Jurors heard the voice earlier than they noticed the person. And what a voice: pushy, rude, pure Lengthy Island. A fuhgeddaboudit accent. Generally boastful, typically defensive, typically self-pitying, all the time mouthy. Days earlier than he appeared in courtroom to testify in opposition to his ex-boss and sworn enemy, prosecutors performed a recording of a telephone name throughout which Michael Cohen sounded terribly sorry for Michael Cohen. Or as he complained to the man on the opposite finish of the road: “No person is considering Michael. You perceive?”
Now everyone is considering Michael. The person who as soon as known as himself Donald Trump’s “thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer” is the star witness in Manhattan prosecutors’ case in opposition to the previous president. Solely Mr Cohen can straight tie Mr Trump to the charged crimes. On the stand he was measured and doleful: much less pit bull, extra basset hound. He adopted instructions. And he advised prosecutors precisely what they needed to listen to.
