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Susan Hoffinger is now playing snippets of the 2016 audio recording of the conversation with Donald Trump, stopping, and asking Michael Cohen what he was saying on the recording.
Cohen explains that they talked about opening a company "in order to have separation, keeping it away from Mr. Trump."
Cohen says that he was going to open an LLC that would be the "owner of all of the information that was contained in that drawer that David was referencing."
Hoffinger asks why Cohen referred to "David" and not David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer.
He responds, "It wasn't necessary Mr. Trump knew what I was referring to. It was an ongoing conversation that we had."
On the call, Cohen mentioned he had spoken to CFO Allen Weisselberg about opening the LLC. Asked, why he mentioned Weisselberg, Cohen says:
"Because Mr, Trump previously directed me to speak with Allen Weisselberg about getting this matter handled."
Trump is leaning forward to read the transcript on the screen in front of him.

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We're taking the mid-morning break in the trial.
Judge Juan Merchan is off the bench.
Michael Cohen walks out and looks over to the gallery as he exits.
He didn't look in Donald Trump's direction.
Trump is also leaving the courtroom.

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On the tape, Donald Trump asked if they had to pay $150,000 for the Karen McDougal story.
"He already new based upon conversation with David which is why he mentioned the number 150," Cohen testified in court.
On the call Trump says, "pay with cash"
Cohen explained that was "one way to avoid any type of a ppaer transaction but that's not what I thought was the best way to do it."

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SwigAg11 said:

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I'm assuming this is smoking gun the prosecution is going with/hoping for?

I guess defense can counter that Cohen was providing legal advice?

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fredfredunderscorefred said:

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SwigAg11 said:

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I'm assuming this is smoking gun the prosecution is going with/hoping for?

I guess defense can counter that Cohen was providing legal advice?

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Certainly is a possibility that Trump can say he was taking legal advice from his lawyer and then paid him by check and logged it as legal expenses.

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Judge Juan Merchan is now instructing the jury about the call with Donald Trump that Michael Cohen recorded and was presented as evidence before the break.
"The evidence in the case is the tape itself," he said.
"The transcript is an aide," he added.

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Michael Cohen says the recording was cut off because he received in incoming call.

More on this: Trump's attorneys have suggested that the call was not cut off by an incoming call to raise questions about whether it was doctored with.

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Im Gipper said:

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Foreverconservative said:

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So is there no longer any thing called attorney client privilege anymore? Cohen is violating every aspect of attorney client privilege regardless if he's no longer an attorney or not it still applies!!!! Somebody on the defense team needs to object multiple times to at least get it on the record for appeal purposes

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What specifically are you referring to? It is likely you are confused about the scope of attorney-client privilege.

Trump has very good lawyers. If they are not objecting to assert privilege, it is because they know its not a valid claim.

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SwigAg11 said:

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Where I get confused is my understanding of campaign finance laws. Is it permissible for a candidate (as a private citizen) to enter an NDA (and not disclose it as campaign finance) as long as 1) campaign funds are not used and 2) it can be justified for personal use (e.g. spare embarrassment to family)?

Edit: I guess this now makes more sense where the defense pre-trial stated they were going to invoke a defense of advice-of-counsel.

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This can't be a serious question

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When you retain an attorney all conversations and transactions or any work product performed is privileged unless it's illegal

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The prosecution is clearly aware of the need to corroborate Michael Cohen's testimony because the defense's suggestion that it was doctored with and also given the obvious reputation Cohen has for lying.

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While discussing the recording of Trump's 2016 call with David Pecker, Michael Cohen says that the call that interrupted the recording came from a bank branch manager at Capital One bank.

Cohen indicates that it does match one of his contacts. He says the branch manager from Capitol One bank.

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The prosecutor asked Michael Cohen whether he ever altered the audio recording with Donald Trump and he responds, "No."
Trump and his attorney Emil Bove are talking to each other after Cohen denies altering the call.

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Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is asking Michael Cohen about discussions regarding financial matters with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
"Was it typical for you to discuss financial matters with Allen Weisselberg," Hoffinger asks.
"It was typical for everybody to discuss financial matters with Allen Weisselberg," Cohen says.
Cohen also notes that Weisselberg was a longtime loyal employee to Trump.
Hoffinger follows up and asks whether a deal of this size, of $150,000, would be handled by Weisselberg. "No. It wasn't even a deal of this magnitude. It was any deal would end up going through Allen," he says.
"Allen handled all the finances coming in and coming out," Cohen says.

