Trump's Trials - Cohen's testimony concludes and the prosecution rests its case

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang speaks with NPR's Andrea Bernstein.The prosecution has rested its case with the conclusion of its star witness Michael Cohen in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. Topics include:- Cohen's testimony- What's nextFollow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The prosecution has rested its case. From NPR, this is Trump's Trials, I'm Scott Detrick. This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent to a proven guilty in a court of law. After more than four weeks of testimony, the prosecution has rested. Now it's the defense's turn.

Ahead, we will take a look at the final testimony from Michael Cohen and what comes next. On this week's episode of Wild Card, actor Chris Pine tells us it's okay not to be perfect. My film got absolutely decimated when it premiered, which brings up for me one of my primary triggers or whatever is like not being liked. I'm Rachel Martin. Chris Pine on how to find joy in imperfection. That's on NPR's new podcast, Wild Card, the game where cards control the conversation.

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You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detro. And now here's Elsa Chang. The prosecution has rested its case in former President Trump's criminal trial in New York. The main action of the day came with the conclusion of the testimony of Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen. And Piers Andrea Bernstein was in the courtroom and joins us now. Hi, Andrea.

Hey, Elsa. Okay, so when we left off last week, I know that the defense seemed to believe it caught Michael Cohen in a lie, right? So when we left off last week, I know that the defense seemed to believe it caught Michael Cohen in a lie, right? This is when he was saying he spoke to Trump at a key moment in arranging the payoff to stormy Daniels. How did prosecutors handle that? Yes, that's right.

So when Cohen testified for the prosecution, he said he'd made a call to Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, at about 8 o'clock on the evening of October 24th, 2016, to get Schiller to pass his phone to Trump so Cohen could tell him he was about to finalize the payment for Stormy Daniels. But defense attorney Todd Blanche brought into evidence text messages that showed Cohen and Schiller texting about a 14-year-old prankster right about that time. Blanche called Cohen's testimony a lie. Today, prosecutors entered into evidence a photo showing Trump and Schiller together at a rally minutes before the call took place. And then prosecutor Susan Huffinger asked Cohen if he

had a number of conversations with Trump during this period about the payoff to Stormy Daniels. Answer, yes. She asked some in person, some by phone, some longer, some shorter. The answer was yes to all. 20 conversations all told, Cohen said. Any doubt? Mr. Trump gave you the final sign off? No doubt, Cohen said. All right. Well, backing up just a little bit, did the defense shake Cohen in other ways? Well, I'd put it into three categories. Number one, Cohen was doing a lot in October 2016, everything from arranging various private business deals to handling a matter for Tiffany

Trump, Donald Trump's younger daughter. So how could he really remember talking to Donald Trump about Stormy Daniels. Number two, Cohen is making money through books, podcasts, and even potentially a proposed TV show called The Fixer. And number three, Cohen was doing some legal work for Donald Trump. All right. So how did Cohen respond to all of that? He was pretty naturally calm, saying, yes, sir, no, sir, I did lie, I did do these unsavory and sometimes illegal things. But also, he held firm.

He kept Trump informed every step of the way of the payoff, Trump approved the payoff, he approved the reimbursement plan, he signed his name to all those checks for $35,000. He was in on everything Cohen said. Interestingly, the defense did not ask Cohen at all about a meeting with Donald Trump and his chief financial officer where they discussed the reimbursement scheme, according to Cohen, or about a meeting in the White House where Cohen said they discussed the payments. Okay, so what happened then in the testimony?

So after eliciting testimony from Cohen that his entire life and his family's had been turned upside down. Cohen seemed to choke up when he said this. The prosecutor stood and said, your honor, the people rest. The defense called Robert Costello, an attorney who Cohen believed was pressuring him to stay on Team Trump. Interestingly, while the defense was trying to prove or to disprove rather a pressure campaign, Trump brought with him today a giant entourage, among them Chuck Zito, the former head of the Hell's

Angel Motorcycle Gang, and Bernie Carrick, the former NYPD commissioner who went to prison for tax fraud and obstruction of justice and who Trump pardoned. At one point in the questioning of the lawyer Robert Costello, Costello said audibly after Judge Juan Marchand had sustained an objection, geez, and Judge Marchand said, excuse me, and Costello said, strike it, strike it. Then the judge sent the jury out of the room and said, you don't give me the side eye, you don't roll your eyes, are you staring me down now? At which point he cleared the courtroom before a questioning resumed.

His testimony continues tomorrow and we learn today that the case goes to the jury next week. Oh, a little drama today. All right, that is NPR's Andrea Bernstein in New York. Thank you so much, Andrea. Thank you. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR. Keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens and we'll be back later this week with our regular show on Saturday.

I'm Scott Detro. Wait, wait, don't tell me it's not just jokes about the week's news, it's also life hacks. For example, here's actor Karen Allen revealing how she got her starring role in Raiders of the Lost Ark. They said, how well can you spit? And I just found it coming out of my mouth. I said, oh, I can hawk them with the best. I'm Peter Sagal. If you want to increase your self-confidence, then listen to the Wait,

Wait, Don't Tell Me podcast from NPR. In any great story, there's a moment that sparks your curiosity, tells you there is more to uncover. How, how did this happen? How did we get here? That's where embedded comes in. We are NPR's home for documentary journalism, immersive and intimate stories. I was stone cold speechless.

Nothing will ever, ever, ever, ever be the same here. Find embedded wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Thorne. Why did Coloscola write a bonkers, extremely fictionalized play about Mary Todd Lincoln? Well, you know, it was 2020 and we were all so isolated. I just started doing research, but the truth is, no, I just thought of it. We'll talk about that and more on Bullseye for MaximumFun.org and NPR.