Trump ‘falls asleep with mouth open’ as star witness in hush money trial speaks
Former President Donald Trump reportedly fell asleep again, with his mouth open, as the star witness in his hush money trial was cross-examined.
Trump appeared to nod off as his former lawyer Michael Cohen took the stand for the second day.
The ex-president’s lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen about the times he spoke to the media about the investigation into the payment to silence porn star Stormy Daniels on an alleged affair.
‘Do you remember in February 2021, you were going on TV talking about the investigation?’ Blanche asked on Tuesday afternoon.
‘I go on TV often, so I’m not sure what the topic was,’ replied Cohen.
At that moment, Trump was leaning back on his chair in Manhattan Criminal Court ‘with his eyes closed and his mouth hanging open briefly’ before readjusting in his chair, CNN reported.
Blanche asked again about the matter, and Cohen said it would ‘not surprise me’ if he spoke to journalists about the investigation.
It is the latest instance of Trump apparently sleeping during his ongoing criminal trial.
On the first day of the trial on April 15, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported that Trump’s head ‘keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack’.
Cohen explained to jurors the scheme in which he paid $130,000 to silence Daniels on her alleged sexual affair with Trump, in order to stop the story from getting out during his 2016 presidential campaign.
His testimony backed prosecutors’ argument that Trump falsified business records to reimburse Cohen and broke the law in doing so. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and pleaded not guilty.
Cohen on Tuesday went into detail on how he went from Trump’s ‘fixer’ to turning on him.
The court is off on Wednesdays and Blanche told Judge Juan Merchan he thinks he will finish cross-examining Cohen on Thursday.
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