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Michael Cohen says he had 10 to 12 conversations with former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg about the Karen McDougal transaction.

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aggiehawg said:

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SwigAg11 said:

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Where I get confused is my understanding of campaign finance laws. Is it permissible for a candidate (as a private citizen) to enter an NDA (and not disclose it as campaign finance) as long as 1) campaign funds are not used and 2) it can be justified for personal use (e.g. spare embarrassment to family)?

Edit: I guess this now makes more sense where the defense pre-trial stated they were going to invoke a defense of advice-of-counsel.

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As the former head of the FEC has said, anything could be called a campaign expenditure such as a new suit and tie, etc. But when there is another reason, i.e. sparing his wife and family's embarassment that would be a reason campaign or no campaign, it is not a violation.

Remember the John Edwards case wherein he used his biggest campaign donor to hush up his baby mama? Even that was not ultimately a campaign finance violation.

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aggiehawg said:

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As the former head of the FEC has said, anything could be called a campaign expenditure such as a new suit and tie, etc. But when there is another reason, i.e. sparing his wife and family's embarassment that would be a reason campaign or no campaign, it is not a violation.

Remember the John Edwards case wherein he used his biggest campaign donor to hush up his baby mama? Even that was not ultimately a campaign finance violation.

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TexAg1987 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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As the former head of the FEC has said, anything could be called a campaign expenditure such as a new suit and tie, etc. But when there is another reason, i.e. sparing his wife and family's embarassment that would be a reason campaign or no campaign, it is not a violation.

Remember the John Edwards case wherein he used his biggest campaign donor to hush up his baby mama? Even that was not ultimately a campaign finance violation.

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When does this get explained to the jury? During instructions? Or can the defense say something during the trial that explains this?

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When does this get explained to the jury? During instructions? Or can the defense say something during the trial that explains this?

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The day after Michael Cohen recorded the conversation with Donald Trump, Cohen and another person at AMI texted and discussed possible LLC names.
We heard earlier how in the audio recording, Cohen explains that they talked about opening a company "in order to have separation, keeping it away from Mr. Trump."
As Cohen also testified earlier, they used the Signal app to communicate.
Prosecutors are showing a screenshot of possible names and calls made on Signal.

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Michael Cohen formed a company named Resolution Consultants, LLC, to handle the payment.

The jury is now being shown the certificate of formation Cohen filed when setting up Resolution Consultants.

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The LLC was set up to deal with McDougal matter and any other information AMI had about Trump, Cohen says

Michael Cohen says the purpose of the Resolution Consultants LLC was "to use this entity for the assignment of the (Karen) McDougal matter as well as the other information" that AMI had about Donald Trump.

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Analysis: Why Weisselberg isn't testifying in the trial, despite being a key player in the case
From CNN's Laura Coates
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has come up multiple times in court today as Michael Cohen describes the hush money agreement regarding the Karen McDougal story.
Cohen's testimony that Weisselberg handled all the financing coming in and out of Trump Org. may leave the jury wondering why they are not hearing directly from him and why the buck stopped with Allen, not Trump.
Weisselberg is not a witness in the case. He's at Rikers Island serving a prison sentence for perjury. The scheduled release date is July 19.

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Michael Cohen explains that the agreement with AMI was for $125,000, not $150,000, because AMI agreed the compensation to Karen McDougal for National Enquirer articles and covers was worth $25,000.

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The jury is shown the call log showing Donald Trump and Michael Cohen spoke for seven minutes and 14 seconds on September 29, 2016.

Cohen says that he let Trump "know it was being taken care of" and "that the matter was being resolved."

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Michael Cohen was asked by Manhattan prosecutor Susan Susan Hoffinger if he was planning to own the life rights to Karen McDougal's story.
"No ma'am. I had no reason to own the life rights," Cohen said while explaining, "What I was doing was at the direction and for the benefit of Mr. Trump."

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Michael Cohen appears much more relaxed now. He's looking at the jury while answering some of these questions about the Karen McDougal deal.

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Michael Cohen is being shown the invoice from Investor Advisory Services, AMI's third-party entity used for the transaction.
The invoice describes a "flat fee for advisory services."
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks Cohen whether that was truthful.
"No ma'am," Cohen says, saying it was for the life rights of Karen McDougal.

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Michael Cohen says he had "quite a few" conversations with Donald Trump about the Karen McDougal issue, in person and on the phone.

