Inside Michael Cohen's Cross & Menendez Bribery Trial

ahead of the twenty sixteen election. The prosecution has basically built its case around Cohen will be the final witness for the Manhattan Da, joining me as Bloomberg Legal reporter Patricia or Tada, who has been in the courtroom for

all the testimony. Before we go inside the courtroom, Pat, let's talk about how Republicans, including the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, Alabama Senator Tommy Tubberville, and other Republicans came to support Trump on Tuesday and make statements on his behalf outside the courthouse.

So the Republican politicians showed up to show the support for Trump, and then with the exception of Mike Johnson, four of them went in to the courtroom and sat in the front row, and then during a break they left in the morning and came back late, and they arrived just as Michael Cohen was describing to the jury how he decided to seek guilty and start cooperating with

the government. And it was a very heartfelt moment where he was describing how he basically had a reckoning with his children, his eldest daughter, who was a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, and he said he was protecting his family, and then his daughter told him that we're your family, they're not your family, and you have to think about us, and that's when he decided to be guilty.

And he's choking up with emotion, and then who comes clattering down the center aisle of the courtroom, disrupting proceeding. But the Republicans who came to show the support for Donald Trump. It was a weird, disjointed moment. I don't know if the jury was paying attention. It was kind of to those of us, the reporters in the audience, it was odd to see people being allowed to walk into the courtroom in the middle of trial, in the middle of testimony, and no one said a word to

them that would not be permitted from anyone else. But this group and math arrived and clambered down the aisle, clonking with their heels and sitting down.

dag order. No one has complained yet, and I don't know if Murshawn has any authority to say anything to direct members of Congress or former politicians like Visick Rowasani to not say anything.

and then he got very combative and defensive. This time, he didn't do that his answers on direct examination by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger was very methodical, quiet. He gave very simple answers, no, ma'am, yes, ma'am. He didn't elaborate or get broader any long involved anecdotes. I thought it was very effective because basically he told a very simple story.

And this is a story he's been telling, as we all remember, since he completed guilty in August twenty eighteen, so for six years he's told this different story, and now he got his chance to finally confront Trump. He did a couple of times shoot a glance over at the defense table, but I did notice whenever he got up and to be moved and leave the courtroom, the court officer sort of blocked him off from Trumps and

they basically stopped any confrontation. And that's kind of what happened when Madeline Westerhouse testified, she seemed to go on to go up to Trump, but the court officers prevented her, and Trump seemed to try to go up to Hope Hicks and greet her but was against blocked. None of this was allowed to happen in front of the jury.

Sterermy Daniels was trying to shop her story. Thorn Star says she had sex response in two thousand and six

and had him and sexual encounter with him. As a result of that, he alerts everybody and he starts freaking out to Keith Edelman, who's Stormy lawyer, and they discussed some kind of payment, and he's discussing this with David Pecker as well, who had originally agreed to pay off one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Karen McDougal, the Playboy model, to buy her silence for her story that early age on this bump, and then the National Inquirer

paid fifty thousand dollars for a doorman, a Trump Tower dorm man, who claimed that Trump had fathered an illegitimate child with one of the female Latina employees. So Peckard already worked over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars at this point. So Pecker consulted with his lawyer and told Cohen he wasn't going to pay anymore. And apparently Pecker now became concerned that this could be a campaign finance violation,

so he didn't want to pay. So then Cohen says he got very concerned about having to pay this off quickly because the election was about will happen, and Trump had told him this is terrible, this is quote a disaster for the campaign. If I win, it won't matter, and if I lose the presidency, I won't care. And then Cohen says that Trump was pulling terribly with women, so he was worried too. So then the decision comes

to he's going to pay Stormy off himself. So he has this discussion won't pay, He decides to make the payment, and he described in great detail a lot of the things that jury's already seen. They've seen text between Stormy's agent and for a lawyer discussing the payment. They've seen emails between Cohen and Stormy's lawyers discussing the payment. They've seen bank records where Cohen made the payment, and now we hear it from his own words linking him up

to Trump. What he said, which was very interesting yesterday the last day of direct was that he has a discussion with Trump after the elections at the White House in the Oval office, and Trump asked him, are you doing okay? And he says, well, you know. He mentions that he hasn't been paid for January and February, which would be the start of the payments to the repayment of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars that he was

supposed to get back from Trump. So Trump tells him, see Alan Weifelberg and Alan Weifelberg, who was not allowed to do anything financially without Trump's approval, and he was not aligned to side any check for over a certain amount of money without prior permission from Eric Trump, Don Junior,

or Donald Trump himself suddenly is sending texting it. So Don Junior and Eric pay for a seventy thousand dollars installment, which is two checks for January and February, and then the jury saw another chess sign and then they saw the eighth check that he said Donald Trump shigned from the White House when Donald Trump was president already in twenty seventeen. So every month onward h chess signed by

