Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged encounter with Trump

Donald Trump watched Stormy Daniels testify on Day 13 of his hush money trial.

Last Updated: May 7, 2024, 7:29 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Apr 22, 5:51 am

What to know about the hush money case

May 06, 2024, 12:16 PM EDT

As McConney testifies, his longtime boss sits in jail

Over the course of Jeffrey McConney's testimony, the former Trump Organization controller has repeatedly invoked the name of his longtime boss, Allen Weisselberg, when describing the conduct and the paper trail underpinning prosecutors' theory of the case.

He and Weisselberg ate lunch every day, McConney testified, and their offices sat beside each other in Trump Tower. At one point during his testimony, McConney said he recognized Weisselberg's penmanship on a key exhibit because "I've read his handwriting for about 35 years."

Former President Donald Trump appears in court during his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 6, 2024 in New York City.
Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images

But as McConney testifies, Weisselberg sits in jail -- one month into a five-month sentence after pleading guilty to two felony counts of perjury for lying under oath during his testimony in former President Trump's civil fraud trial and during the investigation that preceded it.

Weisselberg is not expected to testify at this trial.

May 06, 2024, 12:10 PM EDT

Jurors see tax forms Trump Organization filed for payments

Jurors saw the tax forms that the Trump Organization submitted to the Internal Revenue Service related to Michael Cohen's reimbursement.

Jurors saw two 1099 forms -- one for the $105,000 from Trump's trust and another for the $315,000 paid from Trump's personal account.

Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney testified that that the company doubled Michael Cohen's repayment to compensate for the expected taxes he would owe on the payments.

May 06, 2024, 11:53 AM EDT

Per document, 9 of 12 payments came from Trump's personal account

Following the mid-morning break, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney's testimony resumed and jurors were shown a spreadsheet called -- a query voucher -- that documents the 12 $35,000 payments made to Michael Cohen in 2017.

According to the exhibit, three of the payments came from Donald Trump's trust account, totaling $105,000.

The remaining nine payments were made through Donald Trump's personal account, totaling $315,000.

May 06, 2024, 11:25 AM EDT

Jury shown remaining invoices for Cohen repayment

In a dry, repetitive manner, jurors were shown the invoices that Michael Cohen sent to the Trump Organization to request payment for legal services pursuant to a retainer agreement, in order to repay the hush payment to Stormy Daniels.

The 11 invoices comprise 11 of the 34 criminal counts Trump faces.

Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney paged through exhibits showing emails and invoices for each month over the course of the repayment schedule.

Each of Cohen's 11 invoices read, "Pursuant to the retainer agreement, kindly remit payment for services rendered for the month of [name of month]."

McConney testified that he forwarded the invoices to Deborah Tarasoff, who worked in the Trump Organization's accounting department.

"Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses," McConney wrote on February 14, 2017.

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