Hello hello, we’re down to brass tacks here at the New York trial of Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records, with the expected testimony today of the one witness who can likely make or break the Manhattan DA’s case, Michael Cohen.
As always I'm joined by my colleague @frankrunyeon for this unprecedented trial here at 100 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan. Trump has arrived and things are about to get underway.
Let’s recap, prosecutors say Trump, Cohen and former Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg were part of a conspiracy to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter with Trump, lest she damage his chances in the 2016 election.
It was Michael Cohen who paid Stormy $130,000 out of his own pocket, and Trump in 2017 allegedly reimbursed him in installments, which prosecutors say were falsely recorded as legal expenses, as opposed to recompense for Cohen.
As we’ve heard before, in order to sustain a felony charge of falsifying business records in NY, the government must show that it was done in furtherance of another crime. Here, DA Alvin Bragg says it was part of a scheme to violate state and/or federal election laws.
Also potential tax stuff in my mind, but forget about that for now.
We’ve already heard from Stormy, who described sex with Trump on one night in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament, and the aftermath. However, that’s not going to prove Bragg’s case against Trump.
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