Trump's Trials - Trump's defense tries to cast doubt on Michael Cohen's credibility

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, All Things Considered host Juana Summers speaks with NPR political reporter Ximena Bustillo. The prosecution's star witness Michael Cohen was back on the stand today in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. Trump's defense team took direct aim at Cohen's credibility, asking him about his criminal history, times he's lied and questioned his memory of events. Topics include:- Cross-examination of Cohen- What's next Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's Trials from NPR, and I'm Scott Detro. This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent to proven guilty in a court of law. Our regular episodes come out every Saturday, but there's some news in one of former President Trump's cases today. So we're going to share a story that just aired on NPR, and then we'll be back with more in our usual episode on Saturday.

Thanks for listening. I'm Rachel Martin. You probably know how interview podcasts with famous people usually go. There's a host, a guest, and a light Q&A, but on Wildcard we have ripped up the typical script. It's a new podcast from NPR where I invite actors, artists, and comedians to play a game using a special deck of cards to talk about some of life's biggest questions. Listen to Wild Card wherever you get your podcasts, only from NPR.

Instead of scrolling mindlessly, engage mindfully with the NPR app. With a mix of on-demand news, stories from this station, and your favorite podcasts, you can relax without shutting off your brain. Download the NPR app today. You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detro. And now here's Juana Sommers.

Michael Cohen has often described himself as being Trump's protector, but he has spent most of this week testifying against his former boss in the New York criminal trial. Trump's lawyers have now had their turn to question Cohen and use their time to dig into Cohen's criminal past. NPR's Jimena Bustillo has been in court for the testimony and she joins us now from just outside the courthouse

in Manhattan. Hi Jimena. Hey there. So Trump himself as well as his lawyers have cast quite a bit of doubt on Cohen's credibility. Tell us how that's playing out in cross-examination. Well, Trump lawyer Todd Blanch spent a lot of time today questioning Cohen over a one-minute and 36-second phone call in 2016 with Trump's bodyguard.

On Tuesday, Cohen testified that in that phone call, he had talked to Trump about a settlement agreement to adult film star Stormy Daniels. When questioned by Blanch Cohen also testified that in that time he received a series of anonymous harassing phone calls. Blanch showed the jury text messages that showed the harassing calls were the subject of conversation just before getting on the phone. Cohen had said that on the call he'd spoken with both Trump's bodyguard about the harassing phone calls, and had received, he had been receiving, and he had also spoken to Trump about Daniels. This morning, Blanche focused on whether or not

it was possible to do both those things in such a short call. But Blanche also spent time asking Cohen about his history of lying on the stand in effort to remind the jury that oaths have been broken by Cohen before. Right. So, Jimena, how did Cohen hold up under questioning today? So remember, Cohen is the one who ultimately paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her allegations that she'd had an affair with Trump. So, you know, he's

pretty central to this whole case. Now, today, Trump's lawyer came off very animated and combative, but Cohen was pretty calm and short in answers. Blanche's questioning jumped around time periods and coverled several lawsuits and investigations that both Cohen and Trump have been involved in, so it was a lot of ground to cover. Mm-hmm. Trump has pleaded not guilty. He's repeatedly said that this trial is interfering with his ability to campaign for president, but we've also seen things go the other way. This campaign has been a factor in the courtroom. Tell me more about that. Well, recently we have seen some of Trump's

closest allies come to Manhattan to sit in on a few hours or a whole day of testimony. Some of these have been legal experts, such as Attorneys General of Iowa and Alabama earlier this week, and he's also had a lot of congressional guests. This week, guests included House Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida Congressman Byron Donalds and Matt Gaetz and Colorado's own Lauren Boebert. And while Trump has a gag order prohibiting him from speaking about several aspects of this trial, including witness testimony,

his supporters don't have that restriction and they have held press conferences and shared posts on social media dismissing the trial and its testimony. Right, so this is the end of week five of the trial and I understand that they're off tomorrow so that Trump can go attend his son Barron's graduation. Briefly tell us what we have coming up next week. Well, prosecutors will likely take some time on Monday to do their own redirect examination of Cohen.

So Cohen could be on the stand a little bit longer. He's expected to be the second to last witness to testify for the prosecution and the last witness is expected to be another expert witness Then it's Trump's defense's turn. That's NPR's Jimena Bustillo outside the courthouse in New York. Thank you. Thank you Thanks for listening to Trump's trials from NPR keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens And we'll be back later this week with our regular show on Saturday. I'm Scott Detro. Why is everyone so obsessed with traditional wives or trad wives on social media? This week, we're talking about the viral videos of women making marshmallows and mozzarella from

scratch and how behind the sheen of calm kitchens and cute fits, there's some interesting pessimism about our modern world. And that's worth digging into. Next time on It's Been a Minute from NPR. When the economic news gets to be a bit much, listen to A Minute from NPR. Jasmine Morris here from the StoryCorps podcast. Our latest season is called My Way, stories of people who found a rhythm all their own and marched to it throughout their lives. Consequences and other people's opinions be damned. You won't believe the courage and audacity in these stories.

Hear them on the StoryCorps podcast from NPR.