Star witness in Donald Trump trial confesses to stealing from former president’s company | US News

May 20, 2024 TruthUSA

A former lawyer for Donald Trump has confessed to jurors in the Republican’s hush money trial that he embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from his then-boss’s company.

The high-profile trial resumed with defence questioning of Michael Cohen, whose recent testimony directly linked Trump to the alleged hush money scheme.

The defence attorneys have extensively questioned Cohen about his criminal past and prior deception to portray him as a habitual liar seeking revenge against Trump.

Under scrutiny from defence lawyer Todd Blanche, Cohen admitted to keeping money that was intended to reimburse a $50,000 payment he claimed to have made to a technology firm.

However, Cohen revealed that he only gave $20,000 to the technology firm.

“So, you stole from the Trump Organisation,” asked Mr. Blanche.

“Yes, sir,” replied Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Cohen admitted to never repaying the Trump Organisation. He has not faced charges related to theft from Trump’s company.

He is the final prosecution witness, and it remains uncertain if Trump’s legal team will present any witnesses, including the presumed Republican presidential nominee himself.

Jurors could commence deliberations as early as next week to determine Trump’s guilt in 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first criminal trial involving a former US president.

The charges are based on internal Trump Organisation records where payments to Cohen were falsely labelled as legal expenses, while prosecutors allege they were actually reimbursements for porn star Stormy Daniels’ hush money payment.

Trump has entered a plea of not guilty, with his legal team asserting that there was nothing illegal about the Daniels arrangement or Cohen’s compensation.

“There’s no crime,” Trump stated to reporters upon arriving at the courthouse on Monday. “We paid a legal expense. You know what it’s marked down as? A legal expense.”