What to know about Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen’s pivotal testimony in the hush money trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s hush money trial reached a pivotal moment Monday when Trump’s onetime loyal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, took the witness stand to testify against his former boss.

As the prosecution’s case enters its final stretch, Cohen is providing jurors with an insider’s account of hush money payments at the center of the trial — payments he says were directed by Trump to fend off damage to his 2016 White House bid.

Cohen is expected be on the stand for several days and face intense grilling by Trump’s attorneys, who have painted him as a liar who’s trying to take down the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

Here are some takeaways from Cohen’s testimony so far:

‘JUST DO IT’

Cohen tied Trump directly to the hush money scheme, recounting meetings and conversations with his then-boss about stifling negative stories in the waning weeks of the 2016 campaign.

“He expressed to me: Just do it,” Cohen said of the $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who was threatening to go public with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump decade earlier. Trump denies they ever had sex.

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