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Michael Cohen said he was in London for his daughter's birthday and wedding anniversary when he became aware of the "Access Hollywood" video.

"I received a phone call," he said. "from Hope Hicks."

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Prosecutors are now showing a Washington Post email to Hope Hicks seeking comment on the "Access Hollywood" story.
Donald Trump leans forward to look at the email on his screen.
Prosecutors have previously shown this email chain to jurors during Hicks' testimony.
Hicks, once a longtime trusted aide in Trump's inner circle, testified on May 3 in the trial after being subpoenaed.

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Steve Bannon forwarded the email from the Washington Post seeking comment on the "Access Hollywood" tape to Michael Cohen. According to the email, Cohen responded to Bannon, "Please call me."
"It's all over the place. Whose doing damage control here?" Cohen wrote.
Cohen says he wanted to "ensure" that things were being taken care of properly and that Trump would be protected.

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Michael Cohen said that he was still in London on October 8, when he had several calls with Hope Hicks, including one call that Donald Trump joined.
Cohen also spoke separately to Trump that day, he said.
Cohen recalled stepping out of dinner with his family and friends in London to take the calls with Trump.
There were two calls, according to the phone logs. They have been entered into evidence.
Prosecutors are showing call records with the calls: one lasting 4 minutes, 19 seconds and one lasting 7 minutes, 46 seconds between Trump and Cohen.

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"He wanted me to reach out to all my contacts in the media. We needed to put a spin on this. The spin he wanted put on it was that this is locker room talk, something that Melania had recommended or at least he told me that's what Melania had though tit was and use that in order to get control over the story and to minimize its impact on him and his campaign," Cohen testified.

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SwigAg11 said:

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I must be an eternal pessimist because I think that none of this even matters and the case was already lost at voir dire base on the jury pool.

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Micheal Cohen recalls thinking at the time of the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, "this is going to be significantly impactful especially with women voters."

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Texts between Michael Cohen and former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo at CNN are now displayed.
Cohen says he received calls from many contacts in the press after the "Access Hollywood" tape, which he describes as "quite damaging."
For background, the tape was recorded in 2005 and it was leaked to The Washington Post, which published the video on October 7, 2016, a little more than a month before Election Day.
Texts with Chis Cuomo on October 8, 2016:

• CC: You going to defend him?
• MC: I'm in London
• MC: I have been asked by everyone to do shows starting Tuesday
• Not sure what I will do
• CC: Will be too late. He is dying right now.

Asked what Cuomo meant by "he is dying right now," Cohen says: "This is a tremendously negative story in regard to the Trump campaign."

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Michael Cohen is now reviewing an email from former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, saying he deleted a 2008 story on Radar, before AMI owned it, titled "Donald Trump, Playboy Man."
Howard told Cohen this was the only story posted.
Cohen says that he told Trump he had gotten the story removed, which he did in part to get credit for doing so.

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Prosecutors now moving on to questions about Stormy Daniels.

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Michael Cohen is now reviewing an email from former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, saying he deleted a 2008 story on Radar, before AMI owned it, titled "Donald Trump, Playboy Man."
Howard told Cohen this was the only story posted.
Cohen says that he told Trump he had gotten the story removed, which he did in part to get credit for doing so.

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Michael Cohen testified that National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard was the one to tell Cohen that Stormy Daniels is out looking to sell her story about Donald Trump.
Cohen spoke with David Pecker and Dylan Howard about the Radar story and thats when Cohen said he learned that Daniels was looking to sell her story.

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Asked what kind of impact Stormy Daniels' story would have on the Donald Trump campaign, Michael Cohen says, "Catastrophic. This is horrible for the campaign."

Cohen emphasizes "catastrophic," pausing before finishing the sentence.

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Science Denier said:

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SwigAg11 said:

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I must be an eternal pessimist because I think that none of this even matters and the case was already lost at voir dire base on the jury pool.

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Two lawyers on the jury. LOL

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Michael Cohen first learned about Daniels' story in 2011 when he worked with Keith Davidson to get thedirty.com to remove a blog post about the alleged account.
"After I received the information from Dylan Howard, I immediately went to Mr. Trump's office, knocked on the door. "Boss, I gotta speak to you," Cohen says.
He said he told Trump what he learned.

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According to Cohen, "I told him that one of the things that we need to do is obviously take care of it. He said, 'Absolutely. Do it, take care of it.'"

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SwigAg11 said:

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I must be an eternal pessimist because I think that none of this even matters and the case was already lost at voir dire based on the jury pool available.

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