Posted on 10/24/2023 1:07:20 PM PDT by thegagline
Cohen, during his testimony earlier today, tried to distance himself from "hush money" payments made to ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal — despite having previously admitted involvement in a guilty plea with federal prosecutors.
"I never paid Karen McDougal," he said Tuesday, while testifying that he had “complicity” in making hush money payments to Trump’s more well-known alleged lover, former porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump's former personal attorney and "fixer" also claimed from the stand that he has never evaded taxes — despite pleading guilty to that charge as well at a 2018 hearing in Manhattan federal court. *** McDougal and Daniels were allegedly paid in 2016 to keep quiet about their claims that they had affairs with the then-Republican presidential candidate. Trump has long denied their claims.
The alleged payments are a key part of the Manhattan district attorney’s upcoming criminal trial against Trump. *** Cohen testified this morning that Trump coached him and others at the Trump Organization to “reverse-engineer” phony figures about the value of Trump’s real estate empire to meet the ex-president’s preferred totals.
“I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected, and my responsibility … was to reverse-engineer the various different asset classes and increase those assets in order to achieve a number that Mr. Trump had tasked us with,” Cohen said on the stand. ***
Cohen said he manipulated the totals on Trump’s financial filings with the help “predominately” of former Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg, who is a co-defendant in the New York attorney general’s civil suit.
AG counsel Colleen Flaherty then asked Cohen to clarify how he and Weisselberg decided what totals to include in the financial filings.
“Whatever number Mr. Trump told us to,” Cohen responded. ***
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Likely was first targeted within hours of questioning Barry’s birth certificate
Reagan picked HW Bush, and that was the worst mistake he ever made.
Barr is clearly deep state. Pence is a wannabe deep state. Cohen is simply the current plaything of the deep state, and Bolton just wants war and is mad at Trump for firing him.
Trump has really hired some $h1tb1rds over the years. And apologize to all the $h1tb1rds who take offense at the thought.
Truth is that there there seem to be a lot of them out there.
Who do you think works for Nazi Pelosi? Or for Hillary Clinton?
Or for Mitt Romney? Or for Poopi Goldberg?
Michael Cohen: Why would the prosecution put someone so IMPEACHABLE on the stand? Maybe to show what PERJURY looks like?
Maybe he stayed at a holiday inn.
No one here is exactly what he appears.
Does he mean that these huge financial institutions would just roll over and accept his valuations.
I am puzzled. Every seller who has ever sold anything in world history ratchets up the value of his goods, as much as he possibly can.
This is total insanity.
Cohen is doing that right now, trying to pose as someone who has above average skills.
Why would Cohen have anything to do with determining Trump’s assets? Why would any court rely on his testimony in that regard? And since when were agreed upon settlement payments illegal? As far as I know Trump was not paying to hush Daniels up about some illegal activity he engaged in.
That is what stood out for me to.
Judge Arthur Engoron threatened “severe sanctions” against Trump as he said the former president may have violated the gag order against him - again. Trump spoke to reporters in the courthouse hallway where he took shots at the judge and "a person sitting beside him" as he returned from the morning break. “This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who's very partisan alongside him, perhaps much more partisan than he is,” Trump said. Engoron said he interpreted the comment as taking a shot at his principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, who Trump previously disparaged on social media - prompting the judge to impose the gag order and fine him $5,000. “This recent statement assuming the AP is correct, obviously was intentional,” the judge said when the parties returned to court after the break Wednesday. "I stated last time that a future violation would be severely punished… Why should there not be severe sanctions for this blatant, dangerous, disobeyal of a clear court order?” He added: "I'm very protective of my staff, as I believe I should be ... I don’t want anybody killed." Trump attorney Christopher Kise jumped in and said the comments were actually about Michael Cohen, who is currently testifying at the civil fraud trial. “I believe he’s talking about Michael Cohen, who is even more partisan” Kise said, acknowledging Trump's team is “well aware” of the gag order Engoron imposed Oct. 3 after Trump took shots at Greenfield online and baselessly dubbed her “Schumer’s girlfriend.” Trump, who sat slouched back in his seat, was asked by the judge who he was referring to but he did not speak. "Sitting alongside of him, sitting alongside of you, the way I would normally interpret those words is my principal law clerk,” Engoron said, before noting he would take the issue under advisory.
Judge Arthur Engoron threatened “severe sanctions” against Trump as he said the former president may have violated the gag order against him - again. Trump spoke to reporters in the courthouse hallway where he took shots at the judge and "a person sitting beside him" as he returned from the morning break.
“This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who's very partisan alongside him, perhaps much more partisan than he is,” Trump said.
Engoron said he interpreted the comment as taking a shot at his principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, who Trump previously disparaged on social media - prompting the judge to impose the gag order and fine him $5,000.
“This recent statement assuming the AP is correct, obviously was intentional,” the judge said when the parties returned to court after the break Wednesday.
"I stated last time that a future violation would be severely punished… Why should there not be severe sanctions for this blatant, dangerous, disobeyal of a clear court order?”
He added: "I'm very protective of my staff, as I believe I should be ... I don’t want anybody killed."
Trump attorney Christopher Kise jumped in and said the comments were actually about Michael Cohen, who is currently testifying at the civil fraud trial.
“I believe he’s talking about Michael Cohen, who is even more partisan” Kise said, acknowledging Trump's team is “well aware” of the gag order Engoron imposed Oct. 3 after Trump took shots at Greenfield online and baselessly dubbed her “Schumer’s girlfriend.”
Trump, who sat slouched back in his seat, was asked by the judge who he was referring to but he did not speak.
"Sitting alongside of him, sitting alongside of you, the way I would normally interpret those words is my principal law clerk,” Engoron said, before noting he would take the issue under advisory.
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