On Monday, in the ongoing Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump, a witness for the prosecution gave some startling testimony. 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.
"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.
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To a non-lawyer, that seems kind of unclear; the former president could have ordered the payments through a series of people and ultimately been responsible for the payments, but that information did not get down to Mr. MoConney's level. But in most organizations, the controller is a key figure, responsible for managing accounts payable and accounts receivable, tracking the company's financial data, and ensuring compliance with appropriate financial and other regulations; it seems unlikely that a person with those responsibilities would be, as it were, cut out of the loop.
Mr. McConney did detail the nature and amounts of the payments to Cohen:
McConney testified that he was directed by former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to reimburse Cohen with $35,000 per month payments, with the last being sent to Cohen in December 2017.
McConney also detailed that Cohen was initially reimbursed through a trust before switching to payments from Trump’s personal account. An email from McConney to Cohen was entered into evidence, which showed the controller replying to Cohen and confirming that checks would have to be sent to the White House to be signed by Trump.
Cohen was paid a total of $420,000, according to the testimony, a sum that was "grossed up" so Cohen wouldn’t lose money through taxes.
The defense, clearly, cannot argue that the payments were made without the former president's knowledge since he had to sign the checks. But the original order for the payments may have originated with someone in Donald Trump's employ, rather than with the man himself; it seems like it would be difficult for the prosecution, at this point, to prove anything else beyond a reasonable doubt.
It's hard to see how this isn't damaging to the prosecution either way.
So much has gone awry with this trial that one has to begin to wonder if Alvin Bragg's motivation here isn't simply to keep former President Trump off the campaign trail. If so, it isn't working. Trump is campaigning in off-hours and receiving big rounds of applause from New Yorkers.
🚨Trump delivers pizza to Firefighters after court
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 2, 2024
Gotta love this man 🍕
pic.twitter.com/aMPQxFsYQ5
The man has pluck.
We'll continue to watch everything associated with this trial and bring you updates as events warrant.
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