Cohen ties Trump directly to hush-money scheme

Michael Cohen arrives at court to testify against Donald Trump — Trump said, "women will hate me. Guys, they think it's cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign," Cohen testified

(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

What happened

Former President Donald Trump's longtime fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen testified Monday that Trump told him to pay off porn actress Stormy Daniels so her story of an extramarital one-night stand wouldn't hurt him with women in the 2016 election, then signed off on a scheme to repay Cohen for fronting the hush money while falsely recording the payments as legal expenses.

Who said what

When Trump learned in October 2016, after the "Access Hollywood" tape, that Daniels was shopping her sex story, he said "women will hate me. Guys, they think it's cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign," Cohen testified. After Daniels thwarted Cohen's efforts to slow-walk the payment past the election, Trump said friends advised him to just pay her off, "and he expressed to me: just go do it."

Cohen's testimony that Trump reviewed and endorsed the problematic repayment scheme in a January 2017 meeting is "perhaps the most damaging bit of evidence yet," Politico said. "But it is also a tricky piece of evidence for prosecutors, because the jury may need to rely solely on Cohen's account of it," and Cohen is a convicted felon "with a history of dishonesty."

What next?

Cohen will return to the stand Tuesday and is "likely to testify" about a pivotal Oval Office meeting, The New York Times said. Trump's lawyers "will surely try to rattle his composure later in the day, when cross-examination is expected to begin."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.