Cohen’s time on the witness stand comes to close
Moments before it concluded, Cohen said: “Donald Trump spoke like a mob boss.”
Cohen’s comment was in reference to prior statements about Trump’s directives which the ex-president’s defense team has described as inconsistent.
Specifically, Trump’s team has honed in on Cohen’s testimony to Congress in which he appeared to say that his former boss didn’t tell him to inflate real estate valuations.
Cohen was asked in February 2019: “Did Mr Trump direct you or Mr Weisselberg to inflate the numbers for his personal statement?”
“Not that I recall, no,” Cohen said.
On re-direct, Cohen explained: “He did not specifically state ‘Michael, go inflate the numbers.
“As I’ve stated in my books and I’ve stated publicly, Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss,” Cohen said. Trump says what he wants without “specifically” saying.
“We understood what he wanted, so when they asked me, ‘Did Mr Trump direct you or Mr Weisselberg to inflate numbers for his personal statement?’ and I stated, ‘No, not that I recall,’ that’s what I was referring to.”
Court has wrapped for the day.
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Trump abruptly leaves courtroom
There was a bit more bizarre courtroom drama just now. Trump abruptly left the courtroom after Cohen’s cross-examination wrapped.
Faherty, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office, is now questioning Cohen on redirect. It’s unclear why Trump walked out of the courtroom.
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