NY v. Trump: Prosecution team witness testifies that Trump gave him no instructions on payments to Cohen

Former President Donald Trump did not personally direct a Trump Organization executive to set up reimbursement payments to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, according to witness testimony Monday in the NY v. Trump.

“Was Michael Cohen a lawyer?” defense attorney Emil Bove asked former Trump Organization handler Jeffrey McConney on Monday at the start of the trial’s fourth week.

“Sure, yeah,” McConney responded.

“And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?” Bove asked.

“Yes,” McConney said.

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“President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described…correct?” Bove asked.

“He didn’t,” McConney responded.

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Trump is in Manhattan for the fourth week of his trial, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. The New York v. Trump case focuses on Trump’s former lawyer Cohen, who paid former porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly silence her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate mogul in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

Emil Bove and former US President Donald Trump chat during the criminal trial of Trump accused of falsifying business records to hide money paid to hush porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, at Manhattan State Court in New York City, USA, April 26, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently recorded the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony.

McConney, who served as comptroller of the Trump Organization for more than two decades, took the stand Monday, where he was questioned by both prosecutors and the defense team.

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McConney testified that the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, ordered him to reimburse Cohen for payments of $35,000 a month, with the last one sent to Cohen in December 2017.

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump, right, outside a federal court in New York, US, on Thursday, December 14, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

McConney also detailed that Cohen initially received the refund through a trust, before moving to payments from Trump’s personal account. An email from McConney to Cohen was introduced into evidence, showing the comptroller responding to Cohen and confirming that the checks would need to be sent to the White House to be signed by Trump.

Cohen was paid a total of $420,000, according to testimony, a sum that was “boosted” so that Cohen would not lose money through taxes.

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His testimony during cross-examination bolstered the Trump team’s defense, with the executive highlighting that the 45th president had no active role in the repayments to Cohen.

Piers Morgan’s planned interview with Stormy Daniels is back on after the adult film star postponed it last week due to some security concerns. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)

“And as far as you know, President Trump didn’t ask anyone to do those things?” Bove continued, over objections from prosecutors.

“In none of the conversations you had with Mr. Weisselberg, did you suggest that President Trump had told you to do these things?” Up he pressed.

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“Allen never told me that,” McConney said.

Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom as his criminal trial continues on charges of falsifying business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, USA, April 22, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Pool)

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McConney is the prosecution team’s tenth witness since the trial began in mid-April. Last week, the court heard from Keith Davidson, a lawyer who once represented Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal; District Attorney’s Office Computer Forensic Analyst Doug Daus; banking executive Gary Farro; and Hope Hicks, who worked for the Trump Organization and later served as Trump’s press secretary during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s trial is expected to last at least six weeks. Trump has criticized the case as a “scam” promoted by the Biden administration ahead of the 2024 election.

Earlier Monday, Presiding Judge Juan Merchán said he will consider a prison sentence for Trump if he continues to violate a gag order. The gag order prevents Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses and their possible involvement, or comments about court staff, district attorney staff or family members of staff.

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The district attorney’s office argued that Trump had violated the order more than a dozen times, and the judge ruled last week that Trump violated the order nine times, resulting in a combined $9,000 fine. Merchan fined the former president another $1,000 for an additional violation on Monday, while arguing that it is “clear” that fines of $1,000 for each violation are not effective.

“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said. “Are [the] former president and possibly the next president.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Michael Lee contributed to this report.