Donald Trump’s lawyer hit back against prosecutors, accusing their star witness – Michael Cohen – repeatedly of lying.
On the most tense day yet of cross-examination, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer, described talking to the former president directly about a hush-money payment to an adult-film star.
But attorney Todd Blanche all but shouted Michael Cohen’s testimony was “a lie.”
Records, he said, show Michael Cohen called Donald Trump’s bodyguard about a prank caller.
Todd Blanche’s alternate theory of the phone call was designed to sow doubt on Michael Cohen’s third day on the stand, as the jury watched the furious exchange with intense focus.
Following the heated moment, Todd Blanche stormed back to the defense table and sat down next to his client. When the judge announced an afternoon recess, there was a collective exhale in the room.
Donald Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, for allegedly disguising payments to Michael Cohen as legal expenses when they were in fact reimbursements for paying off film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with him.
Image source: Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
Prosecutors allege Donald Trump sought to keep damaging information from the public to protect his 2016 presidential campaign. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all counts and denied having an affair with Stormy Daniels.
On May 16, Michael Cohen maintained that his previous testimony was true, and that he spoke to Donald Trump about the payout to Stormy Daniels on a call on October 24, 2016.
Earlier this week, prosecutors asked Michael Cohen about the call to help establish Donald Trump’s alleged direct knowledge of the payoff scheme. Michael Cohen testified that he kept his boss aware during every step of the process of paying Stormy Daniels.
As the man at the centre of the payout, Michael Cohen’s testimony is crucial for prosecutors to prove whether or not Donald Trump had knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent reimbursement plan.
However, Michael Cohen’s criminal record, history of lying to Congress, and profane public criticism of Donald Trump makes him a flawed witness. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance crimes over the hush-money payment, but maintains that he sent the money at Donald Trump’s direction.
The defense seized on Michael Cohen’s credibility issues for nearly two days and sought to paint him as a liar with a vendetta against Donald Trump.
On May 16, Todd Blanche played recordings from Michael Cohen’s podcast, Mea Culpa, where the witness expressed a desire to see the former president go through the booking process and said of Donald Trump: “I want this man to go down.”
Todd Blanche also confronted Michael Cohen with an X post where he called the former president “Dumbass Donald.”
Wade Robson, a former child dancer who is accusing Michael Jackson of years of abuse, says he will ask the FBI to release the files on The King of Pop.
Wade Robson’s lawyers hope the material, which claims Michael Jackson paid $35 million to hush up “abuse victims”, will help win their case.
Choreographer Wade Robson, now 30, is suing Michael Jackson’s estate claiming the star molested him time and time again when he was a child.
This is despite the fact he denied being abused by Michael Jackson at the 2005 trial when the star was cleared of abusing another child.
Yesterday the Sunday People revealed the files show Michael Jackson paid huge sums of hush money over 15 years.
US crime-busters seized the material – including tapes, phone transcripts and names of 17 alleged victims – from investigator Anthony Pellican, who worked for Michael Jackson.
His documents were not passed to prosecutors in Michael Jackson’s 2005 trial.
Last night a friend of Wade Robson said: “He was shocked by the news of this report emerging yesterday.
“Wade has already asked his lawyers to contact the FBI to see if they could access the information.
“He feels his case could be bolstered if he could get another child or even more to come out and support what he went through at the hands of Jackson.
“It has been over 20 years, but right now his prime concern is to build a case to show the world he is in the right.”
The source continued: “Wade has been rocked by the reaction to his claims.
Former child dancer Wade Robson is accusing Michael Jackson of years of abuse
“He knows if he stands shoulder to shoulder with another accuser he might be viewed sympathetically.”
The FBI files challenge Michael Jackson’s insistence he never laid a finger on any of the kids invited to his Neverland Ranch in California for unsupervised sleep-overs.
They describe how Michael Jackson was caught groping a child star, molesting others.
A source said: “Spending a year’s royalties to keep him on his throne was worth it. The world never heard what took place.”
Michael Jackson died in 2009 after a medical drug overdose.
The files were revealed as his family attended the Las Vegas premiere of Michael ONE, a lavish stage show.
Audio tapes from Michael Jackson’s secret FBI file offer a sickening insight into his depravity.
They reveal how children would be invited to his estate and how Michael Jackson, who used the codename Blue Fox, would take them way and abuse them with their parents often just feet away.
The tapes are of interviews former employees Philip and Stella LeMarque gave to investigator Anthony Pellican.
Transcripts said:
Stella: Boy A came to see Michael. The parents were in the room smoking p** with a five-month-old baby. At the time he was crazy about Boy A and his little brother.
Philip: Michael likes them young. Boy A was getting too old. The first time Michael saw Boy A in the movie, …. …., he told Boy A he wanted to meet him.
Investigator: Wait a minute. She (an ex-member of Michael Jackson’s staff) makes deals with the parents?
Philip: She makes the deals with the parents to bring everybody… the parents with the kids to the ranch. If there are five, Michael takes the one he wants.
Investigator: You’re saying (the Michael Jackson staffer) brings a selection of kids for Michael to choose from? Like a p**p?
Philip: Yes.
In another excerpt Philip LeMarque tells how he found Michael Jackson with his hands in the pants of another child after being woken up at 2 a.m. to make the star French fries.
And Stella LeMarque says she saw Michael Jackson kissing a boy in his cinema “like lovers” with his mother sitting just two or three rows in front.
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