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Michael Cohen is expected to be a "principal witness" should former President Donald Trump stand trial after being indicted, according to Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis.
Cohen is the former Trump "fixer" and lawyer who pleaded guilty and served prison time for multiple crimes, including campaign finance violations for his role in hush money schemes to pay two women who claimed to have affairs with Trump. Payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels are at the center of Trump's indictment, although the exact charges are still unclear. It's also unclear if payments to a second woman, Karen McDougal, are also part of the indictment.
Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, told Meet the Press NOW on Friday that Cohen would be a key witness in a trial against Trump following the indictment. Cohen has said that Trump directed him to pay Daniels during the 2016 campaign.
"Everything that Michael Cohen has testified to is surrounded by documentation and corroboration. Everything," Davis said. "And if he’s a witness in this trial, he will be a principal witness but his role is not to persuade anyone that he’s telling the truth."
"Everything is backed up by multiple sources," Davis later added.
Trump is facing roughly 30 charges, but Davis did know the nature of those charges, which remain under seal. He did note the Daniels payments involved 11 separate checks.
Davis said determining whether Trump's payments were politically motivated will be a key question facing the future jury. Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina has argued that the payments were made with personal funds and not related to the campaign.
"Certainly waiting until the end of the election alone is an inference that there was political concern," Davis said. "There’s lots of testimony, lots of documentation about political motivation. If a jury says yes, he had some political motivation in making the payoff, if the law is there, that’s the verdict."