Donald Trump personally. And to his testimony that Donald Trump has proclaimed in books and in interviews that he wouldn't sign any check without knowing exactly what it was for.

his bonus for twenty seventeen. You know, the December check that everybody loves to get for Christmas check is a bonus. He didn't get anything like that from Trump. He was expecting an additional amounts of money. So dry Solders basically scrappad of all the calculations that added up to the one hundred and thirty thousand plus fifty thousand, multiplied by

certain quantifiers. Because Cohen was in a certain tax bracket, that ended up being one hundred and eighty thousand dollars payment, but doubled because Cohen was in the fifty percent tax bracket, that was a four hundred and twenty thousand dollars payment completely, So then it said divided by twelve, which ended up being thirty five thousands. But you hear the testimony from la Cohen saying something like, but what about Melania? Won't she be a shet when she finds out about Stormy?

And Trump said, are you kidding? You think I'm going to be on the market long, no problem, not a chance. Is that the comment that some man makes when he's allegedly worried and concerned about his wife finding out about his infidelity.

Michael Cohen's testimony this week has linked Trump to all aspects of a hush money scheme that prosecutors say was aimed at stifling stories that threatened his twenty sixteen campaign. Cohen is the prosecution's star witness, and they'll end their case with him. Then we'll find out whether the defense will be putting on a case and if Donald Trump will testify in his own behalf. I've been talking to Bloomberg legal reporter Patricia Hurtano, who's been in the courtroom for all the testimony.

convicted felon. He pleaded guilty to tax law charges on behalf of the Trump organization, and he played guilty to perjury, and he perjured himself when he testified in favor supporting Donald Trump at the civil tax flawed case brought by the New York State ag So why anybody would call such a tainted witness, as anyone's yest, he would not be a reliable witness, and he would be still protecting Trump.

I think the prosecution saying, why would you call somebody that's possibly going to give reasonable doubt for a jury when the documents speak for themselves and you don't have to heed anybody going to translate because it's right there in black and white. And they had other Trump witnesses, Trump lords witnesses striving with the paperwork, said, so they

don't need it. The other thing that Cohen said yesterday was he had to apologize to the mares and people because he helped conceal the information they needed when they were selecting a man who was running for the highest office in the LAMB. So, I mean, when I heard that, it was stunning to hear, because this really is central to the DA claim that this is an effort to undermine the elections. And Cohen said this would have helped citizens understand if they had known the truth about Trump.

I'm supporting him. He's a good man, a great man, a wonderful lawyer. But then the day after Michael Cohen pleads guilty, and people may need to remember that the day Michael Cohen played guilty in August twenty eighteen is the same day that Paul Mannifort got convicted. It was a new doubleheader that day, and the next day Donald Trump is praising Paul Manifort for being a good American but condemning and damning Michael Cohen as a sleave ball

and a terrible lawyer. And never hired this terrible man. So I always thought that was the end of the story of the of the pressure campaign. But then he saw this other learn named Robert Costello, claimed that he had represented Michael Cohen and was basically asserting that Cohen had told him a completely different story and was a liar and not to be believed. And this happens after Michael Cohen plete guilty to federal charges, So it added to the Murphy mess around Michael Cohen was he as

luosy as they claimed. We saw tons of emails yesterday that were pretty stocking where Coleen gets introduced the Costello and then Costello starts sending him these very kind of insinuating, supplicating emails of like, hey, just remember I talked to the big guy. He's in your on your side. I spoke to our friend, a lawyer, meaning Juliani. So Costello is apparently a Juliani ally. And Cohen said he was afraid that Costello was just acting with Guliani to find

out exactly what Coen was going to do. Keep your friends close for your enemy's closer kind of idea. And you see these constant hollage of emails with Costello is haranguing as the first he's supplicating and kissing up to him, and then he starts haranguing. I'm like, you don't answer my calls and you're not talking and we need to discuss it, and why are you thinking of hiring another lawyer. I don't like this, and you know, basically accusing of

all kinds of nefarious substitutes. And Kellen is like, hey, I didn't make a decision, you're not my lawyer, and then he starts really almost assailing him, And that was kind of shocking that Costello and we now know, and Costello went on a campaign of his own integrating and castigating Cohan. So it's kind of weird that you see

that that. Cohen said he felt that this was a back channel way of Giuliani going between Trump and working behind the scenes to keep him in line and keep him from pleading guilty and trying to constantly take a temperature and find out how close he was to cooperate.

