Trump trial live updates as Michael Cohen testifies today

Cohen detailed his conversations as he worked to obtain the non-disclosure portion of McDougal's agreement with AMI in September 2016. He reached a deal to pay the company $125,000, less than the $150,000 AMI paid McDougal. He said the difference was meant to account for work McDougal had done since the agreement was reached.

He formed an entity called Resolution Consultants LLC to handle the payment. A former AMI executive named David Rotstein set up an LLC of his own to receive the money on Pecker's behalf. The jury was shown chats and emails between Cohen and Rotstein discussing the nuts and bolts of the agreement.

Cohen testified that he understood that Trump was ultimately going to pay for the rights.

"I had no reason to own, no need to own, the life rights," he said. "What I was doing was for the benefit of Mr. Trump."

At the end of September, Pecker called Cohen and told him that he would no longer need to pay the $125,000. "The reason was that the Karen McDougal front cover of Men's Health magazine had sold more covers than" they had ever sold, Cohen recalled on the stand.

"He told me to rip it up, forget it," Cohen said, adding that Pecker told him that the material about Trump kept in a locked drawer at AMI wasn't "detrimental." 

Cohen answered questions about a recording he made of a conversation with Trump in September 2016, in which the two can be heard seemingly discussing buying the rights to McDougal's story from AMI. Cohen said it was the only time he had ever recorded his boss. 

He said he taped the conversation so he could play it back for Pecker, who was pressuring him to get Trump to repay him most of the $150,000. Cohen said Trump didn't know he was being recorded.

"I had my cellphone in my hand and I put it on voice memo — all Apple iPhones have it — and I hit record and I walked into Mr. Trump's office," Cohen testified, saying he sat across from him at his desk.

Prosecutors played the recording for the jury, who had already heard it earlier in the trial. Cohen can be heard saying, "I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David," an apparent reference to buying the rights to McDougal's story.

"So, what do we got to pay for this? 150?" Trump can be heard saying.

On the stand, Cohen said he needed to open an LLC to handle the payment "in order to have separation, to keep it away from Mr. Trump." He also said Trump suggested paying in cash, but "that's not what I thought would be a good way to do it."

The recording first came to light in July 2018, just weeks before Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the payments to Daniels and McDougal.

Cohen said he had lunch with Pecker in the fall of 2016, and he was angry about not being paid back for the McDougal deal. Cohen said he raised the issue with Trump on "several occasions" and Trump assured him he would pay. 

At one point, Cohen said he spoke with Trump about files AMI had about him. 

"David had expressed to me that, obviously the relationship with Trump goes back many, many years, and obviously there's a locked drawer, or a file drawer, where files that relate to Mr. Trump get stored," Cohen said. 

He recalled that Pecker was under consideration for a new position at Time, Inc. Cohen said he expressed to Trump that if Pecker left, then those papers would be left at AMI. He thought they may be "open for use" since they didn't know who would replace Pecker. 

Cohen said he discussed those concerns with Pecker, who said the files could be purchased and they would figure out a way for Cohen to "take control" of them.

Earlier in the trial, Pecker testified that Cohen contacted him in 2016 and said Trump wanted to acquire the rights to McDougal's account. When Pecker asked why, Cohen told him "the boss" wanted to control the story in case Pecker got "hit by a bus" or "the company got sold," according to Pecker.

Cohen ultimately reached an agreement with AMI to secure the rights to McDougal's story for $125,000, but the deal was never finalized.

In the summer of 2016, Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, was trying to sell her story about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump, which he denies. Her attorney, Keith Davidson, approached the National Enquirer about a deal that June.

Cohen said Pecker and Howard flagged the story to him. He said he thought it would have had a "significant" impact on Trump's campaign and that he told Trump about it "immediately."

"I told him about what I had just learned. I asked him if he knew who Karen McDougal was, if he knew about the story. His response to me was, 'She's really beautiful,'" Cohen remembered Trump saying. "OK, but right now there's a story that's being shopped."

"Make sure that it doesn't get released," Cohen said Trump told him.

Cohen said Pecker and Howard kept him updated on the negotiations with McDougal, and Cohen in turn told Trump about developments "frequently." 

Prosecutors showed a series of texts between Cohen and Keith Schiller, Trump's bodyguard, in June 2016. Cohen was asking Schiller if Trump was available to speak. Call logs showed a phone call with Schiller right after the texts. Cohen testified that the call was about "the updates that I received about the Karen McDougal matter."

