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May 14, 2024

"This Was All About the Campaign": Michael Cohen Testifies in Trump Hush Money Trial
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Michael Cohen took the stand Monday in Donald Trump's criminal election
interference trial and testified that Trump, his former boss, instructed
him to make a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels in order to
protect his 2016 presidential run. The arrangement, which was made
between Cohen, Trump and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg,
included a plan to reimburse Cohen for the payment, which involved
falsifying business documents by classifying them as "legal expenses" -
falsely claiming they were payments to Cohen for his services as Trump's
"personal lawyer."

Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, told the court Trump said, "Women
will hate me … This is going to be a disaster for the campaign." Cohen
also said, "He wasn't thinking about Melania - this was all about the
campaign." According to Cohen, Trump also urged him to drag out
negotiations with Daniels past the November election, saying, "If I win,
it has no relevance because I'm president, and if I lose, I don't really
care."