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What to Know About the Trump Trial: Casting Cohen as Not Credible Lawyers for Donald Trump attempted to chip away at Cohen’s story, which is key to the prosecution’s case, pointing out how he has lied both in court and in testimony to Congress. By Laura Mannweiler | May 16, 2024, at 6:59 p.m. Save More [U.S. News & World Report] Key Moments From Cohen Cross-Examination More [Yuki Iwamura] YUKI IWAMURA Cohen is prosecutors' most central witness in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. But Trump's fixer-turned-foe is also as challenging a star witness as they come. T Donald Trump’s defense attorney was intent on casting key prosecution witness Michael Cohen as an unreliable liar on Thursday during his cross-examination in the former president’s hush money trial. Cohen, who began his testimony on Monday, is the prosecution’s last witness. Trump’s former lawyer, confidant and fixer is crucial to corrobor ating and fleshing out in even greater detail the pro secution’s narrative that Trump went to great lengths to hide payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters. Recommended Videos Powered by AnyClip Trump Keeps Topping Biden in Polls About the Economy 2.4K & nbsp; Play Video [Brand logo] Trump Keeps Topping Biden in Polls About the Economy NOW PLAYING Trump Compares Migrants to Hannibal Lecter Then Calls Him a ‘Wonderful Man’ Griffin Says Trump Will Improve Ameri ca's Standing Here’s the Short List of Candidates Trump Might Tap for VP Biden to Trump on Debates: 'Make My Day, Pal!' Defense attorney Todd Blanche attempted to chip away at Cohen’s story and his character throughout his cross examination, pointing out how he changed his story both in court and in testimony to Congress. Here are key takeaways from Cohen’s cross-examination based on press reports: A History of Lying Under Oath Blanche focused a large part of his questioning on Cohen’s 2018 guilty plea to federal charges, which included lying to Congress about a Trump Tower Moscow project. On the stand, Cohen again said he lied to two congressional committees about his contacts with Russian officials. Blanche emphasized that at the time he lied Cohen was also under oath. Cohen responded with a simple, “Yes, sir.” Blanche also tried to show Cohen lied about lying, pointing to times when Cohen said he accepted responsibility for the lies and sometimes saying he lied out of loyalty to Trump. Cohen clarified that his statement to Congress was crafted to stay “on message, a message that we all knew Mr. Trump wanted,” but that ultimately he was responsible for his lies. Blanche was quick to point out that Cohen’s admission means he lied to a judge in 2018 when he said no one had “threatened or induced” him to plead guilty. Cohen responded that h e had to accept the plea deal or he and his wife woul d have been indicted. Blanche asked if Cohen lied when he said no one pressured him to plead guilty. “That was not true,” Cohen said of his statement to the judge in 2018. Cohen’s Changing Views on a Pardon Blanche spent time trying to pin down Cohen’s fluctuating responses to whether he’d accept a pardon from Trump. In a 2019 congressional hearing, Cohen told a House committee he had “never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from President Trump.” Less than two weeks later, he testified at a deposition that he asked his lawyer to look into a pardon. Cohen said Thursday that at the time he testified to not wanting a pardon it was true – t hat he later decided to look into it. “I wanted this nightmare to end,” he said. “It was being dangled. I saw it on television. So I asked them, ‘Is this something that’s really being talked about?’” The Best Cartoons on Donald Trump e> View All 365 Images Calling Trump About Stormy … or a 14-Year-Old Boy? Earlier in the week, Cohen said a call to a phone belonging to Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller in 2016 was when Cohen and Trump discussed resolving the issue with porn star Stormy Daniels just days before he sent her a $130,000 payment to prevent her from discussing what she said was a sexual relationship between she and Trump. But Blanche pointed to text message records from minutes before the call – which only lasted 96 seconds – that were about harassing phone calls Cohen was receivi ng that he ultimately discovered were being made by a 14-year-old boy. Cohen contended that he talked about both the boy and Daniels during the call. “You had enough time in that one minute and 36 seconds to update Mr. Schiller about all the problems you were having with this harassing phone call and also update President Trump on the status of the Stormy Daniels situation,” Blanche asked. Cohen said he believed he was telling the truth. Revenge … Best Served Cold Blanche played clips from Cohen’s podcast for the jury. His outspoken and sometimes profane on-air persona was in sharp contrast to the measured, mostly one-word answers he gave in court – an attempt by the defense to undercut Cohen’s credibility and portray him a s someone insistent on revenge. “It won’t bring back the year that I lost or the damage done to my family. But revenge is a dish best served cold,” Cohen said in one clip. “You better believe that I want this man to go down.” Trump’s Entourage At least nine Republican lawmakers traveled to New York to support the former president on Thursday. They included: Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Rep. Bob Good of Virginia. Boebert, Gaetz, Waltz and Good sat with Eric Trump in the first row of the gallery, and Luna sat in the second row, according to the AP. Shortly after his arrival, Gaetz posted comments that echoed what Trump said to the Proud Boys in a 2020 presidential debate. “Standing back, and standing by, Mr. President,” Gaetz wrote. At the end of court on Thursday, Blanche told the judge he planned to question Cohen on Monday. Court is not in session on Friday as Trump is expected to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation in Florida. Outside the courtroom, Trump did not answer repeated questions from reporters about whether he planned to testify. His attorney told the judge Trump had not yet decided if he would testify. 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