Testifying just some ft away from his former boss of a decade, Michael Cohen walked a Manhattan courtroom via the highs and lows of working behind-the-scenes for Donald Trump, a person for whom he as soon as pledged to take a bullet.
“The one factor that was on my thoughts was to perform the duty, to make him [Trump] completely satisfied,” Cohen instructed the courtroom on Monday.
Mr Trump has pleaded not responsible to costs of falsifying enterprise data, regarding a hush-money cost Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, claims he made to an adult-film star on the previous president’s behalf.
Main as much as Cohen’s testimony, Mr Trump and his ex-attorney traded fiery insults on social media.
However on Monday, the previous pals did not even look at one another as Cohen – calm and picked up – instructed the courtroom about their tumultuous previous.
Over 5 hours of testimony, he make clear what being the New York businessman’s fixer concerned, together with burying ladies’s tales that could possibly be damaging and mendacity when needed.
Monday was one of many few occasions the 2 have been in the identical room just lately, since Cohen, 57, got here to work for Mr Trump, 77, a long time in the past.
The son of a Holocaust survivor from Lengthy Island, Cohen by no means wished to be a lawyer, he testified, saying his grandmother pressured him into it.
However after going to legislation college, he discovered himself working at a private damage agency, the place he did some “authorized” and “non-legal” work for Mr Trump, he testified.
In 2007, Cohen mentioned he accepted a job as Mr Trump’s particular counsel, a job with a base wage of $375,000 (£298,0000).
It was a coveted job for Cohen, who would stay within the position for 10 years.
