On Monday, during the ongoing Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump, a witness for the prosecution shared some startling testimony. It has been noted that while on the stand being questioned by the defense, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney testified that former President Trump did not personally order payments made to attorney Michael Cohen, who allegedly paid the “hush money” payment to porn star Stormy Daniels via Red State.
“Michael Cohen was a lawyer?” defense attorney Emil Bove asked former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney on Monday at the start of the fourth week of the trial.
“Sure, yes,” McConney responded.
“And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?” asked Bove.
“Yes,” said McConney.
“President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described … correct?” Bove asked.
“He did not,” McConney replied.
McConney stated in court that he received instructions from Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, to compensate Cohen with payments of $35,000 every month, the most recent of which was received by Cohen in December 2017.
McConney also disclosed that Cohen received payment from a trust at first, but that eventually he switched to receiving payments from Trump’s personal account. Email correspondence between McConney and Cohen was admitted into evidence; in it, the controller confirmed that checks would need to be forwarded to the White House for Trump’s signature.
According to the evidence, Cohen received a total payment of $420,000, which was “grossed up” to prevent Cohen from losing money on taxes.
It is clear that the defense cannot argue that the payments were made without the former president’s knowledge, as he had to sign the checks. However, the prosecution may find it challenging to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the original order for the payments came from Donald Trump himself.
It is possible that someone in his employ may have initiated the order instead.
