Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s fixer turned foe, is expected to take the stand Monday in Trump’s New York criminal trial, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Hill.
Billed as a star witness for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Cohen’s testimony is expected to mark the culmination of prosecutors’ case in chief as it approaches its end. It could last multiple days.
Cohen is expected to implicate his ex-boss as he testifies about a hush money deal with porn actor Stormy Daniels that underpins Trump’s case. Many of the prosecutors’ witnesses so far have conceded they had no personal knowledge of Trump’s involvement.
Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump, which he denies, was paid $130,000 by Cohen to keep that story secret as the then-candidate mounted his 2016 bid for the White House.
The former president faces 34 charges of falsifying business records over his reimbursement to Cohen, which prosecutors say amounted to an illegal cover-up of the hush payment.
Cohen also helped coordinate two other so-called “catch-and-kill” schemes, in which the National Enquirer tabloid agreed to purchase negative stories about Trump to ensure they were never published.
Ella Lee contributed.