Trump prosecutors' hard evidence bolsters Michael Cohen's testimony, experts say
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump's lawyers at his New York criminal trial have portrayed his estranged former fixer Michael Cohen as a liar and Trump-hater who acted alone to pay off a porn star, but legal experts say prosecutors have largely backed up his testimony with the accounts of others, phone logs and other hard evidence.
Trump's onetime lawyer, Cohen testified for the prosecution this week that Trump directed him to pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet before the 2016 election about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter. He testified that Trump then approved a plan to fudge records to cover up the deal.
During cross-examination, defense lawyer Todd Blanche sought to undermine Cohen's credibility, portraying him as a turncoat falsely implicating his former boss out of spite. The defense laid the groundwork to argue that Trump was not involved in the details of the reimbursements to Cohen at the heart of the case.
Although prosecutors failed to fully corroborate Cohen's versions of his one-on-one conversations with Trump, they largely established Trump was aware of the scheme, portraying him as a micromanager of his family business and finances, said Professor Rebecca Roiphe at New York Law School
https://PiQSuite.com/reuters/trump-prosecutors-hard-evidence-bolsters-michael-cohens-testimony-experts-say