Former President Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to obtain a temporary restraining order against Stormy Daniels, the former attorney testified before a Manhattan jury on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger questioned Cohen about his work with attorney Larry Rosen to block Daniels from going public with her allegations on shows like "60 Minutes."
"Was that at Mr. Trump's direction to work with Larry Rosen to get a restraining order," the prosecutor asked Cohen.
Cohen testified that he was working at the behest of both the president and his son, Eric Trump. The restraining order was filed in California but Cohen said he had trouble actually serving the document because he didn't know Daniels' address.
"You're required to serve the [temporary restraining order] on the individual. I of course didn't have Stormy's address, so [Rosen, Cohen and others] tried to serve it to [Daniels' attorney] Keith Davidson," Cohen testified.
"Davidson said he is no longer representing her and then the lawyer Davidson said was representing her said he was no longer and then we learned that Michael Avenatti was going to be representing her going forward."
During Cohen's second day of testimony, he detailed much of the behind-the-scenes chaos that ensued in the aftermath of Daniels' allegations of an affair with the former president going public. As pressure on Trump ratcheted up, the president allegedly urged Cohen to remain loyal to him - even if it required lying to other parties.
Cohen alleged that Trump became directly involved with the reimbursement scheme at the center of the case, after he initially told Cohen to ""just take care of" Daniels' allegations.
Cohen remained loyal to the president during this period - even as Trump made it clear that he wanted his attorney to lie and refuse to cooperate with the government. The last time the pair spoke was shortly after the Federal Bureau of Investigations raided Cohen's New York hotel room in April 2018.
"Don't worry. I'm the president of the United States. There's nothing here," Trump allegedly told Cohen during their final conversation. "Everything's going to be OK. Stay tough. You're going to be OK."
