Five key moments from Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen's testimony

Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has delivered a sensational attack on the US president in evidence to Congress.

Mr Cohen has described the president as a "racist", a "conman" and a "cheat" in his testimony in Washington.

On the matter of racism, Cohen said the president made racist comments "disparaging African-Americans, saying at one point that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid."

Here are five key moments from Mr Cohen's testimony:

  • Cohen brands President Trump a "racist"

Michael Cohen says: "I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is.

"He is a racist. "He is a conman."He is a cheat."

President Trump's former lawyer adds: "Mr. Trump is a racist. The country has seen Mr. Trump court white supremacists and bigots. You have heard him call poorer countries "s***holes".

He said that in private Mr Trump is even worse: "He once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a 's***hole.' This was when Barack Obama was President of the United States," he said.

  • Cohen claims President Trump knew about the WikiLeaks drop

Cohen claims Donald Trump was told in advance that WikiLeaks planned to release emails damaging to Hilary Clinton's 2016 White House campaign.

President Trump's former lawyer said he was in Trump's office in 2016 when his adviser Roger Stone was called.

He said Stone told Trump he had just got off the phone with Julian Assange, who ran the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks group, and there would be a "massive dump" of emails harmful to the Clinton campaign.

Cohen's allegation would contradict the president's assertions he was in the dark on this issue.

It's not immediately clear what evidence Cohen has to support the allegation or how legally problematic it might be for Trump.

  • Cohen says Trump told him to pay off porn star he had affair with

The indictment relates to 'hush money' paid to Stormy Daniels (pictured), over an alleged affair she had with Donald Trump. Credit: AP

Cohen showed the committee a copy of the $130,000 wire transfer from him to Ms.Clifford (a former porn star) during the campaign.

He said he was directed by Trump to kill the story, but Trump denies the affair.

"Mr. Trump is a conman. He asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair, and to lie to his wife about it, which I did. Lying to the First Lady is one of my biggest regrets," he said.

Cohen added: "She is a kind, good person. I respect her greatly - and she did not deserve that."

  • Cohen said Trump ordered a fake bidder to hike the price of a portrait of him at auction

Cohen provided a copy of an article with Trump’s handwriting on it which reported on the auction of a portrait of him.

Mr Trump's ex-lawyer said he arranged for the bidder ahead of the auction and reimbursed the bidder from the account of Trump's non-profit charitable foundation, with the picture now hanging in one of his country clubs.

He said the objective was to ensure Mr Trump's portrait, which was going to be auctioned last, would go for the highest price of any portrait that afternoon.

  • Cohen reveals $35,000 cheque which he says Trump wrote to him to reimburse him for illegal hush money

"As Exhibit 5 to my testimony shows, I am providing a copy of a $35,000 cheque that President Trump personally signed from his personal bank account on August 1, 2017."

Cohen said this was when President Trump tried to cover up, "the illegal hush money I paid on his behalf".

He told members of Congress: "This $35,000 cheque was one of 11 cheque installments that was paid throughout the year - while he was President.

"The President of the United States thus wrote a personal cheque for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws."