sign off.”

“On top of that, I wanted the money back,” Cohen continued.

— Zach Schonfeld

Cohen used his home equity line of credit to fund the $130,000 payment to Daniels.

On the stand, Cohen said he couldn’t pull the money directly from his bank account because he owned it jointly with his wife, who would raise suspicions, and Cohen stressed that he couldn’t tell her about the deal.

“My wife was the CEO of the household,” Cohen said.

— Zach Schonfeld

The jury saw a text from Melania Trump, Donald Trump’s wife, to Cohen on the morning of Oct. 18, 2016.

“Good morning Michael, can you pls call DT on his cell. Thanks,” she wrote.

“Of course,” Cohen responded moments later.

Cohen said he left a voicemail for Trump the prior night indicating that Stormy Daniels was looking to pull out of the hush money deal because she hadn’t received her $130,000 payment yet.

Cohen testified that he told Trump he no longer believed they could stall things past the election.

— Zach Schonfeld

Following the lunch break, prosecutors are having Cohen walk jurors through how he slow-walked the Stormy Daniels deal but ultimately set up a bank account and a shell company to make the $130,000 payment.

The jurors have already seen many of the exhibits that prosecutors are pulling up, which include emails and texts Cohen sent or received.

— Zach Schonfeld

Court is back in session after a lunch break.

The jury is taking its usual lunch break.

Testimony left off with Cohen describing concerns that adult film actress Stormy Daniels’s story of an alleged affair with Trump could harm his 2016 campaign, particularly among women voters.

The ex-fixer is expected to resume his testimony this afternoon.

— Ella Lee

Trump was concerned that women would “hate” him if Daniels’s story of an alleged affair was made public before the 2016 election, Cohen said.

The then-presidential candidate was frustrated by the story’s resurfacing because he thought Cohen had dealt with the matter previously, when it appeared in an online tabloid in 2011. Cohen said Trump was “really angry” with him.

“This is a disaster. Total disaster,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Women are going to hate me.”

At the time, Trump was polling “very poorly” with women, Cohen said. In combination with the “Access Hollywood” tape, Trump feared the Daniels story would be a “disaster for the campaign.”

“What I want you to do is push it out as long as you can,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Just get past the election. … If I lose, I don’t really care.”

— Ella Lee

Cohen testified that Trump directed him to handle a story about Stormy Daniels that he learned of from a top editor at the Enquirer.

After hearing through Dylan Howard, the editor, that Daniels’s story was resurfacing, Cohen said he “immediately” went to Trump’s office to discuss.

Cohen said he questioned Trump about whether he knew her, and Trump said he did. He also asked whether they had a sexual relationship and said Trump demurred, responding that she was a “beautiful woman.” Trump slightly shook his head in disagreement at the comment in the courtroom Monday.

Cohen said he then suggested doing something about it to Trump.

“Absolutely. Do it. Take care of it,” Trump said at the time, according to Cohen.

— Ella Lee

Cohen said he became aware of the now-notorious “Access Hollywood” tape — in which Trump describes inappropriately grabbing women seemingly without their consent — when 2016 campaign press secretary Hope Hicks called him about it.

The former president’s ex-fixer said he was concerned about the tape and sent emails to then-campaign manager Steve Bannon “in order to protect Mr. Trump.”

After several calls with Trump and other campaign staff, Cohen expressed a need to “put a spin on this.”

He said Melania Trump, Trump’s wife, had thought the conversation was locker room talk — using similar language the 2016 campaign did after the tape was revealed. Trump shook his head in disagreement at this remark.

— Ella Lee

David Pecker’s prior testimony that he backed out of a reimbursement scheme with Cohen for the $150,000 Karen McDougal payment was corroborated by Cohen.

Trump’s ex-fixer confirmed he was told to “rip up” the agreement, suggesting the reason was that a magazine with McDougal on the cover sold more copies than expected.

Pecker testified that he spoke with lawyers about the reimbursement and was advised not to go through with it.

When Trump learned he would not have to pay American Media back the $150,000, he expressed it was “great,” Cohen said.

— Ella Lee

Prompted by prosecutors, Cohen testified he coordinated the McDougal deal with American Media for Trump’s advantage.

“I had no need to own the life rights,” Cohen said of Karen McDougal’s story. “What I was doing was at the direction and benefit of Mr. Trump.”

— Ella Lee

The lawmakers who joined Trump in the courtroom did not return with him following the morning break.

Trump’s entourage Monday is still one of his biggest yet of the trial. Following the break, 15 people followed him inside the courtroom, including Secret Service agents, lawyers and campaign aides.

— Zach Schonfeld

Jurors heard a recording of Trump and Cohen discussing the $150,000 payment made to ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal for the second time in the trial.

In the recording, Trump suggests paying cash to David Pecker’s media company to reimburse the payment.

“We’ll have to pay him something,” Cohen says on the recording.

“Pay with cash,” Trump replies, after some garbled discussion. The recording was made public by CNN in 2018.

Cohen testified that the recording was to show to Pecker that Trump intended to pay him back, because he “wanted him to remain loyal to Mr. Trump.” He said it was the only time he ever recorded his then-client.

Allen Weisselberg is also mentioned on the call. Cohen says he was previously directed by Trump to speak with Weisselberg, who was the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer at the time, about “getting this matter handled.”

