Prosecutor presents Michael Cohen with refund check
Prosecutor Christopher Conroy showed jurors a check stub and one check from Michael Cohen’s monthly payments of $35,000.
This is the first time a check for this part of the plan has been presented during the trial. Cohen’s checks were for $70,000 for January and February 2017, or $35,000 each month.
The check signatures are Eric Trump on the top and Allen Weisselberg on the bottom. The payment description states that they were vassals.
Could Trump really go to jail for violating a gag order?
If Trump continues to test the patience of the judge presiding over his hush money trial, experts said today that the former president could return to prison in his home borough of Queens, New York City, particularly Rikers Island.
Judge Juan Machan today found that President Trump had once again violated a gag order that prohibits disrespecting witnesses or jurors, and further violations could result in the former president being sentenced to prison “if necessary.” I was warned that there would be.
Machan did not specify which prison. But when asked what would happen if a judge sends Trump to Rikers, the prison’s chief spokesman, Frank Dwyer, said, “The prison will find him a suitable home.”
Read the full text here.
If Trump doesn’t want to approve the check, he’ll write it “void” and send it back.
Deborah Tarasoff said Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney, Trump and the Justice Department have the authority to approve the expenses.
However, Weisselberg cannot approve invoices beyond a certain dollar threshold, she said. Anything over $10,000 would have required approval from Trump, Don Jr. or Eric Trump.
This is important because each installment to Cohen was well over $10,000. They were $35,000 each.
Mr. Tarasoff agreed that the signature on the check was the final approval of the invoice. In other words, if Trump didn’t want to sign the check, he didn’t have to. In such a situation, Mr. Trump wrote “void” on a black Sharpie and sent it back.
Prosecutors call Deborah Tarasoff as next witness
Prosecutor Christopher Conroy called Deborah Tarasoff as his next witness. She is an accounts payable supervisor who worked with Jeffrey McConney at the Trump Organization. She remains in the Trump organization. She was an employee, she testified.
according to just securityTarasoff “allegedly prepared checks to be used to reimburse Cohen and falsely recorded them as ‘legal expenses’ on the organization’s books.”
She testified that she joined the Trump Organization in 2000 and has worked there for 24 years. She works on the 26th floor of Trump Tower.
After the controller’s testimony, the court adjourned for lunch.
Former air traffic controller McConney has finished testifying, and the court is currently on a lunch break.
President Trump’s lawyer asks McConney if it is necessary to draw up a retainer agreement
President Trump’s lawyer Emile Bove asked McConney to confirm that legal representation agreements do not have to be in writing, just as he asked former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. I asked Mr.
Mr. Trump’s legal team’s defense appears to be, at least in part, that Mr. Cohen actually received financial compensation for his legal services.
Mr. Bove also used IRS 1099 forms sent to Mr. Cohen to suggest that Mr. Cohen did in fact pay for the legal services. This is also a consistent defensive theme.
Trump lawyer asks McConney about Michael Cohen’s taxes
President Trump’s lawyer Emile Bove asked Mr. McConney if he knew how Michael Cohen handled his tax payments.
“I don’t know,” McConney said, admitting he didn’t know whether Cohen paid anything.
The Trump campaign pressured McConney to testify about Cohen’s legal activities.
Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, is cross-examining Mr. McConney and is pressuring Mr. Cohen to testify about his actual legal work at the Trump Organization.
Mr. Bove asked, “Cohen was a lawyer during that period, right?” Mr. McConney, who seemed to have bad feelings toward Cohen, replied, “Okay.”
Bove acknowledged an email that was part of Exhibit 37c discussing the foundation’s public issues, which Bove suggested meant Cohen was still doing public legal work.
Through this cross-examination, Bove is trying to use McConney to present a counter-argument to the jury: The Trump Organization’s business. Society has changed “drastically” since Trump became president, but in 2017 everyone was still adjusting to it.
Former controller reviews tax returns sent to Cohen
Mr. McConney currently has federal tax 1099 forms for the $105,000 that Mr. Cohen received from the trust as “non-employee compensation” and $31 that Mr. Cohen personally received from Mr. Trump as “non-employee compensation.” We are considering a second federal tax 1099 form for $5,000.
Both were issued by the Trump Organization. to Cohen to reflect the $420,000 he received in 2017.
Former Trump Organization controller details total payments to Cohen
Mr. McConney testified about a report called a “questionnaire summary” that broke down the total amount paid to Mr. Cohen, including a handwritten note from Mr. Tarasoff, the accounts payable supervisor. This report was prepared on January 5, 2018 and reflects all payments to Cohen between January 1, 2017 and the date of the report.
$105,000 came from Trump’s revocable trust and $315,000 came from Trump’s personal account, for a total of $420,000.