The Words That Defined the Week in Donald J. Trump’s Trial
The New York Times
The criminal trial was dominated by testimony from Michael D. Cohen, the defendant’s former personal lawyer, and Stormy Daniels, a porn star who took hush money.
In the past week of testimony in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial, prosecutors were tying their case together, with two of the most important witnesses — a porn star and Mr. Trump’s one-time fixer — testifying just days apart.
Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, testified for over nine hours, saying the payment at the heart of the case, $130,000 to silence the porn star’s story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, came at the orders of the former president and to the benefit of his 2016 campaign. Defense attorneys painted Mr. Cohen as a serial liar bent on exacting revenge against his former boss.
Mr. Trump’s attorneys grilled the porn star, Stormy Daniels, about her credibility, poking holes in her recollection of an assignation she said occurred in 2006.
The first American president to face prosecution, Mr. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to mask reimbursements to Mr. Cohen, who made the payment, in what prosecutors say was an effort to cover up the scandal. Mr. Trump has denied having sex with Ms. Daniels or having any knowledge of the payment scheme. If convicted, he could face probation or as long as four years in prison.
Here are the most memorable things said in court over the past seven days:
Ms. Daniels was shaky at times during her testimony last week, speaking quickly as she described threats she received to silence her story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nev.
