The presumptive GOP nominee has often seemed embarrassed and infuriated by his first criminal trial, which has featured salacious exposés of his personal life and details of his alleged attempts to cover it up.
But on Thursday, he got to savor his former fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen wobbling on the stand under a fearsome cross-examination. Cohen appeared to be tripped up over an account of a call he’d previously said under oath was to discuss Trump’s hush money payment to adult film Star Stormy Daniels. It emerged under questioning on Thursday that, at least to begin with, the topic of the call was about another matter entirely.
It was the kind of inconsistency that Trump’s attorneys can use to try to sow reasonable doubt about Cohen’s truthfulness and credibility in the mind of a single juror. That’s all it would take for Trump to walk. And now, the prosecution faces a stiff challenge in repairing the damage when they get to their redirect examination of Cohen’s testimony following the close of cross-examination next week. “I think what happened today still is so devastating they have to do something,” Ryan Goodman, a professor at NYU Law, told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “If the case ended today and there were final statements, I think there would not be a conviction.”
Trump left court after a day in which he was supported by another posse of GOP lawmakers, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, well satisfied. “I think it was a very interesting day, it was a fascinating day. And it shows what a scam this whole thing is,” the former president said. His hyperbolic spin and unique take on proceedings rang less hollow than usual given several positive moments for the defense in what has largely been a grim month for Trump in the courtroom.
Another day of testimony from Cohen, the prosecution’s critical witness, came as the case hurtled toward its climax with the judge telling lawyers to be ready to deliver summations as early as Tuesday. That means it’s feasible the jury will retire to consider its verdict in the first criminal trial of a former president sometime after Memorial Day and just five months before Trump hopes to reclaim the White House.
A pivotal moment
On Tuesday, when the court was last in session this week, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche had what most legal experts viewed as a rough day as he embarked on the cross-examination of Cohen. But he bounced back in a big way Thursday.
Blanche first spent time seeking to destroy Cohen’s credibility. He highlighted the former Trump fixer’s proven history of lying for his former boss and on his own behalf. And using text messages and social media posts, he established that Cohen resented Trump and wanted to see him convicted in a case in which the ex-president is accused of falsifying financial records to hide the payoff in 2016 in an early example of election interference. (He has pleaded not guilty and denied the affair with Daniels.)
Then, in one of the most dramatic moments in the entire trial, Blanche drilled down on a call that Cohen placed to his boss’ bodyguard, Keith Schiller, who was with Trump on October 24, 2016. Cohen had testified earlier this week that the purpose of the call was to discuss with Trump “the Stormy Daniels matter and the resolution of it.” But Blanche produced a text from Cohen to Schiller before the call in which the lawyer said he wanted to get help in dealing with a 14-year-old who was prank calling him. He didn’t mention Daniels in the text ahead of the conversation, which only lasted 96 seconds.
“That was a lie!” Blanche said, raising his voice. “You did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller. … You can admit it.” Blanche argued that it was impossible that Cohen would have had sufficient time to discuss the prank calls and then go on to update Trump about the complicated situation with Daniels.
Cohen insisted, “I believe I also spoke to President Trump and told him everything regarding the Stormy Daniels matter was being worked on and it’s going to be resolved.”
