Michael Cohen's testimony will make it "difficult" for Donald Trump to deny the hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, according to former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance.
The testimony of Trump's former attorney and fixer is looming large over the New York criminal trial after the court heard the salacious two-day testimony of Daniels earlier this week. The adult film star provided a detailed account of her alleged sexual encounter with the former president in 2006, including pieces of information that Judge Juan Merchan said "would have been better left unsaid."
The former president might be facing an even harder time should Cohen take the stand on Monday, as reported.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over an alleged hush-money scheme involving Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The two women were paid to bury stories about their alleged sexual liaisons with Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.
According to the prosecution, Trump facilitated the payment of $130,000 to Daniels through Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to federal charges in Manhattan linked to his involvement in the alleged scheme.
Trump has denied having sex with Daniels as well as any wrongdoing. He has alleged the case is part of a political "witch hunt" against him and has repeatedly complained about the trial forcing him to be in court in Manhattan when he should be on the campaign trail.
Newsweek contacted Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche for comment by email on Saturday morning.
Cohen's testimony could be challenging for Trump and his attorney, said Vance, formerly a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017, appointed by former President Barack Obama. Vance is now a distinguished professor of the practice of law at the University of Alabama School of Law.
"With the motive for the crime established" after Daniels' testimony earlier this week, "it's about time for the People to call Michael Cohen to the witness stand," Vance wrote in her newsletter following the case.
"Presumably, Cohen's testimony will connect Trump directly to the crime. We know that there is a partial audio recording of at least one of their conversations," she wrote.
"Today, during her redirect examination of Daniels, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger elicited some important testimony about a civil case in which Trump conceded that he had reimbursed Michael Cohen for the money he paid out to Daniels. That's going to make it difficult for Trump to deny it now because evidence of his concession in that lawsuit can be introduced here."
While Trump's lawyers told the jury in opening statements that the former president's payment to Cohen wasn't reimbursement for the payment made to Daniels, Cohen will have to convince jurors of the opposite.
"His testimony will make or break the case," Vance said.
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