Two Trump Organization employees kicked off the third week of testimony in former President Trump’s hush money trial on Monday, shifting the focus to the actual documents that make up his charges.
In the morning, ex-Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney took the stand. He walked jurors through the repayment scheme to Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, underlying the charges, but McConney did not directly implicate the former president.
Deborah Tarasoff, who works in the company’s accounts payable department, began testifying following the lunch break. Tarasoff confirmed that Trump himself signed some of the checks for Cohen.
It’s a notable shift from the first two weeks of testimony, when the jury heard from key players involved in the hush money arrangements that preceded the repayments. Those witnesses included ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, attorney Keith Davidson and Hope Hicks, once a close political confidant of the former president.
Porn actress Stormy Daniels, who took a $130,000 payment to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, which he denies, has yet to take the stand. Neither has Cohen.
Follow below for a recap from New York.
Trump says he’d make ‘sacrifice’ of going to jail
As he exited the courtroom for the day, Trump suggested he’d be willing to go to jail for violating his gag order repeatedly.
“This judge has given me a gag order and said you’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump said. “And frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”
— Brett Samuels
Court adjourns
The Trump hush money trial has adjourned for the day.
It will pick back up Tuesday morning in New York.
— Zach Schonfeld
Prosecutors say they have about 2 weeks of witness testimony left
The judge asked for an update on scheduling.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the district attorney’s office has “about two more weeks” left but called it a “very rough estimate.”
“I’d say two weeks from tomorrow, maybe,” Steinglass said, noting that the court is only meeting three days next week.
If Trump does not mount any defense after prosecutors finish with their witnesses, jurors cannot hold it against Trump. But the former president has claimed he will take the stand in his defense.
— Zach Schonfeld
DA’s office wants to recall paralegal who reviewed Trump’s social media
After the jury exited, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass indicated that the DA’s office wants to bring back to the stand Georgia Longstreet, who testified last week.
Longstreet is a paralegal in the district attorney’s office assigned to monitor Trump’s social media and the profiles of others involved in the case. Steinglass said she would return later this week to introduce three new exhibits into evidence.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche objected, saying the defense is prejudiced because it has already cross-examined the witness. But the judge said he’d allow her to come back as long as Trump’s team gets 24 hours notice.
— Zach Schonfeld
Blanche concludes after brief questioning
Trump attorney Todd Blanche cross-examined Tarasoff for less than 10 minutes, continuing the defense’s strategy of distancing the former president from the process that got his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, paid.
Tarasoff confirmed she did not interact with the former president a lot and she had no reason to believe Trump was hiding anything.
The judge then dismissed the jury, nearly a half-hour earlier than usual, meaning the next witness will not take the stand until tomorrow.
— Zach Schonfeld
Direct examination concludes
Prosecutor Chris Conroy completed his questioning after Tarasoff finished walking through each check.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche is now questioning the witness.
— Zach Schonfeld
Proceedings resume, witness appears to pat Eric Trump
The proceedings have resumed following the break.
On her way back to the stand, Tarasoff passed by Eric Trump and, with a smile, appeared to pat him on the knees.
— Ella Lee
Court takes brief break
The court is taking its afternoon break. Tarasoff is still walking through the monthly checks, one by one.
Jurors shown checks
Jurors are being shown the third and final category of the 34 allegedly falsified records that make up Trump’s charges.
After seeing Michael Cohen’s invoices and the general ledger entries earlier in the day, Tarasoff is now confirming each of the $35,000 monthly checks made out to Cohen.
The jury looks tired, with a few rubbing their eyes and one covering a yawn. But most are still looking at the monitors in front of them as each check is displayed.
— Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld
Tarasoff testifies that Trump signed Cohen’s checks
Tarasoff noted that Trump was — and still is — the only signatory on his personal account, confirming earlier testimony that he personally signed repayment checks to Michael Cohen as a result.
Tarasoff testified that she prepared and gave the checks to another Trump Organization employee, who shipped them to Washington, D.C., via FedEx.
Though Tarasoff indicated she was unsure of some of the specifics of where it went in D.C., she told jurors that she eventually got the checks back signed by “Mr. Trump.”
She also stressed that Trump was known to sign things in Sharpie, rather than a standard pen.
— Zach Schonfeld
Witness says Trump or sons approved payments above $10K
Tarasoff told prosecutors that ex-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg had authority to approve invoices under $10,000, but any payments over that amount would need approval from the former president or his two eldest sons.
