NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen on Monday directly implicated Donald Trump in a hush money scheme.

During testimony, Cohen told jurors Trump commissioned him on several occasions to stifle stories about sex, stories Trump feared could torpedo his 2016 presidential campaign.

“Stop this from getting out,” Cohen quoted Trump as telling him in reference to actor Stormy Daniels’ account of a sexual encounter with Trump.

A similar episode occurred when Cohen alerted Trump that a Playboy model alleged she and Trump had an extramarital affair. The order was clear: “Make sure it doesn’t get released,” Cohen said Trump told him.

The woman, Karen McDougal, was paid $150,000 in a hush-money arrangement made after Trump was given a “complete and total update on everything that transpired.”

“What I was doing was at the direction of and benefit of Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified, later adding: “Everything required Mr. Trump’s sign-off.”

Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is the Manhattan district attorney’s most important witness in the case, and his appearance on the stand signaled the trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they could wrap their presentation of evidence by week’s end.

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