Read the Text Messages At the Heart of Trump Defense Strategy to Discredit Michael Cohen on the Stand
(Elizabeth Williams via AP)
The text messages at the heart of star prosecution witness Michael Cohen’s “devastating” testimony Thursday in the Trump hush money trial are now public record.
NYU law professor Ryan Goodman, who has been following the hush money trial for CNN, posted to X, “Finally, the public can see the Schiller – Cohen text messages on October 24 2016 which became an issue in Thursday’s cross-examination.”
Finally, the public can see the Schiller – Cohen text messages on October 24 2016 which became an issue in Thursday’s cross-examination. https://t.co/NAa2FyvSCAhttps://t.co/8C1WDgTYdM
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 16, 2024
Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche used the records to accuse Cohen of lying about when he said he called Donald Trump to discuss paying off porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen previously testified that he called Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller, on Oct. 24, 2016, in order to speak with Trump about the $130,000 payment to Daniels. During cross-examination, however, Blanche questioned whether Cohen actually spoke to Trump at all that night.
Text messages Cohen exchanged with Schiller that night had to do with prank-calls Cohen said he was receiving from a teenager. He asked Schiller what he could do about it.
According to Blanche, Schiller texted back, asking Cohen to call him at 8:02 p.m.
“This is the call that you testified about on Tuesday that you had a conversation with President Trump,” Blanche said.
Cohen, who testified on Tuesday that he had called Schiller to speak with Trump, agreed. According to Blanche, Cohen texted Schiller the phone number of the prank caller at 8:04 p.m.
“Part of it was the 14-year-old, but I knew that Keith was with Trump at the time,” Cohen responded.
“That was a lie. You did not talk to President Trump that night,” Blanche said, growing animated, raising his voice. “You can admit it.”
“No sir, I can’t,” Cohen said. “Because I’m not sure that’s accurate.”
“That. Was. A. Lie,” Blanche said again moments later, pausing for effect between each word.
The two sets of text exchanges included Cohen’s conversation with the teenager, in which he threatened to involve the Secret Service, while another link showed Cohen’s discussion with Schiller.
One of the text message showed exactly when Schiller told Cohen to call him: 8:02 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2016.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig summed up Cohen’s testimony:
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a star cooperating witness get his knees chopped out quite as clearly and dramatically as what just happened with Michael Cohen,” Honig said Thursday. “I’ve certainly seen very effective cross-examinations of cooperating witnesses. I’ve seen aspects of their story cut into and called into question. But this goes to the heart of the allegation here. That phone call on October 24th, and it looks to the jury and to Anderson Cooper and Kara Scannell, Judge George Grasso, who are all in the courthouse, that that was a devastating moment.”
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to Daniels so she wouldn’t reveal their alleged affair. Cohen, Trump’s attorney and “fixer” at the time, said he brokered the deal and used his own cash to pay Daniels while waiting for Trump to pay him back.