The comment bolsters the prosecution’s attempt to convince jurors that Trump himself was personally involved in the repayment scheme to Michael Cohen that led to the indictment, as Cohen’s monthly invoices were for $35,000 each.
Jeffrey McConney, Tarasoff’s former boss who took the stand earlier in the day, testified he had not received any direction from Trump. Instead, Weisselberg gave approval to process the invoices, McConney said.
— Zach Schonfeld
Next witness is another Trump Organization employee
The proceedings have resumed following the lunch break.
Prosecutors said they will next call Deborah Tarasoff, who works in the Trump Organization’s accounts payable department.
Her testimony is expected to build off Jeffrey McConney, the ex-controller who took the stand earlier in the day.
Though Tarasoff is not identified by name in Trump’s indictment, she is referenced in it. Prosecutors say Tarasoff processed Michael Cohen’s purportedly bogus invoices based on McConney’s instructions to classify them as a legal retainer fee.
— Zach Schonfeld
10 witnesses take the stand so far
Ten witnesses have taken the stand so far. Here they are, in order:
- David Pecker, ex-publisher of the National Enquirer who agreed to block negative stories about Trump from being published
- Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime assistant
- Gary Farro, Michael Cohen’s ex-banker who helped him as he created an account to pay hush money
- Robert Browning, C-SPAN archives executive director who verified the authenticity of various videos of Trump’s speeches
- Phillip Thompson, regional director at Esquire Deposition Solutions who verified the authenticity of a Trump deposition transcript in a recent civil case
- Keith Davidson, attorney who previously represented two women paid hush money in 2016
- Doug Daus, Manhattan DA senior forensic analyst who analyzed Michael Cohen’s cellphones
- Georgia Longstreet, Manhattan DA paralegal who reviewed Trump’s social media posts
- Hope Hicks, Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary
- Jeffrey McConney, ex-Trump Organization controller who helped process the allegedly falsified records
— Zach Schonfeld
Why was Cohen paid $420,000?
Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer, received $420,000 in monthly installments after paying porn actress Stormy Daniels hush money just before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s 34 charges comprise the invoices, general ledger entries and checks allegedly generated as Cohen’s payments were processed.
Here’s a breakdown of what prosecutors say the payments, which were recorded as a legal retainer, included:
$130,000: Reimbursement for Stormy Daniels hush money payment
$50,000: Payment to IT firm that was boosting Trump’s poll ratings
$180,000: “Grossed up” for “tax purposes”
$60,000: Cohen’s bonus
— Zach Schonfeld
McConney excused, court breaks for lunch
McConney has been excused from the stand after roughly three hours of testimony.
The proceedings will resume this afternoon after a lunch break. The next witness to take the stand is unknown until they are announced when court resumes.
— Zach Schonfeld
Cross-examination over
Trump attorney Emil Bove has concluded his cross-examination of McConney.
— Zach Schonfeld
Trump attorney seeks to pin blame on ex-Trump Org CFO
Trump attorney Emil Bove has repeatedly gotten McConney to acknowledge he does not know what then-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg meant in his handwritten calculations about how to pay Michael Cohen.
Among other things, McConney said he didn’t know what Weisselberg meant when he said to “x2 for taxes” Cohen’s payment.
“This was his idea, right?” Bove asked, leading McConney to agree.
“And you have no idea where this came from, right?” Bove said.
“Correct,” McConney replied.
The jury is not expected to hear from Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to perjury.
— Zach Schonfeld
McConney says he didn’t have direction from Trump
Trump attorney Emil Bove began his cross-examination by creating distance between McConney and the former president.
The witness said he had “very few” conversations with Trump and was also asked if Trump ever asked McConney to do the things he has been testifying about.
“He did not,” McConney enthusiastically responded, answering without hesitation and in a louder volume.
— Zach Schonfeld
Direct examination concludes with Trump’s financial disclosure form
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo concluded his direct examination of McConney by asking him to verify a financial disclosure form Trump submitted when he became president.
McConney testified he was involved in preparing it.
Trump attorney Emil Bove will now question McConney on cross-examination.
— Zach Schonfeld
Jurors engaged as witness walks through financial documents
McConney’s walk-through has gotten into the nitty-gritty of the documents at the heart of Trump’s case, including explanations of 1099 tax forms and how a general ledger works.
But jurors are still appearing engaged, looking at their monitors that are displaying each document, one by one.
Many jurors are taking notes, though one has been looking around the room during McConney’s testimony.
— Ella Lee
Prosecution moves on to general ledger entries
Following the morning break, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is moving to the second category of alleged documents that make up Trump’s charges.
