Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Michael Cohen on the witness stand, Day 2

Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet

We begin today with Jose Pagliery of the Daily Beast and his review of Michael Cohen’s first day as a witness in the Trump election interference trial in lower Manhattan.

For hours, prosecutors matched verified paperwork to Cohen’s recounting of his covert catch-and-kill operation. When Cohen said his calls to Pecker kept dropping, TV screens in the courtroom showed screenshots of the encrypted phone app Signal’s logs. When Cohen recalled talking to Weisselberg, screens showed AT&T call records. When Cohen distinctly remembered checking in one last time with Trump on a Wednesday morning before heading to the bank, phone entries show two calls at 8:30 a.m.

Jurors began to see the full story coming together, one that might survive any ad hominem attacks against Cohen for being a convicted perjurer.

But it was a tiring exercise for Cohen, who by mid-afternoon looked like he’d had enough of reading the damning messages that would forever tie his fate to the former president. He donned his thin-framed glasses every time he read the computer screen in front of him, with the glasses hanging low on the bridge of his nose.

But jurors always perked up—with three consistently taking notes—anytime they heard about Trump’s alleged directives.

Direct examination of Michael Cohen by prosecutors continues today.