'That was a lie!' Trump's team tries to make jury doubt Cohen
CBC
There's one vital witness in Donald Trump's criminal trial whose testimony weaves together all the elements of the intricate case.
And Trump's lawyers are pulling on that thread.
The New York courtroom had already heard Michael Cohen recount this week the myriad lies he's told in his life, including while under oath, to law enforcement and lawmakers.
But today, Trump's team suggested Cohen had done it again — in this hush-money trial.
"That was a lie!" defence lawyer Todd Blanche shouted Thursday, delivering the trial's first Hollywood-style courtroom eruption during his second day of cross-examination.
Blanche was refuting Cohen's testimony about one conversation with Trump about arranging payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels, buying her silence about an alleged fling with Trump to protect his 2016 run for the U.S. presidency.
"You did not talk to President Trump," Blanche said, essentially accusing Trump's former right-hand man of perjury.
The trial is nearly over. Cohen, the last prosecution witness, will be on the witness stand for a fourth day when the trial resumes Monday, as the Trump team attempts to plant seeds of doubt in jurors's minds.
The defence says it expects to be done with him by that morning, and might not call any of its own witnesses. The judge says closing arguments could happen as early as Tuesday.
Then the jury begins deliberations, possibly next week. And Trump's legal team wants them questioning everything they've heard.
Earlier this week, Cohen testified that he'd had multiple conversations with Trump over several months about hush-money payments to Daniels and their subsequent coverup.
It was one specific phone call, on the evening Oct. 24, 2016, that was the subject of Blanche's outburst on Thursday.
This was not the most important conversation Cohen testified about, but not insignificant either. It was in this call, Cohen testified Monday, that he confirmed to Trump some basic details of how he would structure the $130,000 payout to Daniels.
Cohen said he drew the money from his home equity line of credit, so that his wife wouldn't see the funds disappear from their joint bank account. Then he would use a newly created limited-liability corporation to pay Daniels, so that nobody could connect the payment to Trump.
