Court breaks for lunch after controller finishes testifying
McConney, the former controller, has finished testifying, and the court is now taking a lunch break.
Trump lawyer asks McConney whether retainer agreements have to be written
Trump lawyer Emil Bove asked McConney, similar to what he asked former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, to confirm that legal retainer agreements do not have to be written.
The defense of Trump’s legal team, at least in part, appears to be that Cohen was actually receiving financial compensation for legal services.
Bove is also using the IRS 1099 forms sent to Cohen to suggest that Cohen was in fact paid for legal services. This is another consistent defense theme.
Trump team pushed McConney to testify on Cohen's legal work
Trump's lawyer Emil Bove is cross-examining McConney, pushing him to testify on the actual legal work that Cohen had done at the Trump Organization.
Bove asked, "Cohen was a lawyer during that time frame, right?” to which McConney, who seems to harbor bad feeling toward Cohen, said, “OK.”
Bove acknowledged an email that is a part of Exhibit 37c that discusses an open Foundation matter, which Bove used to suggest meant Cohen still had open legal work.
Through this cross-examination, Bove is using McConney to present the jury with a counternarrative: Business at the Trump Org. had changed “drastically” after Trump became president, and everyone was still adjusting to that in 2017.
Former controller reviews tax forms sent to Cohen
McConney is now reviewing a 1099 federal tax form sent to Cohen for the $105,000 he received from the trust for “non-employee compensation” and a second 1099 form for the $315,000 Cohen received from Trump personally for “non-employee compensation.”
Both were issued by the Trump Org. to Cohen to reflect the $420K Cohen received in 2017.
Ex-Trump Org. controller details total payments to Cohen
McConney testified about a report, called a "query voucher summary," breaking down the total payments to Cohen, including handwritten notes from the accounts payable supervisor, Tarasoff. The report, run on Jan. 5, 2018, reflects all payments to Cohen between Jan. 1, 2017, and the date of the report.
Trump's revocable trust paid $105,000 and Trump’s personal account paid $315,000, for a total amount of $420,000.
McConney says a check had to be reissued after getting lost between the White House and the Trump Org
McConney said that one of the checks had gotten lost while being sent between the Trump Organization in New York and the White House for Trump's signature.
By this point, checks had to be sent from the company to the White House for Trump to sign each of them before they were issued, McConney testified.
McConney said that the organization had to place a "stop" on the April 2017 check because it couldn't be found. It was then reissued, he said.
Former controller says invoice for Cohen payment wasn't sent to legal department for approval
Although it was typical practice for the legal department to review invoices for legal services, McConney said he did not send the invoice of the payment to Cohen to the legal department.
Upon approval from Weisselberg, McConney instead sent the invoices to Tarasoff, the accounts payable supervisor, for payment from the company rather than from Trump’s personal account.
Prosecutor emphasizes how notable it was that Cohen received $360K back on a $180K expense
Colangelo asked if the notes show that Cohen was receiving $360,000 back on a $180,000 expense.
McConney said that was accurate. Asked if he is aware of another instance in which an expense reimbursement was doubled to account for taxes, he said he isn't.
McConney recalls plan to pay Cohen after he left the Trump organization in 2017
McConney testified that sometime in January 2017, he first became aware of the need to reimburse Cohen.
Weisselberg had told McConney first that Cohen’s last day would be Jan. 27 and also mentioned that Cohen was unsatisfied with his prior year’s bonus and that it would need to be addressed.
At a later time, Weisselberg gave McConney notes written on Essential Consultants’ bank statement to “put in the files.” McConney says he recognizes the handwriting on the left-hand side of the page as Weisselberg’s because of their 35-year working history.
McConney said in his testimony that $130,000 was designed to be reimbursement for the Daniels payment and $50,000 was a reimbursement for a payment to Red Finch for tech services; Weisselberg then wrote down that Cohen should be “grossed up” to cover his state, federal, and city taxes for NYC residents
Weisselberg also wrote over $60,000 in additional bonuses, which McConney understood was to “make up for what [Cohen] thought he was owed.”
As of that time, the plan, McConney said, was to wire $35,000 to Cohen every month starting February 2017.
Former controller deadpans when asked about Cohen's role at company
The first chuckle of the day inside the courtroom came when McConney was asked what Cohen's position was in the Trump Organization, and he dryly replied: "He said he was a lawyer."