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While testifying Monday at former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial in New York City, prosecution witness Michael Cohen admitted he stole from the Trump Organization in 2017.
Cohen, who had worked as Trump’s lawyer and fixer, replied in the affirmative when defense attorney Todd Blanche pressed him on an IT firm he hired to rig polls, according to The New York Times.
Reporter Maggie Haberman noted in a blog that RedFinch was owed $50,000, but Cohen paid the firm only $20,000 even though he had asked for a $50,000 reimbursement from the Trump Organization.
One of Haberman’s colleagues who joined her in the courtroom said Blanche led a line of questioning that “makes Cohen sound extra shady,” pressing about him having “like, a duffle bag of cash?”
Asked if he stole from the Trump Organization after being repaid more than he was owed — $100,000 with the money being doubled for tax purposes — Cohen replied, “Yes, sir.”
Trump shook his head at the response, per New York Times blog. One post from reporter Susanne Craig called the admission “another big ding to Cohen’s credibility.”
Responding to the development in the trial, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said in a post to X, “These are hits below the waterline for Cohen but also the prosecutors.”
He added, “They had a man admitting to a major larceny but never charged Cohen. That made Cohen not only their man, but allowed him to keep stolen money…”
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to multiple crimes, including lying to Congress, and served prison time. But, as Cohen acknowledged Monday, he never pleaded guilty to larceny despite telling prosecutors.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is expected to rest his case after the completion of Cohen’s testimony, focused on his role in facilitating payments to women who allegedly had affairs with Trump.
Trump, who denies the claims, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to allegedly conceal damaging information and cover up the payments as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 election.
The former president has pleaded not guilty and criticized what he says is a “political persecution” while he runs another campaign for the White House in the 2024 election.
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