Donald Trump Used Personal Account to Pay Stormy Daniels Through Michael Cohen, Former Accountant Reveals in Hush Money Trial

By Madz Dizon

May 06, 2024 10:33 PM EDT

Donald Trump Used Personal Account to Pay Stormy Daniels Through Michael Cohen, Former Accountant Reveals in Hush Money Trial
Former US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he returns from a lunch break during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 6, 2024.
(Photo : WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In the trial regarding Donald Trump's hush money scandal, jurors were finally presented with the evidence of payments made to Michael Cohen. 

Donald Trump's Payment to Silence Stormy Daniels Revealed

These payments were intended to secure the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels, whose claims of a sexual encounter withTrump had the potential to harm his 2016 presidential campaign.

According to The Independent, the payments were revealed in documents presented during a court hearing in Manhattan on Monday. 

These documents included checks that had been signed with the former president's Sharpie-inked signature.

According to former Trump Organization executive Jeffrey McConney, Cohen received a total payment of $420,000, which included funds from Trump's revocable trust and his personal account.

McConney recounted a discussion he had with Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, regarding a debt owed to Cohen.

Among the evidence submitted was a handwritten note that McConney had taken on a Trump Organization notepad during the conversation with Weisselberg regarding the payments. 

McConney's notes indicate a bonus of $50,000, along with an additional $180,000 to cover taxes, which appears to be doubled. 

The amount of $420,000 is divided into equal payments of $35,000. He also made a note to wire a monthly update from DJT.

During the testimony, McConney explained the process of submitting invoices for each month of 2017 in order to receive payment. He emphasized that Cohen had to send an invoice if he wanted to get paid.

According to McConney's testimony, Cohen's invoices amounted to $35,000 per month, which was wired on a monthly basis starting in February 2017. However, the exact number was not specified in the invoices.

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Trump Organization Staff Testify on Micheal Cohen Payments in Court

Two employees with extensive experience at the Trump Organization testified for nearly six hours on Monday, offering a detailed account of the company's accounting for Cohen's payments. 

One of the employees is also a co-defendant in Trump's civil fraud case.

Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records, as he allegedly disguised payments to his former attorney as "legal expenses" in Trump Organization records.

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