NEW YORK — The hush money trial against Donald Trump is entering its final phase as key witness Michael Cohen returns to the stand on Monday. Cohen took the stand last week to lay out his version of the events at the heart of the case.
Cohen placed Trump directly at the center of the alleged scheme to suppress negative stories and prevent damage to his bid for the White House. Cohen told jurors, among other things, that Trump promised to pay him back for the money he was seeking and was constantly kept informed of efforts to silence women who alleged sexual encounters with him. Trump denies the women’s claims.
Defense attorneys began cross-examining Cohen with questioning intended to portray the former Trump loyalist as a media-obsessed opportunist who turned on the former president after he was denied a job in the White House.
Prosecutors have said they will rest their case once Cohen’s testimony is completed, although they may call rebuttal witnesses if Trump’s lawyers call their own witnesses to the stand. The defense is not required to call witnesses and it is unclear whether attorneys will do so. It also remains unclear whether Trump will testify.
The trial is entering its 19th day.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying company records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four prosecutions against Trump to reach a jury.
Currently:
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– Trump hush money case: A timeline of key events
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Here’s the latest:
As testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial resumes Monday, it remains unclear whether the defense will call its own witnesses.
Legal arguments were underway last Thursday over the parameters of possible testimony from a campaign finance expert that Trump’s lawyers want to call to the hearing.
The witness in question is Bradley A. Smith, a former Bill Clinton appointee to the Republican Federal Election Commission. Defense attorneys want to call him to refute the prosecution’s claim that the hush money payments at issue in the trial amounted to campaign finance violations.
Prosecutors have said they have brought in their own campaign finance expert if the defense ultimately calls their expert to the witness stand.
Judge Juan M. Merchan said he would take time this weekend to “further process both sets of submissions,” but suggested that Smith’s testimony would be limited to very general background.
Defense lawyers have not yet said whether Trump will testify in his own defense.
The hush money trial of Donald Trump will resume Monday after a recess on Friday so the former president could attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron.
The long weekend is not the only break in the test.
The trial will also not take place for four days over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Judge Juan Merchan had previously told jurors that scheduling may require holding court on Wednesday — usually a day off before trial — so Merchan can attend to other matters. Merchan withdrew from that guidance after some jurors indicated they could not be present that day.