to try. But controlling Michael Cohen is going to be a different story. But then the defense Blanche gets up there and it starts repeating the things he was complaining Michael Cohen was saying. And then I think the judge felt like, okay, to not make it personal between Todd Blanche and Michael Cohen, let's talk about why we're here,

and I think the judge basically shut that down. And then he started talking about all the new things he's ever said about Trump, including the T shirt of Trumps behind bars in an orange jump suit behind bars like in the jail cell handcuffs and it says Trump twenty twenty four and it's got a little logo on it. And then they started quoting from all the things Michael Cohen has ever said, and we know there are tons

of things Michael Cohen has said. We also learned that Michael Cohen has made three point four million dollars.

it's kind of crazy. It is a crazy case. I mean Todd Blanche accused Cohen of monetizing his hatred of Trump, which you know the jury is going to have to assess whether he's credible or not. I mean, helping their and their decision. Is this wrap of documents that may seem like just a bunch of boring pieces of paper, but there is a paper trail that, if the jury wants to look at it that way, could corroborate the story that Michael Cohen says.

And then Cohen said in his testimony, which was a little tet dish controvitory, that he had seen the poll and he took it to Donald Trump, and that he convinced Donald Trump to run for president. So both of them were trying to claim the big chance. The only difference is that David Pecker never severed his relationship with Trump and so supirely of him. Meanwhile, Michael Cohen, he went to prison for him. So that's where the ill wills comes from.

It was fine, it was working like and co Winner is a lawyer, and I think that the fundamental part of his story you should say, there's animus and I guess that's what Blanche was trying to depict him as being like a tody who was constantly insinuating himself to Donald Trump and a loyal acolyte, and then he became a vicious trumpeting guy who basically was bent on revenge and then on making money off Trump.

have to wait and see. I don't think cross will end tomorrow because we're ending early at three for the weekend, and we're not going to have trial on Friday because Trump wants a campaign and attend Bearn Trump's high school graduations. So I expect that the redirect will continue into Monday. Of Cohen and then I guess we'll see what's going to happen with the rest of the week. But the defense said they're going to review what the judges previously ruled.

twice in separate bribery cases. It's also the first time a senator has been indicted under the foreign agent statute. Quite a come down for New Jersey's Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. Once a powerful senator and chair of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. Now he's on trial accused of taking cash, gold bars in a luxury car from two businessmen to perform favors for them and corruptly help the Egyptian government.

The trial is taking place in Federal Court in Lower Manhattan, not far from the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump. Bloomberg Legal reporter David Rikis was in the courtroom for the opening statements today, so David. In her opening statements, the prosecutor said that this was not politics as usual, but politics for profit.

from Qatar. It was a picture that was not pretty, and essentially said that Menendez and his wife worked together to receive these bribe payments, and that his wife introduced him to Egyptian officials, who then exploited the opportunity to benefit from their relationship with Menendez. In response, the senators lawyer said that he never took any corrupt actions and that there are innocent explanations for the cash and the gold.

The gold, who said had been in his wife, Nadine's family for many years, and he acknowledged that she received gold from one of the businessmen who's on trial, Fred Davies, but he said that the Senator had no knowledge of her receiving this gold until after he moved in with her.

This was a second merriage to both of them. He also said that Menendez had been in the habit for thirty years of taking cash out of the bank and keeping it in his house, and that he would take it out in amounts of four hundred to five hundred

dollars several times a month. And that's the explanation for more than four thousand dollars seized by a sci agent in his house in twenty twenty two, for in the house that he shared with his wife, Nadine, and that there was no corrupt intent and that he did not receive any bribes at all of cash or gold.

in house for anyone. Well, he came up with the explanation that this is a long standing habit for the senator to collect cash, and he says that he has bank records to prove it, going back thirty years.

favorable manner. One involved defendant who was already under indictment who have been pleted guilty, and another was a close friend of Uribe who was under criminal investigation who ultimately was never criminally charged. Is he GiB cleted guilty and will be testifying at trial against the Menendez according to the prosecutor.

he was properly introducing this psychiatrist as an expert. And there was also the argument that Menendez's father committed suicide, that he had been a compulsive gambler, and he when Menendez was a young man, he discontinued paying off his father's gambling debts, and that that was such a trauma to him that serves as an explanation for why Menendez was parting cash.