He said he later spoke with Trump, who advised him to try to “get control over the story” and “minimize its impact.”
“The spin that he wanted put on it was that this is locker room talk, something that Melania had recommended, or at least he told me that’s what Melania had thought, and use that in order to take control over the story to minimize its impact over him and his campaign,” Cohen said in court on Monday, according to Newsweek.
Speaking to CNN in 2016, Melania Trump acknowledged that her husband’s language in the tape was inappropriate but claimed he had been “egged on” by then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush to get involved in “boy talk.”
Justice Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over the case, previously said he found the tape “relevant to the critical issues” in the case, including the prosecution’s contention that it helps establish Trump’s intent and motive for making and concealing a hush-money arrangement at the heart of the case. However, he sided with Trump’s lawyers, in deciding that playing it could be unduly prejudicial.
Cohen’s testimony on Monday also implicated the former president in a hush money scheme, telling jurors that his celebrity client approved hefty payouts to stifle stories about sex that he feared could be harmful to his 2016 White House campaign, AP reports.
“You handle it,” Cohen quoted Trump as telling him after learning that a doorman had come forward with a claim that Trump had fathered a child out-of-wedlock. The Trump Tower doorman was paid $30,000 to keep the story “off the market” even though the claim was ultimately deemed unfounded.
A similar episode occurred after Cohen alerted Trump that a Playboy model was alleging that she and Trump had an extramarital affair. Again, the order was clear: “Make sure it doesn’t get released,” Cohen said Trump told him.
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