Fireworks nearly exploded in court this week when Donald Trump’s defense attorney attempted to block key photo evidence from being presented to the jury overseeing the ex-president’s criminal hush-money trial, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a surprising development to come as Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand on Monday to continue his testimony against ex-President Trump, the already tense proceedings escalated when defense attorney Todd Blanche moved to block a photo of Trump with his bodyguard, Keith Schiller, from October 2016.
According to Maggie Haberman and Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times, the photo proved significant to the prosecution’s case because it directly corroborated parts of Cohen’s testimony regarding Trump’s alleged knowledge of the $130k hush money payment once made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
“The prosecutors have found pictures of Trump with his bodyguard Keith Schiller on Oct. 24, 2016, right around 7:57 PM,” Bromwich reported from inside the courtroom on Monday afternoon.
“The defense had sought to suggest that Michael Cohen had talked to Schiller that night instead of Trump, as Cohen originally testified,” the Times reporter continued. “Now, the prosecutors will fight to get this piece of evidence in, which shows that Cohen could have talked to both Schiller and Trump on the call, as he testified he did earlier today.”
“This evidence would go some way toward defanging an argument that Todd Blanche spent a lot of time on,” Bromwich reported further. “He suggested that Michael Cohen had lied about speaking to Trump on Oct. 24.”
“So it’s no wonder Blanche was fighting as hard as he could to keep this piece of evidence out.”
Although Judge Juan Merchan ultimately ruled against allowing the photo into evidence, the prosecution and Trump’s defense team later agreed to admit the photo under Cohen’s testimony – but not without a boisterous back-and-forth.
According to those inside the courtroom, Blanche’s voice “rose into a higher register as he argued his point” against initially allowing the photo of Trump and Schiller into evidence.
Blanche also reportedly complained about the prosecution’s motion regarding the photo.
"That's not the way a trial is supposed to work, judge," Blanche said shortly before agreeing to allow the photo into evidence.
As RadarOnline.com previously noted, the photo of Trump and Schiller was ultimately entered into evidence so that a new witness, C-SPAN executive Robert Browning, would not have to testify regarding the contents of the October 24, 2016 picture.
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As this outlet reported, the fireworks over the photo on Monday would also not be the first bombshell incident to unfold during Cohen’s most recent day of testimony.
Cohen raised eyebrows earlier during Monday’s proceedings when he admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization amid the suspected Stormy Daniels hush-money scheme.
"You stole from the Trump Organization, right?" Blanche asked Cohen regarding a $30k payment that was supposed to be made to Daniels in October 2016.
"Yes, sir," Cohen admitted.