Donald Trump’s legal team set out to demolish the credibility of the key witness in his criminal trial, assailing Michael Cohen as an untrustworthy, ill-tempered, revenge-hungry narrator.
For two days, a jury heard Cohen methodically build up elements of the case against his former boss and confidant.
But just seconds into the cross-examination Tuesday, the defence’s objective became clear: Tear down the witness in the jury’s eyes.
The grilling started with a fiery opening. Cohen was accused of making clear his desire to see Trump imprisoned, in profane public tirades against the defendant and his legal team.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche began by observing that he’d never even met Cohen, and added, “You went on TikTok and called me a crying little shit.”
“That sounds like something I would say,” Cohen replied.
After some aggressive back-and-forth, Cohen admitted he wanted to see Trump convicted.
The court heard that he’d said so on his podcast — that he’d yearned aloud to see Trump in handcuffs and to do a perp walk. He’d even sold a T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars.
Blanche also asked about his public references to Trump as a “dictator-douchebag,” a “boorish, cartoon misogynist” and “a Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain.”
The defence cast Cohen’s turn against Trump as motivated by fame, by sales of books that netted Cohen about $3.4 million US, and a failed attempt to avoid prison several years ago.
The trial, which is entering its final stages, is adjourned through Thursday.
Pre-emptive grilling from prosecutors
Cohen was also subjected to a sustained grilling — from his own side.
It was prosecutors who subpoenaed him as their witness, with his detailed first-hand knowledge of Trump’s alleged cover-up of hush-money payments to a porn star.
They launched a pre-emptive strike earlier on Tuesday, battering him with questions about his prolific history of lying and criminal convictions for fraud.
It was an attempt to prepare the jury for the withering cross-examination Cohen is now facing as Trump’s defence team took over.
The attacks were foreshadowed by the appearance of numerous Republicans at the…
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