Former President Donald Trump The Trump Organization executive was not personally directed to set up reimbursement payments to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, according to witness testimony Monday in the NY v. Trump case.
“Was Michael Cohen a lawyer?”. defense lawyer Emil Bove asked former Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConkey on Monday at the start of the fourth week of the trial.
“Sure, yes,” McConkey replied.
“And the payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?” Bowe asked.
“Yes,” McConkey said.
Comptroller of the Trump Organization, Jeffrey McConkey, leaves the New York State Supreme Court on Friday, October 6, 2023 in New York, US. Donald Trump is facing off against New York Attorney General Letitia James in a controversial civil lawsuit that threatens his impeachment. Control over his real estate empire in the state. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty)
“President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you mentioned…correct?” Bowe asked.
“He didn’t,” McConkey replied.
Trump is in Manhattan for the fourth week of his trial, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. NY vs Trump case The focus is on Trump’s former lawyer Cohen paying former porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to silence her claims of an alleged extramarital affair with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Emile Bove and former US President Donald Trump in Manhattan state court in New York City, US on April 26, 2024 on charges of falsifying business records to hide money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 Talked during Trump’s criminal trial. Courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently recorded the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, which is a felony.
McConkey, who served as comptroller of the Trump Organization for more than two decades, took the stand Monday, where he was questioned by both prosecutors and the defense team.
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McConkey testified that he was instructed by former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to reimburse Cohen for a $35,000 per month payment, last sent to Cohen in December of 2017.
Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump, outside federal court in New York, US, on Thursday, December 14, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
McConkey also detailed that Cohen was initially reimbursed through a trust, before switching to payments from Trump’s personal account. An email sent from McConkey to Cohen was entered into evidence, showing the comptroller responding to Cohen and confirming that the check would need to be sent to the White House to be signed by Trump.
According to testimony, Cohen was paid a total of $420,000, an amount that was “earned out” so that Cohen would not have to lose the money through taxes.
His testimony during cross-examination bolstered the Trump team’s defense, with the executive outlining that the 45th president did not have an active role in Cohen’s reimbursement.
Piers Morgan’s planned interview with Stormy Daniels is back on after the adult film star postponed it last week due to some security issues. (Philip Faraone/Getty Images)
“And as far as you know, President Trump hasn’t asked anyone to do these things?” Bove continued when prosecutors objected.
“In none of your conversations with Mr. Weisselberg did he suggest that President Trump asked him to do these things?” Bowe pressed.
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“Alan never told me that,” McConkey said.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump sits in a courtroom as he faces a criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money he paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The trial continues in Manhattan state court in New York City, US, in April. 22, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid/Pool)
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McConkey is the prosecution team’s 10th witness since the trial began in mid-April. Last week, the court heard from Keith Davidson, a lawyer who once represented Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougall; Doug Douse, computer forensics analyst for the DA’s office; bank executive Gary Farro; and Hope Hicks, who worked for the Trump Organization and later served as Trump’s press secretary during the 2016 presidential campaign.
trump trial It is expected to last at least six weeks. Trump has dismissed the matter as a “scam” promoted by the Biden administration ahead of the 2024 election.
Earlier on Monday, Presiding Judge Juan Merchan said he would consider a prison sentence for Trump if he continued to violate the sanctions order. The gag order prevents Trump from instructing or directing others to make public statements about witnesses and their potential involvement or from making comments about court employees, DA employees or employees’ family members.
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After the DA’s office argued that Trump had violated the order more than a dozen times, the judge ruled last week that Trump violated the order nine times, resulting in a total fine of $9,000. Merchan on Monday imposed an additional $1,000 fine on the former president for an additional violation, while arguing that it is “clear” that a $1,000 fine for each violation is not effective.
“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Marchen said. “You are the former president and possibly the next president.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Michael Lee contributed to this report.
