Michael Cohen takes the stand: What Trump's former 'pitbull' will likely say in testimony

Michael Cohen took the stand in former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in Manhattan on Monday, in what prosecutors believe will be a “damning” testimony against his old boss.

The prosecution’s star witness is no stranger to the courtroom—he served as Trump’s personal attorney for 12 years. More importantly, he was Trump’s self-proclaimed “fixer,” facilitating backroom deals and protecting his image at all costs.

More: Trump trial live updates: Trump to Cohen: 'There's gonna be a lot of women coming forward'

But the trial is centered on one cost in particular: the $130,000 Cohen allegedly paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors claim that Cohen paid Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, who then falsified business records to reimburse Cohen for the payment. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts in relation to that crime.

What will Michael Cohen say in his testimony?

Much of Cohen’s testimony relied on his description of three meetings regarding the National Enquirer tabloid and reimbursement of the hush money payments.

The first meeting took place in August 2015 at Trump Tower between Cohen, Trump, and David Pecker, former CEO of American Media, Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer.

Prosecutors say that Pecker agreed to alert Cohen to any potentially damaging stories about Trump before they went to print. With the help of the Trump campaign, Pecker would then buy and bury the stories in an arrangement known as a “catch-and-kill” scheme.

Cohen also testified about a meeting with the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, in January 2017. Prosecutors allege that Cohen, Weisselberg, and Trump agreed to an arrangement where Cohen would send invoices to Trump through Trump Organization employees.

These invoices would request payments for supposed “legal services” performed throughout 2017 to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 he paid Daniels.

The final meeting jurors may hear about took place in February 2017 between Trump and Cohen in the Oval Office. Cohen alleges that he and Trump confirmed the reimbursement arrangement in that meeting.

Cohen’s testimony isn’t the first time jurors have heard about these alleged arrangements.

Earlier this month, prosecutors played a secret recording made by Cohen, where he and Trump can be heard discussing the alleged plan to pay off Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claimed to have an affair with Trump. Cohen and Trump speak about a similar catch-and-kill scheme and the need to set up a shell company to handle the transfer of funds. In the recording, Trump suggests paying $150,000 in cash.

Is Michael Cohen still in jail?

Despite being one of the prosecution’s key players, Cohen is not the unbiased witness prosecutors dream of. For starters, Cohen is already a convicted felon, having been sentenced to three years in prison for felony charges related to the hush money deals, as well as lying to Congress and tax evasion.

Cohen was sent to a medium-security prison in New York in May 2019, but he served only part of his sentence. About a year later, he was released as part of a furlough program created during the pandemic.

Since attaining freedom, Cohen has spent much of his time railing against the former president to anyone who will listen—on television and podcasts, and even in his memoir, “Disloyal.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Cohen's testimony today: What Trump's hired 'thug' may say