NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s defense attorney grilled Michael Cohen on Monday during the former president’s hush money trial on how Cohen lied about a reimbursement request in 2017 so that the Trump Organization would overpay him by tens of thousands of dollars.
Attorney Todd Blanche questioned Cohen during a third day of cross-examination about the reimbursement, which was incorporated into a larger $420,000 payment plan that is at the center of the charges Trump is facing.
A portion of the money Cohen received from the Trump Organization was a reimbursement for money Cohen paid to a technology company called Red Finch. Cohen admitted that although he told then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg he was owed $50,000 for the Red Finch expense, he was, in fact, owed roughly $30,000 less than that.
“So you stole from the Trump Organization, right?” Blanche asked.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen said.
When asked how Cohen paid Red Finch back for the technology services, Cohen said he went across the street to TD Bank and “just took out cash over a couple of days.”
“You had, what, like a duffel bag of cash?” Blanche asked.
Cohen said he used a brown paper bag.
Cohen pleaded guilty to numerous crimes in 2018, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and lying to a bank.
“Did you ever have to plead guilty to larceny?” Blanche asked.
“No, sir,” Cohen said.
Blanche, who has relentlessly worked throughout the trial to chip away at Cohen’s credibility, asked Cohen to detail how the theft had occurred.
Cohen explained that when Weisselberg, who was crafting the payment plan, asked Cohen how much he needed for Red Finch, Cohen lied and said he needed $50,000 when really he only planned to pay the company $20,000.
The payment plan included a $130,000 reimbursement for Cohen after Cohen paid Daniels hush money in that amount right before the 2016 presidential election. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat, alleged Trump unlawfully concealed the payment in the Trump Organization’s records. The Trump Organization paid Cohen $420,000 for the technology services, the hush money payment, Cohen’s bonus for legal work he performed, and taxes — and the sum was all categorized as legal fees for Cohen in Trump’s business records.
Blanche’s questioning revealed how Cohen caused a portion of the overall payment to be faulty, and it underscored Cohen’s willingness to lie to Trump. It also undercut prosecutors’ allegation that Trump had detailed knowledge about the payment plan.
Cohen’s theft would have amounted to $60,000 because the amount he testified that he stole was doubled by Weisselberg in the payment plan to account for taxes.
Blanche also pressed Cohen about two phone calls he had on Oct. 26, 2016, during which Cohen claimed he spoke to Trump right before he took out a loan to pay Daniels.
Blanche highlighted how there were numerous significant events going on for Trump the morning of the calls, so it was possible Cohen was not discussing Daniels on those calls.
The attorney pointed to how the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., was holding a grand opening that day. He noted Trump was participating in a high-stakes television interview with George Stephanopoulos that day as well. Lastly, Blanche said, Cohen spoke to Trump’s daughter Tiffany on the night of Oct. 25, 2016, about how she was the target of a blackmail scheme.
Blanche indicated that Cohen could have been speaking about any one of these topics with Trump on the morning Cohen took out the loan.
“My recollection is that I was speaking to him about Stormy Daniels ’cause that was what he tasked me to take care of, and that’s what I had been working on,” Cohen said.
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Blanche then asked if Cohen had ever talked to Trump about his hotel in Washington, and Cohen said he had, but he also insisted he had not talked about the hotel on the two calls.
Blanche continued to cross-examine Cohen into Monday afternoon.
