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☆ Opinion: Stormy Daniels clears up hush money events for jury while clouding Trump’s defense
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

We can break down Daniels’ testimony by five critical “C” components:Curiosity: From the moment Daniels entered the room on stage right, the jury’s eyes — indeed, all eyes in the courtroom — were on her. Character: Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger spent the first 15 minutes or so of direct examination introducing Daniels to the jury. Join us on Twitter and FacebookCross: As with every witness in this trial, the defense, in this case the able Susan Necheles, landed some blows. More fundamentally, Necheles challenged the witness’ credibility on the 2006 encounter with Trump, pointing out that Daniels had previously denied it as recently as 2018. The widely anticipated testimony of Stormy Daniels did not disappoint.

Persons: Norman Eisen, “, Donald Trump, CNN —, Stormy Daniels, Norm Eisen, Norm Eisen Daniels, Trump, Daniels, Susan Hoffinger, ”, Hoffinger, Juan Merchan, Michael Cohen, Susan Necheles, Necheles Organizations: CNN, Trump, Prosecutors, Texas, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Manhattan, Baton Rouge , Louisiana

But some of the details Daniels described were so explicit that Judge Juan Merchan cut her off at several points. “How can we come back from this in a way that’s fair to President Trump?” Blanche challenged. “Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” Necheles asked“Yes,” Daniels said. “It’s also cost me a lot of money,” Daniels responded. “You are looking to extort money from President Trump,” Necheles asked.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump, Daniels, Trump, Juan Merchan, Merchan, “, Michael Cohen, Susan Necheles, ” Trump, ”, Trump “, didn’t, ” Daniels, Kaitlan Collins, Gina Rodriguez, Rodriguez, –, Peggy Peterson, David Dennison, Cohen, Jimmy Kimmel, she’s, Susan Hoffinger, Judge, Todd Blanche, Blanche, ” Blanche, CNN Hoffinger, ” Merchan, Necheles didn’t, ” Necheles, “ You’ve, Necheles, “ I’ve, “ It’s, Keith Davidson Organizations: CNN, Trump, AMI, Defense Locations: Trump’s, Las Vegas

☆ Judge threatens Trump with contempt for 'cursing audibly' during Stormy Daniels testimony, new trial transcript shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In a private sidebar conversation, Donald Trump's hush-money judge said he acted out while Stormy Daniels testified. Trump was "cursing audibly" and "uttered a vulgarity" while Daniels answered questions for jurors, the judge said. "I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually and that's contemptuous," Merchan told Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche. AdvertisementDonald Trump was "cursing audibly" during testimony from Stormy Daniels, according to New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. The judge also said Trump "uttered a vulgarity" when Daniels testified about "The Apprentice."

Persons: Donald Trump's, Stormy Daniels, Trump, audibly, Daniels, —, Juan Merchan, Merchan, Todd Blanche, Donald Trump, Susan Hoffinger, Hoffinger, Blanche, Jean Carroll's, Lewis Kaplan, Carroll, Kaplan Organizations: Service, New, Trump, New York, NBC Locations: Lake Tahoe , California, New, Manhattan, Trump's

Stormy Daniels took the stand at Trump's hush-money trial Tuesday. "My name is Stormy Daniels," the porn star at the center of the historic trial said as she swore to tell the truth while at the witness stand of a Manhattan courtroom, just 20 feet from Trump. Daniels told the jury she directed her first adult film at age 23. Advertisement"They marked it down in the books, the check was signed," Trump told reporters before he headed into the courtroom. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger explained that there will be details in Daniels' testimony about how the porn star "ended up having a sexual encounter" with Trump.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Trump, Daniels, —, Donald Trump's, Stephanie Clifford, Susan Hoffinger, Daniels —, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Michael Cohen, fumed, Cohen, We're, Susan Necheles, Juan Merchan, It's, Necheles, Merchan, Hoffinger Organizations: Service, Trump, Prosecutors, Attorney, Trump Organization, New Locations: Trump, Manhattan, Trump's, Lake Tahoe, Israel

