United States | Hush puppy

A mano-a-mano contest between Michael Cohen and Donald Trump

The hush-money trial hinges on the testimony of the former president’s former fixer

Court drawings of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen from the hush money trial.
Not his Roy CohnPhotograph: Reuters
|New York

Jurors heard the voice before they saw the man. And what a voice: pushy, impolite, pure Long Island. A fuhgeddaboudit accent. Sometimes boastful, sometimes defensive, sometimes self-pitying, always mouthy. Days before he appeared in court to testify against his ex-boss and sworn enemy, prosecutors played a recording of a phone call during which Michael Cohen sounded terribly sorry for Michael Cohen. Or as he complained to the guy on the other end of the line: “Nobody is thinking about Michael. You understand?”

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Hush puppy”

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From the May 18th 2024 edition

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