NEW YORK — A former Trump Organization controller testified Monday about efforts to pay thousands of dollars in reimbursements to Michael Cohen, the lawyer who managed a hush payment at the heart of the criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.
Jeffrey McConney, who worked for Mr. Trump for more than three decades, deciphered hand-written documents that outlined a wire payment of $130,000 — earlier testimony said it was for porn star Stormy Daniels — plus $50,000 to a company for tech services.
The $180,000 amount was doubled, and a $60,000 bonus owed to Mr. Cohen was lumped in for a total of $420,000.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Mr. Cohen was given far more money than he paid out on his own to buy Ms. Daniels’ silence about her alleged sexual tryst with Mr. Trump. Earlier in the trial, prosecutors argued the decision to increase the amount showed Mr. Trump‘s concern about the alleged scheme.
“With Cohen and the ‘catch and kill’ deal, he didn’t negotiate the price down, he doubled it,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in his opening argument. “And you’ll hear evidence that the Trump Organization was not in the practice of paying twice what they owed for anything.”
Mr. McConney suggested the amounts were “grossed up” to account for state, city and federal taxes. He said he couldn’t think of another time when payments were increased to account for taxes in that way.
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Prosecutors allege Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen paid Ms. Daniels to suppress a story about the alleged sexual encounter in 2006 to avoid bad press near the 2016 election. They say efforts to conceal the payment showed an intent to commit election and tax offenses.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He also denies having a sexual encounter with Ms. Daniels in 2006.
The Cohen payments were documented as legal fees, according to Mr. McConney, which speaks to prosecutors’ claims that Mr. Trump disguised the nature of the payment and reimbursements.
Mr. McConney, who had a relaxed and warm demeanor, cracked a joke when the prosecution asked what Mr. Cohen did for a living.
“He said he was a lawyer,” Mr. McConney said.
During cross-examination, Mr. Trump‘s lawyer Emil Bove argued that Mr. Cohen was an attorney with an outside law firm — akin to a vendor for Mr. Trump — so documenting payments to him as “legal expenses” would be normal and not illegal.
The company software program also had limited menu options for what to call each kind of expense. Also, Mr. Trump did not order Mr. McConney to do any of the actions that led to the Cohen payments in 2017, according to testimony.
Mr. McConney also testified about a “teachable moment” early in his career, in which Mr. Trump told him to play hardball with bill collectors.
“Jeff, you’re fired,” Mr. McConney remembered Mr. Trump saying. “You’re not fired, but my cash balances went down from last week.”
Mr. Trump said that if someone was looking for money, “Negotiate with him, talk with him,” Mr. McConney recalled.
Mr. McConney said he began working at the Trump Organization in 1987 as an assistant controller and retired as a senior vice president controller in February 2023. He was promoted after another key Trump Organization employee, Allen Weisselberg, became the chief financial officer.
Mr. McConney said he learned about the Cohen arrangement when Weisselberg told him to jot notes about the process in January 2017.
Jurors saw internal Trump Organization emails related to the Cohen reimbursements, including a decision to use Mr. Trump‘s personal, or “DJT,” account and pay Mr. Cohen $35,000 per month starting in February 2017.
The use of Mr. Trump‘s account required the checks to be sent to Washington, so Mr. Trump could sign them as he performed his job as president.
Mr. McConney is testifying under a subpoena. The Trump Organization is paying for his lawyer.
Mr. Trump, wearing a navy suit and red tie, sat back in his chair with his legs crossed during the testimony.
Mr. Trump‘s son, Eric Trump, sat in the front row of the courtroom and nodded his head at times as Mr. McConney described operations at the Trump Organization.
Jurors watched attentively, and many of them took notes on large pads.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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