Michael Cohen on deck as Trump prosecutors say they could rest case next week

Prosecutors
said
Friday
that
they
plan
to
call
only
two
more
witnesses
in

Donald
Trump‘s
criminal
trial,
and
they
could
rest
their
case
by
the
end
of
next
week.

One
of
those
final
two
witnesses
will
be
Trump’s
former
lawyer
Michael
Cohen,
who
is
reportedly
expected
to
begin
testifying
Monday.

Cohen’s
late-2016
hush
money
payment
to
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels
is
at
the
heart
of
the
historic
trial
in
Manhattan
Supreme
Court.

Late
in
the
day,
Trump’s
attorneys
complained
to
Judge
Juan
Merchan
that
Cohen
is
regularly
insulting
his
former
boss
on
social
media,
but
the
ex-president
is
prohibited
from
responding
because
of
a
gag
order
that
bars
Trump
from
talking
about
witnesses
in
the
trial.

“It’s
becoming
a
problem
every
single
day
that
President
Trump
is
not
allowed
to
respond,”
defense
lawyer
Todd
Blanche
told
Judge
Juan
Merchan
after
the
jury
left
for
the
day.

Lead
prosecutor
Joshua
Steinglass
said
the
District
Attorney’s
office
has
asked
Cohen
and
other
witnesses
not
to
speak
about
the
ongoing
trial.
But
ultimately,
they
cannot
control
the
witnesses’
speech.

Merchan
told
the
prosecutors
to
explain
to
Cohen
that
the
judge
is
asking
him
to
refrain
from
publicly
discussing
the
case.
Steinglass
said
he
would
convey
the
message
to
Cohen.

Merchan
already
rejected
a
request
by
Trump
on
Thursday
to
revise
the
gag
order
so
the
former
president
could
publicly
attack
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels
after
she
finished
testifying.

“My
concern
is
protecting
the
integrity
of
the
proceedings
as
a
whole,”
Merchan
said,
explaining
his
rationale
for
refusing
the
request.

Merchan
has
already
held
Trump
in
contempt
of
court
10
times
for
violating
the
gag
order.

Friday’s
testimony
featured
Madeleine
Westerhout,
a
former
top
Oval
Office
operations
aide
who
had
an
up-close
view
of
how
Trump
operated
in
the
White
House.

Westerhout
testified
that
Trump
was “very
upset”
when
the
$130,000
hush
money
payment
to
Daniels
first
became
a
major
news
story
in
2018.

“The
whole
situation
was
very
unpleasant,”
Westerhout
said
during
cross-examination
by
an
attorney
for
Trump.

Westerhout
said
she
spoke
with
Trump
at
that
time
about
Daniels,
who
says
she
had
sex
with
Trump
in
2006
at
a
celebrity
golf
tournament
in
Lake
Tahoe.

Trump “was
very
upset
about
it,”
Westerhout
recalled.

“My
understanding
is
that
he
knew
it
would
be
hurtful
to
his
family,”
she
said.
Trump
was
married
to
his
wife,
Melania
Trump,
at
the
time
the
alleged
one-night
stand
occurred.

Defense
attorneys
have
tried
to
undermine
the
prosecution’s
argument
in
the
case,
saying
that
the
hush
money
payment
to
Daniels
was
meant
to
help
Trump’s
2016
presidential campaign.

They
argue
that
Trump was
also
concerned
about
how
the
sex
story
would
affect
his
wife
and
children.

On
Thursday,
Westerhout
testified
about
Trump’s
work
habits
in
the
White
House,
and
she
confirmed
a
list
of
high-profile
contacts
that
was
compiled
for
Trump
in
2017.
The
contact
list
included “SNL”
producer

Lorne
Michaels,
NFL
quarterback

Tom
Brady
and
tennis
great
Serena
Williams.

Also
listed
were
ex-tabloid
publisher
David
Pecker
and
Trump’s
former
lawyer,
Michael
Cohen.
The
two
men
are
at
the
center
of
Manhattan
prosecutors’
case,
in
which
Trump
is
charged
with
falsifying
business
records
about
hush
money
payments
as
part
of
a
scheme
to
influence
the
2016
presidential
election.

Westerhout
painted
a
flattering
portrait
of
Trump,
praising
his
work
ethic
and
his
relationship
with
his
wife.
She
cried
while
describing
how
she
was

fired
from
her
job
in
2019
after
criticizing
members
of
Trump’s
family
at
a
dinner
with
reporters.

Her
portrayal
of
Trump
as
a
devoted
husband
cut
sharply
against
the
testimony
of
Daniels,
who
graphically
detailed
her
sexual
encounter
with
Trump
over
seven
hours
of
testimony
on
Thursday.