new york
CNN
—
Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial on Monday followed up on documents at the heart of the case, revealing that Michael Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels in 2017 and that Trump He revealed to jurors exactly how the repayments were made from trusts and personal accounts.
Testimony from two longtime Trump Organization employees who were involved in repaying Cohen in 2017 helped prosecutors zero in on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
But before prosecutors could present any key evidence, Judge Juan Melchán explicitly warned that if the former president violated the gag order again in the case, he would be sent to prison.
And at the end of the day Monday, the New York District Attorney’s Office hinted at the broader picture, telling the judge they estimated they had about two weeks left of testimony in their case.
Here are the highlights from the 12th day of the Trump hush money trial:
Marchan announced at the beginning of Monday’s deliberations that he had found Trump in contempt for the 10th violation of the gag order, after prosecutors fined him last week for nine violations. Each violation cost him a $1,000 fine, the maximum allowed under New York state law.
Although the judge only fined Trump for one violation on Monday, he felt it was enough to issue a stern warning that he would go to jail if he didn’t stop.
“Mr. Trump, it’s important that you understand that the last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Marchand told President Trump.
The judge continued: “I was aware that such a sanction would have far-reaching implications.” The magnitude of such decisions is not unilateral. ” But the judge said his job was to “protect the dignity of the judicial system and enforce respect.”
“Your continued violation of the legal orders of this court threatens to obstruct the administration of justice with constant attacks that constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. This cannot continue,” Marchan said. Told. “I do not want to impose a prison sentence and have done everything I can to avoid it, but I want you to understand that I will do so if necessary and appropriate.”
Mr. Trump looked at Mr. Marchand as he spoke, but shook his head when the court produced a paper copy of the judge’s order.
The gag order prohibits President Trump from commenting on witnesses, court officials or jurors. President Trump has not been charged with violating the gag order in the days since his second trial before a judge. But if prosecutors ultimately bring up other violations before the trial is over, Marchand will have to make a major decision.
Jurors review checks, invoices, and ledgers that are central to the indictment
Testimony from two witnesses Monday was important because jurors saw documents that prosecutors say were doctored to pay Cohen back for hush money paid to Daniels.
Former Trump organization. Controller Jeffrey McConey testified that he processed a $35,000 bill for Cohen as reimbursement for $130,000 in hush money. Mr. McConney acknowledged that the Trump Organization receives monthly emails containing a $35,000 invoice from Mr. Cohen. What was charged was “litigation costs.”
He also acknowledged sending the invoice to the Trump Organization. Deborah Tarasoff, an accounts payable employee, cuts the check.
“Please pay from the trust. I will transfer it to Legal Expenses. Please write ‘January and February 2017 Retainer’ in the description,” Mr. Maconie wrote in an email to Mr. Tarasoff in February 2017. Ta.
03:27 – Source: CNN
‘It’s really extraordinary’: CNN reporter explains judge’s threat against Trump
Tarasoff later testified that he cut checks from Trump’s personal account and sent them to Washington, D.C., for Trump to sign at the White House.
Jurors saw invoices, company books and vouchers, and the checks themselves, which were paid by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust for the first three months and by Trump’s personal account for the last nine months. paid from the account.
Prosecutors noted that each payment came from the Trump Organization’s “51505” account, which stands for legal fees, even though Mr. Cohen was paid hush money.
These records are part of the indictment against Trump, which accuses him of “making and causing false entries in corporate business records” through checks, invoices, vouchers and bookkeeping entries used to repay Cohen. He was linked to 34 charges.
McConney and Tarasoff’s testimony may have been dryer than what jurors learned about the world of tabloids and celebrity scandals from David Pecker and Keith Davidson, but Trump This is what jurors should hear when considering his fate.
Jurors saw handwritten notes written by former Trump Organization members. In January 2017, CFO Allen Weisselberg and McConney calculated payments to Cohen totaling $420,000.
Mr. Weisselberg’s calculations were handwritten directly on an October 2016 bank statement for Essential Consultants (Coens LLC), which included a hush-money settlement with an adult film star to cover up an affair. Also included was a related $130,000 wire statement from Stormy Daniels to her then-attorney Davidson. . (President Trump has denied the relationship between the two.)
McConney explained to the jury a calculation that included a $50,000 reimbursement for technology services and a $130,000 wire transfer, taking into account taxes on that money. “The total amount has been increased to $360,000,” the statement said.
The former administrator also acknowledged that expense reimbursements were not taxable income, so it didn’t make sense to account for them that way.
The $420,000 also included a $60,000 bonus for Cohen, to be paid in monthly installments of $35,000.
Mr. McConney did not connect the $130,000 line item on his bank statement to the hush-money transaction and had no details about his plans to repay Mr. Cohen, but Mr. Cohen still needs to be repaid. I only testified that it was.
McConney, like several other trial witnesses who have testified so far, knocked Cohen several times on the witness stand. When Mr. McConney was asked in 2017 whether Mr. Cohen was a lawyer, he sarcastically replied, “Sure,” and “I understand.”
In cross-examination, Trump’s lawyer Emile Bove distanced himself from pursuing Trump on the dossier, saying McConney had never spoken to Trump about the structure of restitution payments to Cohen. confirmed.
President Trump’s longtime treasurer testified that he was not kept informed of Trump’s conversations with his former boss, Mr. Weisselberg. He agreed with the position that he may be asked to do something that he does not know.
Trump organization. The company is paying Mr. McConney’s legal fees, but he retired last year after working for Mr. Trump’s company for about 45 years.
02:12 – Source: CNN
Let’s take a look at what prosecutors have to prove to convict Trump
Tarasov testifies to Trump’s checks (signed (Sharpie) and unsigned)
Tarasoff, who still works in accounts payable, testified that he doesn’t necessarily sign checks that Trump writes. She said on stage Monday afternoon that President Trump could void checks with his signature black Sharpie.
“If I didn’t want to sign it, I wouldn’t have signed it,” Tarasov said.
Under cross-examination, Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche told Tarasoff that he was not present during the conversation between Weisselberg and Trump. She did not have Mr. Trump’s permission to issue the check addressed to Mr. Cohen, which was shown in court, and she has no idea what happened with the check. The check after she mailed it to the White House.
However, she received them in the signed mail and paid Cohen.
Throughout much of the first two weeks of testimony, Trump frequently leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and appeared to ignore discussions about his alleged affair and hush money payments.
But on Monday, he struck a different pose while sitting in the defendant’s chair.
As Mr. Trump testified, he kept his eyes on Mr. McConney and Mr. Tarasoff, observing them more closely than most previous witnesses. Both witnesses have worked for Mr. Trump for decades, and Mr. Tarasoff still works for the Trump Organization. And their testimony focused on President Trump’s business, rather than topics he probably doesn’t want to hear about.
Trump smiled as McConney recalled how Trump once jokingly told him, “You’re fired,” after McConney submitted a report showing a decrease in cash balances.
“He said, ‘No, focus on my bill. Negotiate my bill. Look at my bill.’ That was a teachable moment,” McConney explained. did.
As Trump’s lawyer, Branch, began his cross-examination of the Trump Organization, Trump turned his back completely in his chair and watched Tarasoff’s testimony. She and the accounts payable employee explained that the Trump Organization was committing fraud. It was like a “family run business”.
Eric Trump, who is still the head of the Trump Organization, and Alina Haba, a lawyer who represented the Trump Organization. Employees from last fall’s civil fraud trial, including McConney, also appeared in court Monday.
Returning to the stand Monday afternoon after a break, Tarasoff gently patted Eric Trump on the knee as he passed by.
