Michael Cohen recalls telling people Donald Trump was unaware of Stormy Daniels' hush money payment

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Donald Trump's former attorney and now a key witness to the highly publicized hush money trial, Michael Cohen recalled telling people that the former president was unaware of the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels when news of it first came to light a few years back. 

During Trump's New York City trial on Monday, May 20, the 57-year-old testified that he did not recall telling then-First Lady Melania Trump that her husband didn't know about the payoff. Cohen instead claimed that he did remember telling New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman about it.

Who else did Michael Cohen inform about the hush money payment apart from Donald Trump?

Cohen, who was the final witness called to the stand by the prosecutors, testified that he told various other members of the media that Trump knew nothing about the payment to Daniels, reported Fox News.

Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to alleged hush money payments he made to adult actress Stormy Daniels, who also previously testified in the trial.

Michael Cohen admits practicing testimony for several hours in the Trump trial

The former lawyer said he invested dozens of hours with prosecutors preparing and practicing his testimony in Trump's New York criminal trial. The statement was made during a cross-examination from the ex-president's defense team on Monday. 

He said he interacted with prosecutors in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's team, as many as 20 times in the lead-up to being called to the stand. Cohen also mentioned each of the meetings lasted more than 1 to 2 hours. He said prosecutors used the meetings to ask him many of the same questions they asked when he was on the stand last week.

Donald Trump slammed Judge Juan Merchan after arriving at the hush money trial 

The 77-year-old also arrived at the trial on Monday, crying once again that he is being forced off the campaign trail. Trump argued the case against him was a scheme by the Department of Justice to prevent him from campaigning. The proceedings kicked off roughly an hour earlier than normal, and Trump said the change forced him to cancel a speech he had planned for Monday morning.

The former president went on to quote analysis from several legal scholars saying there is no legitimate case against him. Trump then returned to his often-repeated criticisms of the trial, targeting Judge Juan Merchan as "deeply conflicted." He continues to argue that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg should have "never brought the case" against him.

Michael Cohen's incessant disclosures draws attention of netizens

Netizens provided their own thoughts soon after Trump's former "fixer" made another confession during the ongoing trial case. One X (formerly Twitter) user penned, "Court is not going good for Trump and Blanche today. The Jury appears to be bored with Blanche and are rubbing their eyes."

"Cohen is being pummeled on the stand. He never answers 'yes' or 'no'. Always trying to spin-evade. #trump #trial #costello," wrote another.

"I really thought this Cohen character had almost as much integrity as the democrats hero Michael Avenatti. Turns out I was right...again!" added a third user. "Lock him up," opined one user. 

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