The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, Michael Cohen, is set to take the stand to testify against the former president.
Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is due in court today. The Manhattan district attorney hopes that the testimony of the key witness would help influence the verdict in the first-ever criminal case against a US president, sitting or former.
Cohen’s expected appearance in the New York courtroom signals that the closely-watched trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.
Cohen is set to testify about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump’s behalf, including to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Daniels told jurors last week that a payment of $130,000 that she received in 2016 was meant to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament a decade earlier.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen for the payment on the eve of the 2016 presidential election when the story could have proved politically fatal. Prosecutors say the reimbursements were logged as legal expenses to conceal their true purpose.
The Republican presidential candidate has denied the allegations.