☆ Too busy for hush money? Trump debuts longshot 'multi-tasking' defense during testimony by longtime assistant Rhona Graff
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The now-retired assistant, Rhona Graff, told jurors that Trump was prone to "multi-tasking" and sometimes would be on the phone at the same time he signed checks. The testimony was elicited during Graff's cross-examination by Trump attorney Susan Necheles. Related storiesThe nine checks are the only records bearing Trump's signature out of 34 checks, invoices, and business-ledger records he allegedly falsified. After Trump signed each check, it would be FedExed back to the Trump Organization's Trump Tower headquarters, scanned into the company records, and then cut and mailed to Cohen. — respectful boss to me," Graff told jurors of working alongside Trump in the Trump Organization headquarters on the 25th-floor of Trump Tower.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Rhona Graff, Trump, Trump's, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Susan Necheles, Necheles, Graff, Susan Hoffinger, Juan Merchan, Cohen, Alvin Bragg, Bragg, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Playboy Bunny Organizations: Service, Business, GOP, Manhattan, Trump, Court, Trump Organization, White, Prosecutors, Trump Tower Locations: New York, Trump

☆ Opinion: As Trump trial opens, attorneys have to make deft first moves
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Editor’s Note: Norman Eisen is a CNN legal analyst and editor of “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial.” He served as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for the first impeachment and trial of Trump. CNN —I will be joining the line Monday morning to witness opening statements in the first-ever criminal trial of a former American president. As a trial lawyer, I always would rather the jury hear about any problems with witnesses from me first, together with the solution. If the DA wants to build a bridge for the jury into what Trump was thinking, Blanche wants to preemptively destroy it. But before that I’ll be back to you with an evaluation of how both sides did for the next installment of my trial diary.

Persons: Norman Eisen, “, Trump, CNN —, Norm Eisen, Donald Trump –, Juan Merchan, Alvin Bragg’s, Matthew Colangelo, Susan Hoffinger, Joshua Steinglass, it’s, It’s, –, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, David Pecker –, Todd Blanche, he’s, Blanche, Cohen, Daniels, I’ll Organizations: CNN, Norm Eisen Journalists, Justice Department, New York, American Media, National Enquirer Locations: American, Manhattan

☆ Michael Cohen's fraud trial bombshell: Trump had me inflate his total assets based on a number he 'arbitrarily' picked
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Cohen was called as a key witness in Trump's New York civil fraud trial. "And my responsibility, along with Allen Weisselberg, primarily, was to reverse engineer" the value of Trump Organization assets, Cohen added, "in order to achieve the number that Mr. Trump tasked us." Asked by Faherty what he meant by "whatever number," Cohen did not miss a beat in answering. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt's James' investigation that led to the fraud lawsuit against Trump, Trump Organization, and four longtime company executives – including Trump's two eldest sons – that is now being tried. Throughout his testimony, Cohen repeatedly referred to Trump by full name, "Donald J. Trump," even as Faherty asked him who was his legal client and his Trump Organization employer prior to 2019.

Persons: Trump, Michael Cohen, Cohen, —, Donald Trump, general's, Cohen intoned, Colleen Faherty, Letitia James, Allen Weisselberg, James, –, Manhattan DA's Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Trump . Cohen, Daniels, Susan Hoffinger, Donald J, Faherty Organizations: Service, Mr, New York, Trump Organization, Manhattan District, Trump, Manhattan, Trump . Locations: Trump's New York, Manhattan, New York

☆ Michael Cohen and the Manhattan DA's Trump probe: It's complicated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

There are no security guards or obscuring metal gates when Cohen arrives for his weekly Trump probe sit-downs — just a dozen or so news cameras. "No," Cohen told The Daily Beast last April. By Bragg's sixth week on the job, the new DA, who'd never even met Cohen, told Pomerantz he "could not see a world" in which Cohen could be called as a DA witness. "Alvin Bragg is operating at Alvin Bragg's pace," Cohen told MSNBC on another appearance, after that 16th meeting. "The district attorney, and the team, I find them to be incredibly, incredibly competent and decent people," Cohen told Insider.

☆ Allen Weisselberg could get more time since the Trump Org guilty verdict required jurors to find he lied
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

A judge could rule Weisselberg violated the deal because jurors, by their verdict, found he lied. He has been promised a five-month jail sentence as part of his August plea deal. But that deal required Weisselberg, 75, to testify truthfully against former President Donald Trump's real-estate company, where he's worked since the 1970s. "Weisselberg says over and over, 'I, together with the Trump Organization,'" Florence, now in private practice, noted of his guilty plea. Trump Organization lawyers have already promised to appeal the verdict itself.

