Zinger Key Points
- Michael Cohen testifies for a third day in Trump's hush money trial and will be back for more cross-examination next week.
- The defense has not decided if Donald Trump will take the stand in the trial.
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Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was back on the stand Thursday, marking his third day of testimony in a criminal trial against former President Donald Trump alleging falsified business records.
Here's what Cohen said in court Thursday.
What Happened: Cohen testified throughout the week connecting hush money payments made to adult actress Stormy Daniels being ordered and facilitated by Trump.
On Thursday, Trump's defense attorneys tried to paint Cohen as a liar and criminal in a potential attempt to dissuade the jury from his testimony, as shared by NBC News.
In a potential win for the defense, Cohen testified Trump was initially worried about the alleged affair with Karen McDougal was set to come out. Cohen said Trump was anxious about his wife and children being hurt by the story.
This could undermine the prosecution's notion in the case that the hush money payments were made to impact the 2016 presidential election.
Cohen was questioned about his relationships with several members of the media. The former Trump lawyer said he was pitched stories by journalists often and would take the ideas to Trump before responding. Cohen said this was a best practice of checking with Trump over just speaking freely with reporters for two reasons.
The former Trump lawyer said he did not ask for a pardon from Trump, but had expressed interest to his lawyer to look into the matter.
"One, it would cause him to blow up at me, and two, it would probably be the end of my job," Cohen said.
Trump's attorney Todd Blanche also tried to paint Cohen as a revenge seeker in the trial after not receiving a role in the White House when Trump was elected. Cohen said previously in testimony that he was hurt not being asked to be involved after the election in the White House.
Cohen said Thursday that ABC offered cash for Daniels' story. Daniels' former lawyer said earlier in the trial that ABC offered the adult actress a post on "Dancing With the Stars" previously.
Cohen also shared Thursday that the nondisclosure agreement with Daniels was never signed by Trump.
Related Link: Michael Cohen’s Testimony Wins Over Political Experts: ‘This Is The Day That Donald Trump Looked Most Like A Criminal’
What's Next: Cohen will take the stand again on Monday for cross-examination. The trial will not be in session Friday due to Trump attending his son Barron's high school graduation.
Blanche said his plan is to finish with Cohen’s examination on Monday before the morning break.
Trump's lawyer would not rule out calling Trump or a mystery witness to the stand on Tuesday.
The multi-week trial began with jury selection April 15 and could last until the end of May, something that Judge Juan Merchan stressed in speed of getting through items on Thursday. Merchan mentioned starting earlier and ending later on some upcoming days.
Similar to other days in the trial this week, Trump was joined by several key supporters including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).
Ahead of Thursday's day in court, Trump again lashed out at the criminal trial being unneeded with "no case, no crime."
"It's a shame what they're doing, what they're doing in terms of suppression and election interference has never been anything like that," Trump said.
Trump told reporters that the trial was "unfair" and that he should be out campaigning for the 2024 presidential election.
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