Michael Cohen testified Monday, May 20, that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from his ex-boss Donald Trump's company, an admission defense lawyers hope to use to undermine Cohen's credibility as a key prosecution witness in the former president's hush money trial.
With the prosecution's case nearing its end, Trump's attorneys tried to sow doubt in jurors' minds about Cohen's crucial testimony implicating the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in the hush money scheme. The defense over several hours of cross-examination painted Cohen as a serial fabulist who is on a revenge campaign aimed taking down Trump.
Back on the witness stand for a fourth day, Cohen told jurors that he stole from the Trump Organization after his 2016 holiday bonus was slashed to $50,000 from the $150,000 he usually received. Cohen claimed to have paid $50,000 to a technology firm for its work artificially boosting Trump's standing in a CNBC online poll about famous businessmen. Cohen said he gave the firm only $20,000 in cash in a brown paper bag, but he sought reimbursement from Trump for the full amount, pocketing the difference.
"So you stole from the Trump Organization?" defense attorney Todd Blanche asked.
"Yes, sir," Cohen replied. Cohen said he never paid the Trump Organization back. Cohen has never been charged with stealing from Trump's company.
Cohen's testimony underscores the risk of prosecutors' reliance on the now-disbarred attorney, who admitted on the witness stand to a number of past lies, many of which he claims were meant to protect Trump. Cohen also served prison time after pleading guilty to various federal charges, including lying to Congress and a bank and engaging in campaign-finance violations related to the hush money scheme. And he has made millions of dollars off critical books about the former president, whom he regularly slams on social media in often profane terms.
But when pushed by Blanche, Cohen stood by his recollection of conversations with Trump about the $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels that's at the center of the case.
"No doubt in your mind?" Blanche asked about whether Cohen specifically recalled having conversations Trump about the Daniels matter. No doubt, Cohen said.
Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer turned tormentor, recounted last week how he kept Trump informed about $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
It is unclear if the defense will present a case – they are not required to – and whether Trump himself would testify. Experts say it is highly unlikely he will take the stand in his criminal trial, the first ever of a former US president, as it would expose him to unnecessary legal jeopardy and forensic cross-examination by prosecutors.
But Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche has raised the prospect his client could step up as a witness, telling the judge last week, "that's another decision we need to consider."
Whether the defense succeeds at undermining Cohen's credibility could determine Trump's fate in the case. Cohen tied Trump directly to the hush money scheme, recounting meetings and conversations with his then-boss about stifling negative stories in the waning weeks of the 2016 campaign.
Cohen is the last prosecution witness, and it's not yet clear whether Trump's attorneys will call any witnesses, let alone Trump himself.
After more than four weeks of testimony about sex, money, tabloid machinations and the details of Trump's company recordkeeping, jurors could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first criminal trial of a former US president.