☆ 5 reasons to applaud the smart, speedy jury that convicted the Trump Organization of tax fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump's company of all 17 tax-fraud counts on Tuesday. But he would not implicate anyone named Trump — not Donald Trump, who he worked for since the 1980s. And not any of Trump's three eldest kids — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, or Ivanka Trump, who have all served as Trump Organization executive vice presidents. Back during jury selection in late October, defense lawyers had the darnedest time finding Manhattan residents who didn't hate Donald Trump. They certainly did not look like Donald Trump's C-suite of well-paid, white-collar white men.

☆ Donald Trump once lost $900 million in just 2 years, one of his accountants said
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump reported a $900 million loss over 2009 and 2010, one of his accountants testified, per Bloomberg. Donald Bender also said the Trump Organization reported yearly losses from 2009 to 2018, per ABC. Donald Bender, who worked on the company's taxes for 35 years, testified Tuesday that Trump had almost $700 million in losses on his personal tax returns in 2009 and $200 million in 2010, the publication reported. He also said that the Trump Organization reported losses each year between 2009 and 2018, per ABC. Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in executive pay each year from tax authorities.

☆ At Trump Org, a 'generous,' 'forgiving' Trump reigned over thankful executives, the defense theory claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Manhattan jurors are being asked by the defense to see Donald Trump as a forgiving, generous boss. In summations, prosecutors may call the 'Trump is just generous' defense a total turkey. The tuition schemeTake the total $359,000 in tuition checks Trump or his son, Eric Trump, signed for ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg's grandchildren. Instead, under the "generous Trump" defense, the checks, written from Trump's personal account, are explained away as not a suspicious, tax-dodging perk at all, but a "gift." Here, the defense can be expected to tell jurors that Trump is not only a generous boss, but a forgiving one, too.

☆ Trump Organization's outside accountant testifies he 'would have had a heart attack' if he'd seen the 'secret' Christmas bonus lists
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He testified Tuesday he "would have had a heart attack" if he'd seen how the company paid X-mas bonuses. Executives got bonuses in piecemeal checks signed by Trump, in what the DA says was a tax-dodge. For example, in 2015, the Trump Organization paid out $1.1 million in executive bonuses and paid Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, a $300,000 bonus, according to documents. Careful records were kept internally of how company bonuses were paid, some titled "The Trump Organization Christmas Bonuses." The accounting firm severed ties with Trump and the Trump Organization earlier this year, citing a history of financial "discrepancies" at the company.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump did not discipline Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg after finding out he'd been cheating on his taxes — and later gave him a raise to make up for the shortfall, the ex-CFO testified Friday. Trump's eldest sons took over control of the company following the 2016 presidential election. He pleaded guilty in August and agreed to testify truthfully against his employer in return for a five month jail sentence. Pressed by prosecutors on Friday, he said, "There was some benefits to the company but primarily it was due to my greed." Did a long time executive pay tax on the use of a company car, or a company apartment, or payments (not even taken by us as a tax deduction!)

Weisselberg testified that during the cleanup, Trump's sons knew the company paid executives' personal expenses that were not reported as income, and gave them bonuses as if they were independent contractors. Weisselberg said the company also did not fire or otherwise discipline two other executives who had engaged in similar practices. He said he had little interaction with Trump about the company after Trump became president. But he said Trump was aware the company had paid rent on Weisselberg's luxury Manhattan apartment for years, and signed the lease in 2005. Weisselberg told Hoffinger he did not recall whether Futerfas seemed unhappy with his testimony.

But Weisselberg said Trump did not conspire with him on the tax fraud scheme for which the Trump Organization is on trial. Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August and agreed to testify as part of a plea deal. But under cross-examination by Trump Organization lawyer Alan Futerfas, Weisselberg said he conspired with McConney, but not with any member of the Trump family. McConney is immune from prosecution for the tax fraud because he testified before the grand jury that indicted both Weisselberg and the Trump Organization. The questionable practices eventually came to an end in 2017 when Trump became president, Weisselberg said.

☆ Loyal ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg is done testifying at Trump Org tax-fraud trial that Trump calls 'VERY UNFAIR!'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Allen Weisselberg, Trump's ex-CFO, has finished testifying in the Trump Org trial. The Manhattan DA's case "has fallen apart," Trump grumbled, meanwhile, of the "VERY UNFAIR!" Still, his loyalties clearly remain with the same Trump Organization that is paying him. on salary that wasn't declared as salary, Susan Hoffinger, one of the two lead prosecutors, asked Weisselberg. "It was some benefit to the company," Weisselberg admitted, though he added, "but it was primarily through my greed."

