NEW YORK (AP) — As Donald Trump's fixer-turned-adversary Michael Cohen is scheduled to take the stand Monday, the former president's judge… hush money case He issued a stern warning to prosecutors to stop Cohen from posting ridicules and jabs at Trump.
Judge Juan M. Marchan's comments marked a dramatic and important week in the case. first criminal trial The former American president's speech drew to a close on Friday. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said prosecutors could rest the case by the end of next week.
Prosecutors have ordered porn actor Stormy Daniels to file a 13-year hiatus to prevent her from going public ahead of the 2016 election about her alleged sexual encounter with President Trump from 10 years ago. The investigation is underway ahead of key testimony from Mr. Cohen, who arranged the $10,000 payment. President Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.
What you need to know about Trump's hush money trial:
The judge's warning emphasizes that Cohen is not only the prosecution's most important witness, but also its most complex witness. Once a Trump supporter, he has become one of Trump's fiercest critics since pleading guilty to federal charges, routinely bashing and mocking the former president on social media.
Defense attorneys will argue that disbarred lawyers: person who has served time in prison I can't believe they're trying to get Trump.
Mr. Cohen is scheduled to take the stand Monday, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Mr. Trump's lawyers protested this week after a social media video showed Mr. Cohen wearing a shirt in prison depicting a person resembling the former president. Defense attorneys argue that President Trump is unfairly placed under the law. gag order So while Mr. Cohen is free to say bad things about Mr. Trump, he cannot speak publicly about the witnesses.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche said, “It's an issue every day that President Trump is not allowed to respond to this witness, but this witness is allowed to continue speaking.”
Marchand argued that prosecutors should be told that “the judge has asked Cohen to refrain from making any further comments” about the incident and Trump. Prosecutors told the judge they had already asked Cohen and other witnesses not to talk about the case, but said there was no direct way to control their behavior.
Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Friday.
After the third week of testimony, the case, which ultimately hinges on record-keeping, returned to highly technical testimony in stark contrast to previous testimony. Daniels' dramatic, if not entirely subtle, The account of the alleged sexual encounter with Trump that riveted jurors earlier this week.
Witnesses in the case have oscillated between bookkeepers and bankers giving testimony about records and finances to Daniels and others, and telling unflattering stories about Trump and the president. The conspiracies of the tabloid world It was meant to be a secret. Despite all the drama, ultimately this case is about payments and business transactions, and whether those payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election.
Friday's testimonials appeared to test jurors' patience at times. One juror stifled a yawn, and another stretched out his arms. Some people shifted their gaze around the room or stared at the ceiling.
Trump, who was visibly angry during much of Daniels' testimony, chatted frequently with his lawyers and sat in front of him as jurors heard from witnesses, including AT&T and Verizon employees who authenticated phone records. I looked at the stack of documents on the table.
As he left the courthouse, Mr. Trump addressed allegations at the heart of the case that he had falsified company records to hide the details of hush-money reimbursements to Mr. Cohen. Trump's lawyers argue that the bookkeeping at issue in the lawsuit is a formality done by Trump Organization employees.
“A very good bookkeeper marked the legal costs as legal costs,” Trump said. “He was a lawyer, not a fixer,” he added of Cohen.
Returning to the witness stand Friday morning was Madeleine Westerhout, a former aide to President Trump. Prosecutors used Mr. Westerhout's testimony to detail how Mr. Trump received personal letters, including checks for signature, while in the White House. This is important, prosecutors allege, because Mr. Cohen thus received and signed the checks repaying the payments to Mr. Daniels.
During Westerhout's cross-examination, Trump's lawyers elicited testimony aimed at supporting the defense's argument that Daniels was paid to remain silent to protect his family, not the Trump campaign. Ta.
Mr. Westerhout told jurors that Mr. Trump was “very upset” when the Wall Street Journal published an article in 2018 about his hush-money deal with Mr. Daniels.
“My understanding is that he knew it would be harmful to his family,” Westerhout said, although she admitted she didn't remember him specifically saying that.
Jurors also saw social media posts showing that President Trump initially praised Cohen after his then-lawyer came under federal investigation.After Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump started bashing Mr. Cohen. plead guilty He said he was involved in campaign finance violations and other crimes and was directed by Trump to arrange payments to Daniels. Mr. Trump has not been charged with any crime related to that federal investigation.
Daniels' story about his alleged sexual encounters with Trump became a key building block for prosecutors. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Republicans and their allies staged a cover-up in the final stages of the 2016 presidential election to cover up a disgraceful story. Unlawfully influencing a race.
In more than 7 1/2 hours of testimony, Daniels gave graphic details of what happened after the two met during a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe in 2006. The golf event was sponsored by the adult film studio where she worked. Even though Ms. Daniels had consented to sex with Mr. Trump, she described how she felt surprised, fearful, and uncomfortable.
In a heated cross-examination, Trump's lawyers tried to paint Daniels as a liar and usurper trying to extract money and fame from her claims and bring down the former president.
After Daniels left the witness stand on Thursday, Trump's lawyers argued for a mistrial because of the low level of detail she provided, but the judge rejected that request.
This criminal case could be only one of four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee He should go to trial before voters decide whether to return him to the White House in November. Trump maintains his innocence and presents himself as the victim of a politically tainted judicial system seeking to deny him another term.
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Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington, Ruth Brown in New York and Adriana Gomez Ricon in Miami contributed.