Pecker called Trump while Cohen was in the room soon after, Cohen testified, and Trump put the call on speakerphone. 

"He asked him how things were going with the matter, and David said we have this under control and we will, we'll take care of this," Cohen said. "So David had stated that it's going to cost them $150,000 to control the story, to which Mr. Trump replied, 'No problem, I'll take care of it.'"

The deal was finalized in August. Cohen said he believed that "effectively the story has now been caught." He described Trump's reaction: "Fantastic. Great job."

Trump never paid back the $150,000 AMI put forward to secure the rights to McDougal's story, Pecker testified.

In the fall of 2015, Cohen said he heard that a former doorman at Trump Tower was trying to sell a negative story about Trump. The man, who was quickly shown to be lying, claimed that Trump fathered an illegitimate child with a maid at Trump Tower.

Cohen said he told Trump about the story and sought his guidance about what to do. 

"He told me to make sure that this story doesn't get out. 'You handle it,'" Cohen testified.  

Cohen said he worked with Pecker and Howard to obtain the rights to the story. The price was $30,000, paid by American Media Inc., the Enquirer's parent company. It was the first time the publication had ever decided to purchase a story about Trump, Pecker testified earlier. 

Trump's former attorney said he kept Trump updated as the terms of the deal were worked out. The purpose was to "take it off the market" and prevent another outlet from publishing the story, Cohen said, echoing a phrase Pecker also used under oath.

Cohen said he reviewed the contract with the doorman "to make sure Mr. Trump was fully protected, and so I could show the contract to Mr. Trump." He said Trump told him, "That's great."

Once Trump's presidential campaign got underway in 2015, Cohen met with Trump and David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, at Trump Tower in New York. 

Pecker testified earlier in the trial that it was in this meeting that he vowed to be Trump's "eyes and ears" and look out for negative stories before they were published. Prosecutors have portrayed the meeting as the beginning of a "catch and kill" scheme to buy up the rights to damaging stories about Trump so they never saw the light of day.

Cohen testified about what he remembered about the sit-down, saying the three discussed "the power of the National Enquirer, in terms of being located at the cash register of so many supermarkets and bodegas."

"If we could place positive stories about Mr. Trump, that would be beneficial. If we could place negative stories about some of the other candidates, that could also be beneficial," he said.

In the months following the meeting, the National Enquirer published salacious stories targeting Trump's rivals for the presidency. Cohen said Pecker or Dylan Howard, the tabloid's editor, would preview the stories for him.

"Some of the negative ones that I would receive from David or from Dylan Howard were, Hillary Clinton wearing very thick glasses. There were some allegations that she had some brain injury," Cohen testified.

Another linked Sen. Ted Cruz's father to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As Cohen described the article on the stand, Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance looked toward Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and they both laughed.

Cohen said he initially floated the idea of Trump running for president in 2011 after reading an article that cited a poll saying 6% of people thought Trump should seek the nation's highest office.

"It's interesting, we should look into it," Cohen recalled Trump saying.

Cohen said he created the website ShouldTrumpRun.com and attracted a lot of traffic. He said that served as proof that the real estate mogul held a lot of name recognition and popularity. 

He said that Trump ultimately decided not to run in 2011 due to large real estate projects and another upcoming season of NBC's "The Apprentice."

"As Mr. Trump told me, you don't leave Hollywood, Hollywood leaves you," Cohen said, adding that Trump promised to run in the next election cycle and in the years that followed they would talk about announcing a run in 2015.

Hoffinger asked Cohen if he had a particular way of referring to Trump. 

"Yes, I would call him 'Boss,'" Cohen said. It was a subtle but important detail: the jury has heard multiple references to Cohen and others calling Trump by that moniker.

Later, Hoffinger asked if it was fair to say Cohen was known as Trump's "fixer."

"It's fair," Cohen said.

The jurors have also heard repeatedly about how, at the very least, Cohen portrayed himself as filling that role for Trump.

Earlier in the trial, former Trump aide Hope Hicks recalled that the nickname was a source of frustration.

"I used to say that he liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix-It. But it was only because he first broke it that he was able to fix it," Hicks said.

Cohen reflected on his time working for Trump, saying it was "an amazing experience in many, many ways." Cohen said he enjoyed working with his colleagues at the Trump Organization, as well as with the Trump children. "It was a big family," he testified. Cohen said he felt "fantastic" and enjoyed the responsibilities he was tasked with.

