Trump trial: Comptroller says Trump didn't direct him to set up hush money repayments
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
MORE: Here are 8 pieces of evidence presented so far in Trump’s hush money trial
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
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May 6, 2:56 PM
Tarasoff says CFO generally ran decisions by Trump
As the accounts payable supervisor at the Trump Organization, Deborah Tarasoff described her responsibilities in this way: “I get approved bills, I enter them in the system, and I cut the checks.”
That type of response — using as few words as she can — seems in line with her other commentary from the stand. Tarasoff has a terse sensibility.
“Do you have any sense of how many entities make up the Trump Organization?” prosecutor Christopher Conroy asked her.
“There’s a bunch,” she said.
Asked to describe the general ledger, she said: “That’s where everything goes into and they keep track of things.”
Conroy established early in his questioning that she did not necessarily have regular exposure to Donald Trump, but was an important cog in the machine of the Trump Organization — particularly as it pertains to the allegations in this trial.
“Did you just follow instructions?” Conroy asked.
“Yes,” she said.
Tarasoff told jurors that any expenses over $10,000 would need to get direct approval from either Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. or Eric. Trump.
Tarasoff added that at the time of the events in question, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg generally ran decisions by Trump directly.
May 6, 2:35 PM
Trump watches as another longtime employee takes stand
As Deborah Tarasoff took the witness stand, Donald Trump watched expressionless as another one of his longtime employees began her testimony.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom at Manhattan state court in New York City, May 6, 2024.
Unlike controller Jeffrey McConney, who testified this morning, Tarasoff remains an employee of the Trump Organization, where she has worked for 24 years.
Tarasoff, whose legal bills are being footed by the Trump Organization, is being questioned by prosecutor Christopher Conroy.
May 6, 2:26 PM
Longtime Trump employee Deborah Tarasoff to take stand
All parties are back in the courtroom for the day’s afternoon session, where prosecutors are preparing to call longtime Trump Organization employee Deborah Tarasoff as their next witness.
Tarasoff worked as an accounts payable supervisor at the Trump Organization when Michael Cohen submitted invoices in 2017 to be reimbursed for the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. A direct report to controller Jeffrey McConney, Tarasoff processed and labeled the invoices as “legal expenses.”
In his opening statement, defense attorney Todd Blanche argued that Tarasoff was just following orders when she labeled the invoices.
Before Tarasoff takes the stand, defense lawyers are first objecting to the evidence prosecutors plan to introduce during her testimony.
May 6, 1:48 PM
Jurors appear engaged with accounting testimony
The day’s morning session was marked by laborious testimony about invoices, legers, and tax documents — but the jurors appeared surprisingly engaged following two weeks of testimony involving sex scandals and crisis management.
Many jurors this morning took copious notes and looked back and forth at witness Jeff McConney on the stand and the lawyers questioning him.
When the handwritten notes on Michael Cohen’s repayments appeared on the courtroom monitors, many jurors appeared lasered in. One juror placed their elbow on the armrest and rested their head on their hand, staring intently into the monitor in front of them.
Former President Trump watches as former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney is questioned by prosecutor Matthew Colangelo during Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 6, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
But as testimony stretched into hours, and prosecutors put accounting document after accounting document onto the screen, at least some jurors’ minds appeared to wander. One juror rubbed his eyes and another slumped down in his seat, rested his cheek in his palm and sighed deeply.
“What is a 1099?” a prosecutor asked at one point, prompting a juror to rub his forehead tightly.
May 6, 1:05 PM
Under re-direct, McConney says he was following orders
Before ending his cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove attempted to pour cold water on a small narrative element prosecutors advanced about the location of handwritten notes containing arithmetic related to the reimbursing of Michael Cohen.
Then-CFO Allen Weisselberg, who jotted down the notes, ordered McConney to put the notes in a locked cabinet, McConney said earlier, suggesting that the document was intended to remain secret.
But Bove argued that “the reason that cabinet was locked was because the payroll book” was inside of it, containing sensitive information about employee salaries, bonuses and social security numbers.
“It’s not that these notes were particularly sensitive,” Bove said. “You locked the drawer to keep that sort of sensitive information secure?”
Furthermore, Bove asked, “Isn’t it a fact that most of the drawers in your office were locked?”
