Trump trial arrives at a pivotal moment: Star witness Michael Cohen is poised to take the stand

📆 5/12/2024 10:37 PM
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The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is set to take the stand with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.

FILE - Michael Cohen , former attorney to Donald Trump , leaves the District Attorney's office in New York, March 13, 2023. Cohen is prosecutors' most central witness in former President Donald Trump 's hush money trial. But Trump's fixer-turned-foe is also as challenging a star witness as they come. The now-disbarred lawyer has a tortured history with Trump.

The testimony of a witness with such intimate knowledge of Trump's activities could heighten the legal exposure of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee if jurors deem him sufficiently credible. But politically, prosecutors' reliance on a witness with such a checkered past —and to lying to Congress — could be a boon for Trump as he fundraises off his legal woes and paints the case as the product of a tainted criminal justice system.

Prosecutors are expected to elicit detailed testimony from Cohen about his past crimes in hopes of blunting the impact of defense lawyers' questioning and showing that they're not trying to hide his misdeeds. But it's unclear how effective that will be, given that defense lawyers will be prepared to exploit all the challenges that accompany a witness like Cohen.

No matter how his testimony unfolds, Cohen is indisputably central to the case, as evidenced by the fact that his name was mentioned in the jury's presence during opening statements more than 130 times — more than any other person., have testified at length about the role Cohen played in arranging to stifle stories that were feared to be harmful to Trump's 2016 candidacy.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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