Michael Cohen has said that Donald Trump wanted a story about his alleged affair with pornstar Stormy Daniels buried until after his 2016 election campaign.
Addressing jurors on his first day of testimony at the former President’s “hush money” criminal trial, Mr Cohen said that Mr Trump believed that the publication of the story would be catastrophic for his campaign.
Mr Cohen, who worked as a fixer and lawyer for Mr Trump, is the prosecution’s star witness as the trial enters its fifth week in New York state criminal court in Manhattan.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Trump falsified internal business records to cover up hush money payments that Mr Cohen made as part of efforts to buy and bury stories that might hurt the former president's 2016 campaign.
Among these alleged payments is a £104,000 transfer to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet after the pair’s alleged affair.
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of fraud and denies having any sexual encounter with Ms Daniels.
During the trial on Monday, Mr Cohen said that Mr Trump instructed him to push the story “as long as you can, past the election, because if I win, I’ll be president, and if I lose, I wont really care”.
"He said to me, 'This is a disaster, a total disaster. Women are going to hate me,' Mr Cohen testified.
“'Guys, they think it's cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.'"
In hours of dramatic testimony, Mr Cohen said that Mr Trump had personally approved the hush money payment, telling him: “Just do it.”
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He told jurors that he had learned that Ms Daniels was selling her story at a critical moment for Mr Trump's White House bid, after the release of an audio recording from the TV show "Access Hollywood" in which Mr Trump bragged about grabbing women's genitals.
He also denied claims that Mr Trump wanted the story to be buried to avoid embarassing his wife Melania.
“He wasn’t thinking about Melania. It was all about the campaign,” he said.
Mr Cohen also admitted that he had to lie on Mr Trump’s behalf.
Asked if he had to bully people for Mr Trump, he responded: “Again, in order to accomplish a task. The only thing on my mind was [to] accomplish a task to make him happy.”
Mr Cohen said that Mr Trump asked to be updated immediately on developments after assigning him with a task.
"When he would task you with something, he would then say, 'Keep me informed. Let me know what's going on,"' Mr Cohen testified.
He added that was especially true "if there was a matter that was troubling to him."
"If he learned of it in another manner, that wouldn't go over well for you," Mr Cohen said.
Mr Cohen, 57, worked for the Trump Organisation from 2006 to 2017 as Mr Trump's lawyer and fixer.
He broke with Mr Trump after the FBI raided his office, apartment and hotel room in 2018 and has been a fierce critic of the former President ever since.
Mr Trump’s lawyers have attacked Mr Cohen’s credibility as a witness, calling him an untrustworthy liar in their opening statement.
In 2018, Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law by paying off Ms Daniels and testified that Mr Trump directed him to make the payment.
Federal prosecutors did not charge Mr Trump with any crime.
Mr Trump’s lawyers have told jurors that Mr Cohen acted independently when he made the payment to Ms Daniels.
The case is among several legal battles being fought by Mr Trump and his team ahead of a widely expected presidential run later this year.
The other cases charge Mr Trump with trying to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat and mishandling classified documents after leaving office. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to all three.
