Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump's lawyer and fixer, expected to take the witness stand against the former president next week

Key witness Michael Cohen is one of two final people expected to testify for the prosecution at the hush money trial of ex-President Donald Trump next week, prosecutors said Friday, signaling that the end of the historic trial is in sight.

Trump's personal attorney and fixer turned sworn enemy, Cohen, a Lawrence native, is expected to take the jury inside what prosecutors have said was a conspiracy between the men and a tabloid publisher to pay off women who allegedly had sexual encounters with Trump in order to keep the stories of his affairs from hurting his chances at winning the 2016 presidential election.

The prosecution told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan M. Merchan Friday it could rest its case as early as the end of next week.

Trump's lead defense attorney Todd Blanche asked Merchan to order Cohen, who has been vocally critical of Trump on social media — including Cohen wearing a T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars on the social media application TikTok recent, according to Blanche — to keep quiet about the case until he completes his testimony.

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said he has repeatedly asked witnesses in the case to refrain from commenting on the trial, but has little power to force the issue.

“I would direct the people [prosecutors] to tell Cohen that the judge asks that he not comment,” Merchan said from the bench Friday after testimony concluded for the day in the early afternoon.

Trump, the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, is on trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who testified earlier this week that she had a sexual encounter with Trump and later signed a nondisclosure agreement that prohibited her from speaking about it.

Prosecutors have said Trump directed the hush money payment to Daniels just weeks before the 2016 presidential election in order to prevent the story of their liaison from going public — and hurting his chances at becoming president.

It was amid the backdrop of the October 2016 release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” recording, in which Trump bragged about grabbing women by the genitals, that Trump acted to silence Daniels, who could have dealt his campaign a death blow if her story came out before voters began casting ballots, prosecutors have alleged.

Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and called the case a politically-motivated witch hunt. His lawyers have said he is innocent.

Prosecutors also said Trump directed hush money payments to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, who said she had an affair with Trump, and a door attendant who peddled a false story about Trump having a baby outside of his marriage. Trump is only charged with respect to the Daniels payment.

Earlier Friday, former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout finished her testimony. She had testified about an email she sent to Cohen on Feb. 5, 2017, to confirm an upcoming meeting at the White House. Prosecutors have said Trump and Cohen finalized the repayment plan for the hush money payments at that meeting.

The jury also heard from a pair of record custodians, Daniel Dixon of AT&T and Jennie Tomalin of Verizon, who confirmed the authenticity of various phone calls and electronic messages, which are part of the prosecution's case.

Cohen's testimony would come at the tail end of the trial, which has heard from a series of characters including Daniels; her attorney Keith Davidson; David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher; and Hope Hicks, who was White House communications director and press secretary under Trump.

Those witnesses testified about their dealings with Cohen, apparently part of a prosecution strategy to corroborate his testimony before he even takes the stand.

Lambasted as a liar by Trump, his former right-hand man was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to taking part in the efforts to payoff Daniels, McDougal and a door attendant in an effort to help Trump win the presidency.

Cohen also pleaded guilty in 2018 to perjury before Congress.

Trump's defense is expected to conduct a prolonged cross-examination of Cohen in an attempt to paint him as a liar and serial perjurer whose account cannot be believed.

Cohen set up two shell companies — Essential Consultants LLC and Resolution Consultants LLC — and funded the companies through a home equity line of credit to launder the payments to the women, according to trial testimony.