Cohen ties Trump directly to hush-money scheme
Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen implicates him in testimony about paying off Stormy Daniels


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."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Syria’s strange post-Assad election
The Explainer Sunday’s limited vote ‘suited the phase Syria is undergoing’, says interim president
-
Why did the China spying case collapse?
Today’s Big Question Unwillingness to call China an ‘enemy’ apparently scuppered espionage trial
-
Alchemised: how Harry Potter fanfic went mainstream
In The Spotlight Traditional publishers are signing up fan fiction authors to rewrite their ‘explosively popular’ romances for the mass market
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot