Donald Trump's former fixer says he acted "at the direction of and benefit of Mr Trump" when he arranged hush money payments.
A similar episode occurred after Cohen alerted Mr Trump that a Playboy model was alleging that she and Mr Trump had an extramarital affair.The woman, Karen McDougal, was paid $US150,000 in a hush money arrangement made after Mr Trump was given a "complete and total update on everything that transpired".The prosecution's key witness comes with risks
In addition, it could be a boon to Mr Trump politically as he raises money off his legal woes and paints the case as the product of a tainted criminal justice system.
Cohen gave jurors an insider account of his negotiations with David Pecker, the then-publisher of the National Enquirer, and the newspaper's top editor about suppressing stories harmful to Mr Trump, an effort that took on added urgency following the October 2016 disclosure of an Access Hollywood recording in which Mr Trump was heard boasting about grabbing women sexually.
To lay the foundation that the deals were done with Mr Trump's endorsement, prosecutors elicited testimony from Cohen — who spent a decade as a Trump Organization senior executive — designed to show Mr Trump as a hands-on manager on whose behalf Cohen said he sometimes lied and bullied others, including reporters.