Cohen testifies he stole from Trump's company

It's still not clear whether former president will testify

By: Aysha Bagchi
Bart Jansen
and Kinsey Crowley
USA Today

..... In a third day of cross-examination, a former president;s former lawyer admitted he was not just a liar but a thief.
..... Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
..... The records are tied to a series of payments to Michael Cohen in 2017 that prosecutors allege were reimbursing Cohen Stormy Daniels in 2016. It is the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
..... Cohen delivered major testimony for the prosecution last week, [05/14/2024] telling jurors that Trump approve first the Daniels payment, then a scheme to misrepresent his reimbursement to Cohen.
..... The defense has been working to undermine the credibility of the prosecution's star witness, who was convicted for lying to Congress and the IRS, asking: Can the jurors trust that Cohen is telling the truth now?
..... Blanche jumped from topic to topic Monday, [05/20/2024] trying to paint Cohen in a bad light. He asked Cohen about cashing in on being named personal attorney to the president, something the disbarred lawyer has already said he did.
.... Cohen confirmed making $600,000 offer 20 sets of communicators with AT&T and $1.2 million for a matter that required only six communicants between Cohen and another company. he also made money after turning on his former boss, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee: $4 million form podcasts and books.
.... And then, another bombshell dropped: Cohen admitted to stealing from the Trump Organization.
..... Cohen's 2017 payments totaled $420,000. That amount, he previously testified, covered the $130,000 to Daniels and $50,000 he claimed he was owed for campaign-related "tech services: from a company called RedFinch, both the $130,000 and 450,000 figures were doubled to account for taxes, according to Cohen, and he was paid a $60,000 bonus.
..... Defense attorney Todd Blanche zeroed in on the "tech services" payment. Cohen paid RedFinch only $20,000, then asked to be reimbursed for $50,000, he said.
..... "You stole from the Trump Organization?" Blanche asked.
..... "Yes, sir," Cohen said.
..... Blanche then suggested Cohen stole $60,000, not just 430,000, because the reimbursement payments was doubled.
..... "Yes, sir," Cohen said. He also agreed he told prosecutors about that.
..... "Did you ever have to plead guilty to larceny?" Blanche asked.
..... "No, sir, Cohen said calmly.
..... With Cohen expected to be the prosecution's last witness, the defense will soon have a chance to call its now witnesses.
..... It's still not clear whether Trump will be among them. Before the trial started, Trump said he would take the stand. However, his lawyer told Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday [05/16/2024] that the decisions had not been made.
..... Merchan said he expects closing arguments to take place next Tuesday. [05/28/2024] The trial will be off Wednesday [05/22/2024] as usual, Friday [05/24/2024] due to juror scheduling conflicts and Monday [08/27/2024] for Memorial Day.
..... And then, it's the jury's turn.

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