Trump’s 34 counts of falsifying business records correspond to three categories: Michael Cohen’s 11 invoices, 12 general ledger entries reflecting they were processed and 11 checks sent to Cohen as a result.
After showing jurors each of the invoices, Colangelo is now questioning the witness about the general ledger entries.
— Zach Schonfeld
Trump entourage intently examines invoices
As prosecutors showed the emails and invoices Michael Cohen sent each month to get reimbursed, Eric Trump and Alina Habba, the former president’s legal spokesperson, were intently examining each exhibit.
Eric Trump every few minutes has also scanned the courtroom gallery, which mainly comprises journalists.
The former president appeared to look toward McConney on the stand more so than the invoices being displayed on the monitors.
After jurors saw the final invoice, the court began its morning break. On his way out of the room, Trump looked at a man in the gallery and mouthed “thank you.”
— Zach Schonfeld
Jurors see allegedly falsified records for first time
For the first time, jurors are seeing some of the allegedly falsified business records that make up Trump’s 34 charges.
Prosecutors are pulling up each of the 11 purportedly bogus invoices that Michael Cohen sent in 2017 to get reimbursed for paying porn actress Stormy Daniels. Each corresponds to one of the charges.
McConney, who was forwarded the invoices, is confirming them one by one.
— Zach Schonfeld
McConney says Trump had to sign some of Cohen’s checks
McConney confirmed there came a time when the checks to Michael Cohen started coming out of Trump’s personal bank account, rather than his trust.
Though his trust had multiple signatories, Trump was the only one for his personal account, so he had to sign those checks, McConney said.
“We had to get it to the White House for him to sign it,” he testified.
— Zach Schonfeld
McConney: Cohen payments not reviewed by legal department
McConney testified that it is standard practice for outgoing payments to be reviewed by the Trump Organization’s legal department.
But the department did not review the $35,000 monthly payments sent to Michael Cohen in 2017 at the center of Trump’s case, McConney said.
McConney said he got approval to process Cohen’s monthly invoices from Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who indicated it was OK to pay, per an agreement with the former president’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
— Zach Schonfeld
McConney’s testimony shifts trial to reimbursements
Prosecutors spent the first two weeks of testimony laying out a broad, alleged conspiracy by Trump and his allies at the National Enquirer to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.
Former Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney’s testimony has shifted the focus to Trump’s actual charges of falsifying business records, which correspond to alleged documents created in 2017 to reimburse Michael Cohen for making a $130,000 hush money payment during the former president’s successful campaign.
— Zach Schonfeld
Jurors see bank statement with Weisselberg’s notes
Jurors saw a bank statement for the account Michael Cohen set up in October 2016 to pay porn actress Stormy Daniels.
The statement shows the $130,000 wire payment to Daniels’s lawyer, and it also includes handwritten notes from then-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg that show his calculations in determining how much to reimburse Cohen. The calculations include a note to add a bonus for Cohen and gross up the amount for tax purposes.
Trump’s attorneys had sought to block Weisselberg’s notes prior to trial, arguing they were inadmissible hearsay, but the judge had indicated prosecutors could introduce them if they lay the proper foundation.
Jurors also saw how McConney broke down the math on a notepad with Trump Organization letterhead.
— Zach Schonfeld
McConney said Trump sons, CFO had authority to sign checks
McConney testified that Trump himself was the only one who had authority to sign checks from his account before he arrived at the White House.
Starting in 2017, Trump’s two oldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., had authority to sign checks from the former president’s trust, as did Allen Weisselberg, who was the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, McConney said.
That latter time period comprises the window in which Trump allegedly sent monthly checks to reimburse Cohen, which now make up his charges.
— Zach Schonfeld
Who is Jeffrey McConney?
Though not identified by name, ex-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney is referenced in Trump’s hush money indictment.
The charging documents indicate McConney was involved in processing the reimbursements to Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer who made the $130,000 hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels at the center of the case.
After receiving invoices from Cohen, prosecutors say McConney allegedly passed them along for processing with instructions to classify the payments as a legal retainer fee. The invoices and other alleged documents each correspond to one of Trump’s 34 charges of falsifying business records.
McConney testified at Trump’s civil fraud trial late last year and broke down in tears on the stand. As part of that case, McConney was barred for life from serving in a financial management role at a New York company.
— Zach Schonfeld
Next witness is ex-Trump Org Controller Jeffrey McConney
The next witness in Trump’s New York criminal trial is Jeffrey McConney, former controller of the Trump Organization.
— Ella Lee