Morning Must Reads: January 27

CNN's Jake Tapper speaks with Will Scharf, a lawyer for Trump not engaged in the case, and George Conway regarding Michael Cohen's testimony on Trump's hush money case. Scharf argues that the evidence doesn't prove Trump committed any wrongdoing.

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers. Harris was participating in a conversation moderated by actor and comedian Jimmy O. Yang when he asked her what it means to be the first vice president of Asian descent and how that heritage has informed her views and roles as a leader.

(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen, directly implicated the former president in a hush money scheme Monday, telling jurors that his celebrity client tasked him on several occasions to stifle stories about sex that he feared could torpedo his 2016 presidential campaign. “Stop this from getting out,” Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, quoted Trump as telling him in reference to porn actor Stormy Daniels’ account of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] A similar episode occurred when Cohen alerted Trump that a Playboy model was alleging that she and Trump had an extramarital affair.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston will launch a new office within city government focused on neighborhood safety — one that will be independent from the city’s police force and its safety department. The concept announced by the mayor Monday is one that minority communities and progressives long have pushed for. The Johnston administration’s plan calls for creating the Denver Office of Neighborhood Safety at no additional cost to a city that already has had to make some tough budget decisions in 2024 to support its response to the migrant crisis. In the next eight to 12 weeks, the city will relocate 65 city positions from the Denver Department of Public Safety to the umbrella of the new office.

Fox News host Arthel Neville pointed out that the defense will have a difficult time discrediting Michael Cohen in Donald Trump's hush money trial because he "was covering up" for the former president. During a Sunday discussion on Fox News, trial attorney Bryan Rotella explained how Trump's defense team would attack Cohen when he takes the stand this week. "They're going to say you can't trust anything that this guy has said," he pointed out.

MAGA Republican candidate for Arizona Senate seat claimed (with no proof, of course) that as of Sunday, she would lose her Senate race because of election fraud perpetrated by migrants being able to vote illegally. This is false, but Lake lives and dies over her frivolous election fraud claims. Lake tries to hone in on her latest conspiracy.