☆ 5 reasons Trump's ex-CFO, testifying in the Trump Org tax-fraud trial, is the worst prosecution witness ever
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The Trump Organization tax-fraud trial is in its fourth week; ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg is testifying. But was Allen Weisselberg, Trump's first and only chief financial officer, ever really flipped? Or Trump's company, which is still paying him $1.4 million this year in salary plus bonus? Here are five reasons Weisselberg is shaping up to be the worst prosecution witness ever. Donald Trump or Eric Trump approved those executive salaries, bonuses and perks, Hoffinger, the prosecutor, told jurors, who have seen many of the signed checks and signatures that prove this.

Weisselberg, 75, said Trump was aware that compensation for executives included perks such as apartments and luxury cars in lieu of extra salary. The company later announced Weisselberg was being removed as CFO, but he testified Tuesday that his duties — and his salary — have largely remained the same. Lawyers for the Trump companies named in the indictment have argued that Weisselberg was the lone bad actor, and that both the company and Trump should not be blamed. Weisselberg said Tuesday that he first went to work for Trump's father Fred Trump in 1973, and has worked for Donald Trump since 1986. Other potential witnesses in the trial could include Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and his daughter Ivanka Trump.

Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, spoke about the savings during testimony as the prosecution's star witness. Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to avoiding taxes on $1.76 million in income and helping engineer tax fraud. He said if the Trump Organization gave him a raise to cover those expenses, it would have cost the company twice as much to account for his resulting taxes. They have also sought to blame Mazars, which for many years prepared Trump Organization tax returns. The trial's first witness, Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, testified that he did not know whether executives' rent payments were taxable income.

☆ Trump Org's ex-CFO says Eric Trump will decide if he'll get his annual $500,000 bonus after his testimony in the criminal trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Laura Italiano | Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Weisselberg testified in court that Eric Trump will decide if he gets his annual $500,000 bonus. Weisselberg is the prosecutors' key witness in the criminal tax-fraud trial of Donald Trump's company. When asked by a prosecutor whether he still expects to receive his annual $500,000 bonus this year, Weisselberg replied, "I don't know yet." prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Weisselberg in the lower Manhattan courtroom, prompting him to reply, "Eric Trump," who is one of Donald Trump's three sons. Hoffinger asked Weisselberg, who then answered, "Yes."

Companies Trump Organization Inc FollowNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Allen Weisselberg, a longtime senior executive at former U.S. President Donald Trump's family business, took the stand on Tuesday as the prosecution's star witness at the Trump Organization's tax fraud trial in New York state court. Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty in August to avoiding taxes on $1.76 million in personal income and helping Trump's real estate company engineer the tax fraud scheme. During questioning by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger on Tuesday, Weisselberg said he began working as an accountant for Trump's father, the real estate developer Fred Trump, in 1973. Weisselberg said the Trump Organization's business portfolio grew more diversified since he began working there, branching out into hotels, golf courses and commercial properties. Weisselberg is the third witness to take the stand in the trial, which began with jury selection on Oct. 24.

Prosecutors have charged two Trump Organization units with cheating tax authorities over a 15-year period. Lawyers for the two Trump Organization units said Weisselberg cheated on taxes to benefit himself, not the company. To prove the Trump Organization is guilty, prosecutors must show that a "high managerial agent" of the company - in this case, Weisselberg - acted in his official capacity. He and others also got paid bonuses from other Trump Organization entities as contractors, rather than as employees. Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case, has rejected the argument that the Trump Organization was targeted for selective prosecution.

REUTERS/Go NakamuraNEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump's real estate company cheated tax authorities over a 15-year period, a New York prosecutor told a jury on Monday in her opening statement in the Trump Organization's criminal tax fraud trial. The Trump Organization has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, the Trump Organization - which operates hotels, golf courses and other real estate around the world - could face up to $1.6 million in fines. It could also further complicate the real estate firm's ability to do business. Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case, has rejected the argument that the Trump Organization was targeted for selective prosecution.

☆ Trump Org prosecutors reveal some of their own witnesses 'won't even talk to us' because they're pro-Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

During jury selection, prosecutors revealed two DA witnesses have stopped meeting with them. At least three DA witnesses, including Trump Org's ex-controller and CFO, remain on Trump's payroll. McConney and at least one other key DA witness also remain on the Trump payroll, Insider has learned from multiple sources. "And the fact that witnesses are still working at the Trump Corporation, that they're meeting with the Trump Corporation, they won't meet with us … Those things go towards, you know, witness hostility, witness adversity. I feel like they have been threatening me and my family and everybody in the Trump Corporation.'"

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