Trump Probe: Michael Cohen Admits Stealing From Trump Organization | Donald Trump faces justice

Cross-examining Michael Cohen for a third day, the defense continued to attack his credibility: After portraying him as a liar last week, Donald Trump’s lawyers were able to admit on Monday that he stole from the former US president’s company.

Under questioning by Donald Trump’s top lawyer Todd Blanche, Michael Cohen admitted to overcharging the Trump Organization for services provided by IT firm Redfinch.

The firm was recruited to conduct online polls in favor of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen admitted asking for US$50,000 in repayments, but only paid US$20,000 to the company.

So you stole from the Trump Organization, right?asked Mrs. Blanche. Yes sirMr. Cohen agreed.

Surprisingly, Donald Trump’s lawyers did not raise this important point earlier, but, more importantly, the lawyers did not address this issue during their preliminary hearing. Still, lawyers tried to mitigate the many attacks they expected from the defense.

However, trying to repair the damage, they talked about this US$50,000 during the retrial on Monday.

I was angry because of my bonus [annuelle] reduced, Mr. Cohen argued that he saw it as a way to right an injustice at the time. It is true that my premium was reduced by two-thirds Very disturbing, to say the leasthe said.

Mr. Cohen served a federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to various charges of violating campaign finance laws for allegedly lying to Congress, tax and bank fraud for payments to Donald Trump’s two ex-mistresses.

However, it should be noted that he was never charged with this theft.

Last Friday, the defense presented Michael Cohen as a chronic liar.

An amount included in the payment of US$420,000

The US$50,000 sum was part of a sum of US$420,000 paid to Michael Cohen in 11 installments, which is the focus of this trial.

That sum includes $130,000 in restitution that prosecutors say was paid to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her sexual relationship with Donald Trump.

In his testimony, a former Trump Organization accounting executive explained that two payments — $50,000 and $130,000 — were doubled two weeks ago to account for Michael Cohen’s taxes.

Adding this US$180,000 as an annual bonus of US$60,000, the witness explained, the amount owed to Michael Cohen was US$420,000.

In this trial, the former US president is accused of falsifying a series of financial documents, according to prosecutors, to repay Michael Cohen in connection with payments to Stormy Daniels for a specific reason: to cover up a conspiracy crime aimed at illegally winning an election.

At the heart of the discussions is a call from October 24

During Monday’s retrial, prosecutors returned to a key point that emerged during Friday’s cross-examination.

Donald Trump’s lawyers scored points by denying causation on a 96-second phone call to Donald Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller on October 24, 2016.

Under investigation, Mr. Cohen said that during this conversation, he spoke with Donald Trump about paying Stormy Daniels. However, Michael Cohen also told Mr. The defense presented phone records and text messages purporting to have spoken to Schiller.

Other topics may have been discussed […]But are you sure the Stormy Daniels situation was discussed?attorney Susan Hoffinger asked Monday. YesMr. Cohen agreed.

The latter said that although she was busy with other matters at the time, she was sure to have spoken to Donald Trump about Stormy Daniels’ money.

After initial opposition from the defense, prosecutors also won their case to admit evidentiary footage showing Donald Trump with his bodyguard during a questionable call after a political rally in Florida.

Their goal was to convince jurors that Donald Trump may have spoken with Michael Cohen.

The judge agreed that prosecutors would call the archives manager of C-SPAN, the public television network that broadcasts full coverage of political events.

After a deliberation, jurors delayed returning for half an hour, although the defense backed out and agreed to show the jury a screen print of the video showing Donald Trump and his bodyguard.

An additional week of investigation

After prosecutors and defense attorneys raised the possibility of closing arguments Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan said he expected them to take place next week because of the long Memorial Day holiday (Memorial Day)

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It became clear that tomorrow could not be completedHe declared.

Judge Bradley barred testimony from an expert he wanted to call Smith. Mr. Smith previously chaired the Federal Election Commission, which was charged with enforcing federal campaign finance laws in the United States.

The witness could read the relevant laws and regulations but was not entitled to interpret them, the judge ruled, explaining that he wanted an exemption. The battle of the experts If prosecutors call their own special witness to the stand.

With coverage from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and CNN