McConney confirmed this, and said he had “a lot of sensitive information” in his office.
Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney is questioned by prosecutor Matthew Colangelo during former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 6, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
During a brief re-direct examination, prosecutors attempted to distance McConney from the agreement to reimburse Cohen for the Stormy Daniels payment and suggest that McConney was just following orders.
“Did you participate in any conversations with Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Weisselberg?” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked.
“No sir,” McConney said.
“This was all happening above your head?” Colangelo asked.
“Yes,” McConney said.
“You were told something and you did it?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes,” McConney responded.
Court subsequently recessed for the lunch break.
May 6, 12:53 PM
Defense suggests Trump’s company faced risk from bad publicity
During a rapid-fire series of questions during his cross-examination of former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, defense attorney Emil Bove suggested that the Trump Organization faced a business risk stemming from bad publicity.
“There was a very real commercial risk to adverse publicity?” Bove asked McConney after listing some of the Trump Organization’s international holdings.
“I am not a marketing person — it’s hard for me to answer that question,” McConney responded.
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of his criminal trial at New York State Supreme Court in New York, New York, May 6, 2024.
McConney later conceded that negative publicity could be “bad for business.”
The line of questioning suggests the defense team could be planning to advance the argument that the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election was done to protect Trump’s business.
Defense lawyers have previously explained the arrangement as Trump attempting to shield his family from Daniel’s allegations that she and Trump had a sexual encounter.
May 6, 1:50 PM
McConney says ‘legal expenses’ were ‘part of a drop-down menu’
While prosecutors say the use of the phrase “legal expenses” to repay Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels hush payment amounted to an effort conceal the true nature of the payments, Trump attorney Emil Bove on cross-examination sought to frame that categorization as merely the results of the Trump Organization’s “antiquated” internal payment system.
Legal expenses were “part of a drop down menu?” Bove asked former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney.
“Yes,” McConney answered.
[The system] was a bit antiquated?” Bove asked.
Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney is questioned by prosecutor Matthew Colangelo during former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 6, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
“Yes,” McConney said.
“These categories, there was a level of rigidity to them?,” Bove asked.
“Yes,” McConney replied.
“So if you are talking about payments to an attorney, legal expenses was the category that was used?” Bove asked.
“Yes,” McConney said.
May 6, 1:13 PM
McConney says Trump didn’t direct him to set up repayments
Following the direct examination of former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, the defense began its cross-examination by laying out one of Donald Trump’s strongest defense arguments.
“Michael Cohen was a lawyer?” defense attorney Emil Bove asked McConney.
“Sure, yes,” McConney said.
“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.
“And as far as you know, President Trump did not ask anyone to do those things?” Bove continued, before an objection.
“In none of the conversations that you had with Mr. Weisselberg, did he suggest that President Trump had told him to do these things?” Bove asked again.
“Allen never told me that,” McConney said.
May 6, 12:16 PM
As McConney testifies, his longtime boss sits in jail
Over the course of Jeffrey McConney’s testimony, the former Trump Organization controller has repeatedly invoked the name of his longtime boss, Allen Weisselberg, when describing the conduct and the paper trail underpinning prosecutors’ theory of the case.
He and Weisselberg ate lunch every day, McConney testified, and their offices sat beside each other in Trump Tower. At one point during his testimony, McConney said he recognized Weisselberg’s penmanship on a key exhibit because “I’ve read his handwriting for about 35 years.”
Former President Donald Trump appears in court during his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 6, 2024 in New York City.
But as McConney testifies, Weisselberg sits in jail — one month into a five-month sentence after pleading guilty to two felony counts of perjury for lying under oath during his testimony in former President Trump’s civil fraud trial and during the investigation that preceded it.
Weisselberg is not expected to testify at this trial.
May 6, 12:10 PM
Jurors see tax forms Trump Organization filed for payments
Jurors saw the tax forms that the Trump Organization submitted to the Internal Revenue Service related to Michael Cohen’s reimbursement.
Jurors saw two 1099 forms — one for the $105,000 from Trump’s trust and another for the $315,000 paid from Trump’s personal account.
Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney testified that that the company doubled Michael Cohen’s repayment to compensate for the expected taxes he would owe on the payments.
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