Former President Donald Trump was allegedly involved in signing hush money checks at the White House, according to testimony from former Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney. These payments were made to reimburse Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen for the money he paid to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump. The paper trail presented by McConney suggests that Trump was directly involved in the scheme.
McConney explained that initially, Cohen was repaid from a company trust for the $130,000 he gave Daniels. However, when Trump started making payments from his personal account, the checks had to be sent to the White House for Trump’s personal signature. McConney testified that there was a check worth $17,000 that got lost in transit from New York to the White House. Overall, Cohen was paid $315,000 from Trump’s personal account and $105,000 from the trust, including the initial payment to Daniels, taxes, and a bonus.
In a separate development, Judge Juan Merchan held Trump in contempt for violating a gag order that prohibits him from disparaging the jury in the case. Trump made comments to the right-wing TV channel Real America’s Voice, claiming the jury was mostly Democratic. Merchan ordered Trump to pay a $1,000 fine for the violation and warned of possible jail time for future violations. This was the 10th time Trump has been held in contempt in this case.
The case against Trump accuses him of fraudulently recording reimbursements to Cohen as legal fees to prevent them from impacting his chances of winning the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in this case. He has baselessly claimed that the charges were brought to assist President Joe Biden in winning the election. Monday marked the third week of testimony in the trial.
These revelations come amid a backdrop of ongoing legal battles and controversies surrounding Trump. Hope Hicks, a former aide to Trump, became emotional during her testimony in the trial. In another incident, Trump admitted that the gag order did not prevent him from testifying, after initially claiming otherwise. The trial has continued to attract attention and scrutiny, with various key players offering testimony and evidence to support the allegations against Trump.
