Decade doing trumps dirty work. Credibility issues are why the prosecution used the 20 witnesses who proceeded cohen to basically corroborate his story before they even put him on the stand. It is also why trumps defense team has singlemindedly sought to state their case on discrediting him. Even in cases that might not be read crucial to rebutting the prosecution. For that reason the defense may think they racked up a victory for themselves today because during the crossexamination this morning, cohen admitted that he stole from the trump organization. In addition to the reimbursement for the hush money for stormie daniels, cohen was also given 50,000. That money was supposed to be a repayment for what cohen spent to hire a tech from to rig an online poll on trumps behalf. We dont have time to get into that detail. But as cohen said on the stand, he only paid trump 20,000 and kept the rest for himself. Asked point blank today whether he stole from the trump organization, cohen said, y
Specifically those stills of a cspan video that proves donald trump and Keith Schiller were together, which has just been introduced into the redirection from cohen. So far, todd blanche has landed multiple punches against cohen. Including cohens admission that he stole Tens Of Thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization and the question about how many more witnesses were left and who might the defense call. Those are big questions. Vaughn hillyard is outside of the courthouse, along with Andrew Weissmann and Catherine Christian who are still with us as well. So, vaughn, its the top of the hour. I will let you top us off. Reporter were looking at the 3 00 p. M. Eastern hour, and Michael Cohen is still on the stand, and there were questions of whether Michael Cohen when we started the day would be off the stand by lunch hour. Thats not the case as there has been of course the back and forth over potential witnesses, the back and forth over the cspan clip from october 24th. A video
To those words and admit he has a financial stake in how Donald Trumps Hush Money Trial plays out. Tons of details and memorable moments in his testimony today including an Admission Cohen stole from the Trump Organization and that he paid one client with cash stuffed in a Brown Paper Bag. Just before the trial broke for the lunch break, the prosecution started its redirect by focusing on the Stormy Daniels payments and pushing back on the defenses suggestion they were correctly labeled as legal work cohen did for donald trump. The question now, did multiple days of crossexamination destroy cohens credibility in the eyes of the jury, and could that help Donald Trumps defense get the former president off the hook, or do they believe him . Do they believe hissy kwens . A key thing that was raised out of the earshot of the jury when they went to lunch, chris, this whole issue of the cspan clip that showed Keith Schiller and donald trump were on a stage in a rally when trump was leaving th
Special coverage of Donald Trumps criminal hush money trial. The crossexamination of Michael Cohen already back under way this morning with the defense expected to wrap by mid morning followed by a likely redirect from the prosecution. After that we expect the defense to get its turn. Its still unclear at this point how extensive the defenses case will be, or will it be a defense at all . Joining us to discuss all that, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, a Criminal Defense Attorney and kristin gibb bin fed din, along with former prosecute bernard villalona. Well head out to the courthouse in just a moment as we establish our contact with Yasmin Vossoughian on scene. We can take our viewers inside a little bit to whats happening with this crossexamination, a lot of discussion about what cohen was dealing with in his own Business Dealings during the time of the 2016 election, from his Taxi Medallion Business down to then dealing with david pecker. Theyre also talking about what was he d
Right before they took a break, the prosecution in Donald Trumps Hush Money Case reminded the jury Michael Cohen is not the one on trial here. Despite a crossexamination that got heated, just as he was finishing, and yet an admission by trumps former fixer on the stand did leave the d. A. s office with some clean up to do. Im Chris Jansing alongside my colleagues, Andrea Mitchell and katy tur. Sorry, Michael Cohen acknowledged under oath that he stole 60,000 from the trump organization, that he did it out of anger that mr. Trump cut his bonus. The prosecution is trying to use their second shot at questioning Michael Cohen to redirect the focus back to the former president. Were going to bring you live updates as we read them when Michael Cohen returns to the stand in just a few minutes after the lunch break. Nbcs Yasmin Vossoughian is live at the courthouse. Catherine christian is still with us. Also with us, andrew weissmann, former lead prosecutor in Robert Muellers special counsels