Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court in New York, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Steven Hirsch/Pool Photo via AP)
The lead defense attorney representing Donald Trump, 77, in his New York City hush-money case may have sensed a bit of momentum from earlier in the morning by ramping up a blitz and barrage against the state’s star witness, Michael Cohen, 57, just before the lunchtime recess in a lower Manhattan courtroom on Thursday.
A series of sustained objections somewhat blunted those efforts.
After raising questions about the credibility of Cohen’s previous testimony under oath, attorney Todd Blanche moved onto the heart of the matter: the $130,000 hush-money payment wired to Stormy Daniels, 45, by way of an attorney, just days before the 2016 election.
But this line of questioning quickly degenerated to a standstill in court thanks to the years-old efforts of a 14-year-old prank phone caller. The standstill, it turns out, may have been part of the plan.
The funds, sourced from a home equity line of credit, were transferred to the fraudulently-obtained business checking account for Essential Consultants LLC, and then sent to Daniels’ attorney Keith Davidson on Oct. 27, 2018. Cohen received an infamous nondisclosure agreement bearing the names “Peggy Peterson” and “David Dennison” on Nov. 1, 2016 — dated Oct. 28, 2018.
Earlier this week, Cohen testified he called Trump’s then-bodyguard, Keith Schiller, on Oct. 24, 2016, to relay the good news: the effort to stop Daniels from talking about an alleged tryst had been resolved.
After calling Schiller, Cohen testified, Trump got on the line and learned the adult content creator would soon be paid for silence.
“I needed to speak to Mr. Trump, and I knew that Keith, Keith Schiller was with him,” Cohen previously testified during direct examination. “To discuss the Stormy Daniels matter and the resolution of it.”
But, apparently, the Daniels matter was not all Cohen wanted to, or did, discuss during that brief phone call — which jurors just learned Thursday lasted exactly one minute and 36 seconds, according to a report by CBC reporter Alexander Panetta.
Away from the public’s view, jurors and the witness were shown a series of text messages between Cohen and Schiller.
As it turns out, Blanche established, Cohen had been complaining to Schiller about a series of prank phone calls he received several days in a row, according to a report by MSNBC personality Katie Phang.
In those texts, Cohen said he wanted to raise the issue with Schiller because he had learned the prank caller was a 14-year-old, had their number, and wanted Schiller to talk to the child’s parents.
Blanche did not have to feign incredulity.
“When you testified that the October 24 call was with Trump to finalize the Daniels deal that was a lie?” Trump’s defense attorney asked, according to a report by WPIX reporter Henry Rosoff.
To which Cohen replied: “Part of it was the harassing call, part of it was Daniels deal.”
Blanche, having credibly drawn blood, tried to press the argument — reportedly raising his voice in an apparent attempt to rattle and cajole the witness with statements instead of questions, according to a report by Just Security fellow Adam Klasfed.
The defense attorney, indignant by now, likely cast credible doubt on Cohen’s testimony that in 96 seconds he discussed the prankster with Schiller and then discussed the Daniels payment with Trump.
“That was a lie,” Blanche pressed the witness.
But Cohen was adamant, insisting he did not lie during the present trial.
The defense attorney continued to hammer on — trying to get Cohen to admit he did not actually speak to Trump during the call.
Cohen responded by saying he was “not certain that’s accurate,” according to a report by Newsweek reporter Katherine Fung.
Blanche also reminded the witness about the certainty of his testimony for the state about the Oct. 24, 2016, phone call.
The witness then began an explanation wherein he said he reviewed records provided by District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. In a seeming win for the defense, Trump’s lawyer established that Cohen’s earlier testimony was based on prosecutorial preparation — but that prosecutors did not show him the text messages leading up to the Schiller call.
Based on those records shown to him by prosecutors, the witness said, he truly believed that phone call was about Daniels.
“We are not asking for your belief,” Blanche reportedly interrupted. “This jury does not want to hear what you think happened.”
The state then objected. The objection was sustained by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
So, the defense tried again, still raising the issue without an actual question: “Mr. Cohen, you just said that you don’t recall a phone call back in 2016. That is not what you testified to on Tuesday. Tuesday, you testified that you remember the phone call.”
Another objection was raised and sustained. And then, momentum decidedly with the defense, the court broke for lunch.
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