Michael Cohen's testimony against Donald Trump delivered for prosecution, if jury believes him

Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen delivered testimony crucial to the prosecution's case that Trump falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. According to Cohen, Trump knew about the $130,000 payment, directed it to benefit his 2016 campaign, and was deliberately reimbursing Cohen when he subsequently paid him $35,000 per month and recorded it as a legal expense.

"He approved it," Cohen told jurors, speaking about Trump.

But Trump and his allies have repeatedly argued Cohen is unreliable because he has been convicted and imprisoned for lying to Congress and to the Internal Revenue Service. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said Cohen submitted invoices that described “payment to the retainer agreement for legal services rendered," rather than a payment to Daniels.

"None of this was a crime," Blanche said.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide the campaign purpose of his reimbursements to Cohen.

Cohen provided details to support his testimony, and even a recording of him discussing a different hush money payment with Trump.

Jurors will have to decide whether they believe Trump’s or Cohen’s version of events − and who they believe will be key to how the verdict they reach.

Here are the key takeaways from Cohen's testimony:

'He approved it': Cohen on Trump approving payment to Stormy Daniels

Prosecutors are trying to prove Trump falsified business records to hide his reimbursements to Cohen because Daniels' claim of a sexual encounter could have hurt his chances in the 2016 election.

“Cohen was not being paid for legal services,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in his opening statement. “The defendant was paying him back for an illegal payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election. The defendant falsified those business records because he wanted to conceal his and others' criminal conduct.”

Cohen testified that he created a shell company called Essential Consultants to pay $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep silent about her claim of a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 while he was married. Cohen described complex arrangements to avoid having Trump’s name on any documentation of the payment.

Cohen testified that he discussed with Trump and Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, about how to arrange his reimbursement for a total of $420,000, including the payment to Daniels, taxes and other fees. The discussion is a key element of the case because prosecutors need to show not only that the records were false but that Trump had an intent to defraud.

In Trump's presence, Weisselberg said during the meeting that $35,000 would be repaid monthly as a retainer for legal services, Cohen testified. A legal retainer is an agreement with a lawyer about compensation that reserves a lawyer or pays for future services.

Weisselberg is not expected to testify because he is jailed for perjury for lying during Trump’s New York civil fraud trial.

Cohen also provided a recording of Trump on Sept. 6, 2016, discussing a $150,000 payment to silence former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claimed a sexual relationship with Trump. The National Enquirer’s parent company paid McDougal to kill her story and sought reimbursement from the Trump Organization. Cohen described to Trump, who already knew the figure was $150,000, how the payment would be financed,

'A disaster for the campaign': Trump's description, according to Cohen

Cohen testified that Trump pursued the nondisclosure agreement to avoid negative publicity before the pending election.

"Women are gonna hate me," Cohen recalled Trump saying of a potential story about Daniels. "Guys may think it's cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign."

Cohen said Trump was concerned about the election rather than about his wife finding out about the accusation.

"He wasn't thinking about Melania," Cohen said. "This was all about the campaign."

The payment to Daniels came after the Washington Post released a recording in October 2016 of Trump talking about grabbing women by their genitals. Cohen said he was feeling pressure to silence Daniels to avoid her giving her story to the Daily Mail.

"Just do it," Cohen said Trump told him.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, testified that she sought the payment before the election because she was skeptical Trump would pay after he had either won or lost.

Trump instructed Cohen to try to delay paying Daniels until after the election because if he won, the story would have “no relevance” and “if I lose, I wouldn’t care,” Cohen testified.

Cohen critical of Trump and his lawyers

Under cross-examination, Cohen confirmed he has been harshly critical of Trump before and during the trial.

Cohen told Blanche he said Trump belongs in a "cage, like an animal."

Cohen also acknowledged that he has been making podcasts − six days a week − that often criticize Trump. Blanche asked Cohen to confirm he went on TikTok and called Blanche a "crying little s---," which he did.

Asked if he said on TikTok he would like to see Trump convicted, Cohen said that sounded right.

"I would like to see accountability. It's not for me – it's for the jury and this court," Cohen added.

Trump contends payments were 'legal expenses to Cohen, not Daniels

Trump has argued his payments to Cohen were for a legal retainer and that he didn’t know Cohen was paying Daniels.

“I paid a lawyer a certain amount of money. We marked it down as a legal expense,” Trump told reporters Tuesday before entering the courtroom. “I didn’t mark it down as a construction of a wall, construction of a building. I didn’t mark it down as electricity cost. I took a legal expense – I didn’t do it, a bookkeeper did it, she did it exactly right – took a legal expense and called it a legal expense. This is the whole case.”

Cohen looking for 'revenge': House Speaker Johnson

Cohen served time in federal prison for lying to Congress, tax evasion and for a campaign-finance violation for his role in the hush money payment.

Trump and his allies repeatedly attacked Cohen as a convicted liar, disbarred for his crimes, although Judge Juan Merchan ordered Trump not to comment on witnesses during the trial.

“This is a man who is clearly on a mission for personal revenge and who is widely known as a witness who has trouble with the truth,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday outside the courthouse. “He has a history of perjury and is well known for it. No one should believe a word he says today.”

Cohen acknowledged on Tuesday that he filed false invoices to claim the $35,000 payments from the Trump Organization.

Another Trump surrogate, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told reporters Tuesday that Cohen invoiced legal expenses and the Trump Organization paid them.

“Where is the crime? There is no crime,” Donalds said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Michael Cohen said and what it means in Donald Trump's trial