“Every penny that came in or out went through Allen’s office,” Cohen said.

Weisselberg is not expected to testify in the trial. He’s serving a five-month sentence for perjury connected to his testimony in Trump’s civil fraud case.

— Ella Lee

After the hush money deal with McDougal was made, David Pecker was “very” upset he hadn’t been paid back by Trump, Cohen said.

“He wanted the $150,000 back, because it was too much money for him to hide from the CEO of the parent company, and he had also just laid out $30,000 previous,” Cohen said, referring to the money paid to the Trump Tower doorman. “So he was putting pressure on me — speak to Mr. Trump to get the money back.”

Pecker offered similar testimony when he took the stand at the start of the trial. He said the fact he wasn’t paid back the $150,000 McDougal payment and also fronted the cost of the doorman’s payout played a key role in refusing to make the Stormy Daniels payment on Trump’s behalf.

That payment was ultimately made by Cohen and underpins the charges Trump faces.

— Ella Lee

During a meeting in Trump’s office with David Pecker and Cohen, Trump said he would “take care” of a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal to ensure her story of an alleged affair did not come out, according to Cohen.

Cohen testified that Pecker informed Trump it would cost him $150,000 to control the story.

“To which Mr. Trump replied, ‘No problem, I’ll take care of it,’” Cohen said.

The ex-Trump attorney said he believed Trump was going to pay back American Media Inc., the Enquirer’s parent company. But ultimately, the media company ended up footing the bill and was never reimbursed, prior evidence and testimony showed.

— Ella Lee

When Cohen got wind that ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal had a story to tell about Trump, the former president’s then-fixer testified that he “immediately” took the matter to Trump.

“I asked him if he knew who Karen McDougal was,” Cohen said. “His response to me was, ‘She’s really beautiful.’ I said, ‘OK, but there’s a story that’s right now being shopped.’”

Cohen added that Trump directed him to “make sure it doesn’t get released,” prompting Cohen to reach back out to David Pecker and Dylan Howard, the publisher and editor at the Enquirer at the time.

— Ella Lee

Cohen testified that he took a Trump Tower doorman’s story of an illegitimate Trump child straight to the then-business mogul himself.

“I went to him immediately to advise him that there was a story, because it was a negative story for him,” Cohen said. “And to get his direction on what he wanted me to do.”

The doorman, Dino Sajudin, was ultimately paid $30,000 for his story by the Enquirer — a deal Cohen helped coordinate.

Cohen said he told David Pecker and top National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard that Trump was “grateful,” and confirmed that Trump actually was appreciative.

— Ella Lee

Cohen confirmed a key detail from ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s testimony — that the men, plus Trump, met at Trump Tower to establish a game plan to clear Trump’s path to the White House.

As Pecker testified, Cohen said the media mogul agreed to “keep an eye out” for any negative stories about Trump and to try to stop those stories from coming out.

“What was discussed is the power of the National Enquirer in terms of being located at cash registers in so many supermarkets, bodegas — that if we can place positive stories about Mr. Trump, that would be beneficial, and if we could place negative stories about some of the other candidates, that would also be beneficial,” Cohen said.

Pecker previously testified that the meeting took place in August 2015, shortly after Trump made his presidential campaign official.

— Ella Lee

Ahead of launching his 2016 campaign, Trump expressed concern to Cohen that “personal stories” about him could come out as his White House bid progressed.

Cohen said Trump told him to “just be prepared” because “there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward.”

— Ella Lee

Though Cohen was never an “official, paid member” of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, he described himself as a “surrogate” for the then-candidate.

He confirmed that, in that capacity, he leveraged his press contacts to benefit Trump’s campaign and advocated for building a more diverse base, founding the “National Diversity Coalition for Trump” with an evangelical leader from Cleveland. He also said that, despite not officially working for the campaign, he did have a campaign email address.

— Ella Lee

Cohen admitted to stretching the truth for Trump when he worked as his personal attorney.

“Did you, at times, lie for him?” Hoffinger asked.

“I did,” Cohen said.

“The only thing that was on my mind was to accomplish the task to make him happy,” the ex-Trump fixer added.

Cohen’s credibility is expected to be sharply drawn into question when Trump’s defense attorneys cross-examine him. They’ve repeatedly derided him as a “liar” — an argument at the heart of Trump’s defense, seeking to paint Cohen as rogue and unreliable.

— Ella Lee

Cohen testified that Trump “never had an email address” as a precautionary measure.

“He knows too many people who have gone down as a direct result of having emails that prosecutors can use in a case,” Cohen said.

To speak with his then-boss, Cohen would either find him in person or reach him over the phone, whether that be his own phone or someone else’s.

He listed off 2016 campaign press secretary Hope Hicks, personal bodyguard Keith Schiller and longtime executive assistant Rhona Graff, as well as Trump’s children, as people he might reach out to in order to connect with Trump.

— Ella Lee

In the initial minutes of Cohen’s testimony, Trump has mostly kept his eyes closed.

But he does not appear to be asleep, as he has been fidgeting in his chair as Cohen walks the jury through his background and initial days at the Trump Organization.

The jurors are closely paying attention, their heads moving back and forth between prosecutor Susan Hoffinger and Cohen as each speaks. A few are taking notes.

— Zach Schonfeld