Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump’s legal defense team is set to present its arguments in the hush money trial against Trump after the prosecution rested its case on Monday. The resting of the prosecution’s case comes after days of testimony from star witness Michael Cohen.
Cohen formerly served as an attorney to President Trump. Since his professional relationship with Trump ended, Cohen has admitted to lying on multiple occasions, including lies to Congress and in court while under oath.
Throughout days of testimony, Trump’s attorneys questioned Cohen on his past dishonesty in an attempt to showcase the weakness of the prosecution’s reliance on Cohen as a credible witness.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s defense attorney, carried on a lengthy cross-examination of Cohen. Blanche used phone records and text messages to point out gaps in Cohen’s claims about his conversations with Trump regarding payments made to Stormy Daniels.
Blanche continued to impeach Cohen’s credibility by pointing out his lack of integrity and dishonesty. When pressed by Blanche, Cohen admitted he had stolen money from the Trump Organization while in his role as an attorney.
Instead of issuing any kind of denial when Blanche broached the subject, Cohen merely responded “Yes, sir.”
Although the defense still has to present its case, attorney Todd Blanche appears to have put a dent in Cohen’s credibility for jurors. The lies told by Cohen were significant enough for Blanche to ask Judge Merchan for a dismissal of the 34 counts of falsifying business brought against Trump by the prosecution. Judge Merchan reserved a decision on the matter and trial is set to resume on Tuesday.