During his tenure working for Trump, Cohen said that he lied and bullied people for the former president because it was needed to accomplish his tasks. 

"The only thing that was on my mind was to accomplish the task to make him happy," he said.

Cohen said he was never part of the general counsel's office at the Trump Organization and reported directly to Trump. As part of his work, he said he sometimes renegotiated bills.

"For example, a law firm would send an invoice. [Trump] didn't believe the invoice was fair, and so he would give me the task of renegotiating," Cohen remembered.

Another example involved Trump University, the now-defunct for-profit education company. Cohen recalled a point when the company's bills exceeded the $2 million it had in the bank, and it owed money to approximately 50 vendors.

"Trump was not going to fund the balance, so what I did was put them into a handwritten spreadsheet, and divided the $2 million, and came to approximately 20% of the invoice," he remembered. All but two vendors accepted the 20%, he said, noting that the other two "just went away" without being paid.

He also said he handled personal matters for Trump, including meeting with a driver when Trump's limousine was hit by a yellow cab. He also said he handled insurance adjustments when a flood impacted Trump's apartment bathroom.

Cohen said he spoke to Trump every day, and often multiple times per day, leading up to Trump running for president.

Questioning began with Cohen, 57, describing his upbringing and earlier career. He said he's been married for 30 years and has two adult children. 

"I really didn't want to be a lawyer. My grandma wanted me to be a lawyer," he said, laughing. "I wanted to go to Wall Street. My grandmother was like, that's not going to happen."

He said he began investing in taxi medallions in New York and invested in several new developments, including Trump properties. He said he was introduced to Trump by his son, Donald Trump Jr., after resolving a situation with the board at Trump World Tower.

Hoffinger asked him to identify Trump by saying an article of clothing he's wearing. Cohen tried to crane his neck around the judge's bench, but couldn't see him. He stood up to look at him.

"He's wearing a blue and white tie," Cohen said.

Early on in their relationship, he said he was asked to review a set of documents related to Trump Entertainment Resorts when he was working at another firm.

"I reviewed it, it was quite lengthy. There were some issues going on there with regards to a Chapter 11 reorganization plan. We ended up resolving it and the bill was approximately $100,000," he remembered. 

He said he then met with Trump, who offered him a job.

"I asked about the bill. He asked if I was happy at my sleepy old firm. I was. He said, 'Would you want to come work with me?'" Cohen testified. "I was honored. I was taken by surprise."

The bill wasn't paid, Cohen said.

"He asked if I wanted to get fired on the first day, if I asked about the bill," he said.

Once Trump made the offer, Cohen said he never went back to his old firm, even to retrieve his belongings. At the Trump Organization, his title was executive vice president and special counsel to Donald J. Trump. He said he was making more than half a million dollars in this position. 

The first witness as this trial enters its fifth week is Michael Cohen. Formerly Trump's right hand man, he's now the witness who could tie Trump to felonies and potentially play a crucial role in making the case against Trump.

He entered the courtroom wearing a navy blue suit and pink tie. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is leading the questioning for the district attorney's office.

The front two rows on the defense side of the gallery are reserved for Trump's entourage. Sometimes they're close to empty, with a few seats taken by Secret Service and aides such as Boris Epshteyn. 

Those rows are full today as the case's key witness — and a Trump nemesis — is called to the stand. 

Trump walked into the room frowning, followed by his son Eric, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, among others.

On the other side of the aisle, those two rows are also nearly full. They include Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He has not attended much of this trial, perhaps parts of five days — mostly making it a point to be in the room when his own staff was called to the stand.

One of the exhibits that were introduced last week and is expected to be a part of the trial today shows a series of tweets from Trump from six years ago. 

The tweets from May 3, 2018, came one day after Trump's newly hired attorney Rudy Giuliani admitted that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment. Here's what the tweets said:

"Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair, despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll (sic) in this transaction.

On Friday, for the first time, jurors saw in simple graphic form what this case really boils down to: 34 felony counts of falsification of business records. Each count correlates with a check, invoice or voucher depicting a 2017 monthly payment to Cohen as being for ongoing legal services. 

Prosecutors say each document covered up its true purpose, a monthly reimbursement installment for Cohen's "hush money" payment to Daniels — designed to prevent voters from ever finding out.

See the graphic shown to jurors here:

Trump has entered a not guilty plea and denies having had sex with Daniels.