Former U.S. president, Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen has said he stole thousands of dollars from his former boss’s company.
Mr Cohen stated this on his final day of testimony, noting that he stole tens of thousands from his tech company RedFinch.
This came as Mr Trump’s lawyers sought to uncover as many unsavoury details as they could about the past conduct of the prosecution’s star witness.
Under questioning from lead defence lawyer Todd Blanche, Mr Cohen made the confession.
“You did steal from the Trump Organisation?” Mr Trump’s lead lawyer, Mr Blanche asked Cohen on Monday.
“Yes, sir,” Mr Cohen replied.
The criminal trial, the first against a former US president, seems to be drawing to an end as closing statements are expected to take place next week.
Mr Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly recording reimbursements to Mr Cohen for a hush-money payment made to an adult film star as legal expenses.
He has since pleaded not guilty.
For days, Mr Blanche sought to discredit the case’s star witness in the eyes of the jury.
On Monday, testimony yielded few fireworks but highlighted a specific aspect of Mr Cohen’s submitting a $50,000 reimbursement request for a payment to the tech company RedFinch.
Mr Trump owed the company $50,000, but Mr Cohen said he repaid the firm only $20,000, delivering the cash payment in a paper bag to a contact at RedFinch, he testified.
“RedFinch was hired to boost Mr Trump’s ranking in an online poll about history’s most notable business leaders”, Mr Cohen said.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger later asked Mr Cohen to elaborate on why he asked for the full amount.
“Why did you take that extra 30?” Ms Hoffinger asked Monday.
Mr Cohen responded that he was angry that his bonus had been reduced that year and that asking for a larger reimbursement was “almost like self-help.”
When Ms Hoffinger asked if he understood that what he had done was wrong, Mr Cohen responded that he did.
Mr Cohen also testified that as he requested a reimbursement for the Red Finch payment, he also sought to be paid back for his $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
In early 2017, Mr Cohen began submitting invoices for his repayment.
Mr Blanche also called lawyer Robert Costello, who worked with Mr Cohen when he was under federal investigation in 2018.
Mr Costello described his behaviour at the time as “manic,” but his testimony was quickly eclipsed by his conduct on the stand, which drew the ire of Justice Merchan.
At one point, Merchan cleared the courtroom, presumably to rebuke Mr Costello about his comments from the witness stand.
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