How Donald Trump and His Son Eric Reacted as Michael Cohen Spilled Secrets in Court: “Never Seen…”

Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump sat stone-faced and glared at Michael Cohen , Donald’s former attorney, as the latter took the stand and delivered a damning testimony against his former boss. Cohen portrayed the Trump Organization as a ‘big family’ where he would routinely lie and bully on Donald’s behalf to accomplish tasks to ‘make him happy.’ During the six-hour-long testimony, Cohen provided critical details linking Donald to an alleged illegal hush money payment made to adult film star, Stormy Daniels , in the final days of the 2016 presidential election, as per The Sun .

Cohen stated under oath that Donald instructed him to delay transferring the $130,000 payment until after the election. “If I win, it won’t matter,” Cohen alleged Donald said. He recalled Donald warning him before announcing his candidacy that there’s ‘going to be a lot of women coming forward.’ He claimed Donald feared the Daniels story could be disastrous for his chances with women voters, saying, “Women are going to hate me. This is a disaster.” Cohen testified that Donald told him to ‘get control’ of negative stories, which was the start of their ‘catch and kill’ scheme to bury damaging reports.

In vivid detail, Cohen described Donald as someone fixated on his political ambitions above anything else, including his family. After the explosive Access Hollywood tape surfaced, showing Donald making lewd comments about groping women, Cohen claimed Donald “…wasn’t thinking about Melania . This was all about the campaign…”

Cohen remained calm and composed on the stand as he made unambiguous admissions about lying for Donald. He asserted, “It was sometimes needed to accomplish a task.” The tension in the courtroom was palpable as Cohen recounted his decade-long unwavering loyalty and service to Donald that eventually curdled. He confessed that he felt ‘personally hurt’ when his Christmas bonus was slashed after the 2016 campaign despite taking a $130,000 hit to make the Daniels payment. After the election, Cohen said Donald finally approved a reimbursement plan. The reimbursement checks were fraudulently labeled as a legal ‘retainer’.

Throughout his testimony, Cohen depicted Donald as someone paranoid about email trails. “He knows too many people who have gone down as a direct result of having emails that prosecutors can use.” Having had enough, Eric defied courtroom decorum by lashing out at Cohen on social media, calling his testimony ‘rehearsed.’ Donald, too, vented his frustrations with reporters presented in the courthouse, especially with regards to the political climate.

After having a fallout with Donald, Cohen spent years unspooling their relationship through publications and Congressional testimony, before finally taking the stand in Manhattan. His motivation, Cohen suggested, was straightforward loyalty turned sour. “I enjoyed working with my colleagues at the Trump Organization , the Trump children. It was a big family.” But in the end, “there were great times and several not-great times,” he said, as per Yahoo! News .

This article originally appeared 7 months ago.