Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s onetime fixer-turned-foe, is expected to take the stand on Monday in Trump’s New York criminal trial, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
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 adult film actress Stormy Daniels that underpins Trump’s case. Many of 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 coverup 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.
