Trump criminal trial braces for Cohen testimony

NEW YORK – Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York was expected to hear his former lawyer turned tormentor Michael Cohen testify Monday (Tuesday in Manila) about his role in what prosecutors say was a cover up of payments to hide an affair.

Cohen’s testimony follows a bruising week for Trump in which adult film star Stormy Daniels gave toe-curling detail about their alleged sexual encounter which is at the heart of the case -- and bitterly denied by the presidential hopeful.

Daniels, who claims to have had sex with Trump in 2006, denied she threatened him if he did not buy her silence for $130,000, a payment that prosecutors say Trump then covered up.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer Cohen for the payment on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, when the story could have proved politically fatal.

The completion of Daniels’ marathon testimony and cross-examination this week clears the way for prosecutors to call Cohen, their remaining star witness.

But jurors have repeatedly heard from witnesses that Cohen was a difficult character who bullied and cajoled others to get his way, while the defense counsel have painted him as a pathological liar and convicted criminal.

The trial is taking place six months before the November election, when the Republican hopeful will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.