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Donald Trump’s longtime personal assistant was forced by subpoena to take the stand against the president Friday in a hush money trial in New York. But she may have helped her former boss more than hurt him.
His now-retired assistant, Lorna Graf, told jurors that Trump had a tendency to “multitask,” sometimes signing checks and being on the phone at the same time.
And nine of President Trump’s personally signed checks (the one that repaid the $130,000 hush money to Stormy Daniels in monthly installments to then-attorney Michael Cohen) were given to Manhattan detectives, the top Republican candidate. It is the most important evidence in a trial.
The testimony was elicited during Graf’s cross-examination by Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheres.
“Is it correct that he was also multitasking when signing checks?” Necheres asked Graf.
“I object, sir,” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger interrupted, but state Supreme Court Justice Juan Mercian allowed the question.
“It happened sometimes,” Graf replied. “It depends on what’s going on and how important the check that needs to be signed is.”
“But do you often see him on the phone when he’s signing checks?” the lawyer pressed.
Multitasking with a phone in one hand and a Sharpie in the other is “not uncommon,” Graf told Necheres.
“And he also signed checks when he was meeting with other people, right?” Necheres asked.
The prosecutor again said, “I object,” and this time no questions were allowed.
Of the 34 checks, invoices and corporate ledger records that Trump allegedly altered, these nine checks are the only ones that still bear Trump’s signature.
Friday’s testimony showed that the defense, or Mr. Trump himself if he takes the stand, made phone calls, conversations and other calls throughout 2017 when he signed the monthly hush orders on those nine charges. This suggests that he may claim that he was distracted from running the country’s affairs. -Refund check paid to Cohen, then attorney and “fixer.”
One of President Trump’s personal checks, for $35,000, was paid to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen.
House Oversight Committee
District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that nine checks (one of each) from April to December were cut from President Trump’s personal bank account.
Bragg said a separate check was sent by FedEx each month from the Trump Organization to the White House for Trump’s signature.
After Mr. Trump signs each check, it will be sent by FedEx back to the Trump Organization’s Trump Tower headquarters, scanned into internal records, then cut out and mailed to Mr. Cohen.
Prosecutors allege the check was refunded when Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 directly in hush money just 11 days before the November 2016 election.
Under direct examination, jurors told the jury that as part of his work for the Trump Organization, Graf had Windows Outlook contact cards on file that included the phone numbers of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. and gave damaging, or at least disgusting, testimony.
Prosecutors allege that Trump falsified business records in a conspiracy to influence the election to prevent him from going public with allegations of a sexual relationship between porn actress Daniels and former Playboy bunny McDougall. ing.
Mr. Trump denies sleeping with Mr. Daniels and Mr. McDougal or cooking his book.
“Did you build it?” prosecutor Hoffinger asked Graf as People’s Exhibit 83 was shown on four large screens in the courtroom. Each screen displayed Daniels’ Outlook card, with his cell phone number blacked out.
“I think he did,” Graff said, adding that in the 34 years he worked for Trump, he could never recall him using a computer.
Mr. Necheres also used cross-examination to ask a series of softball questions that allowed the loyal former aide to wax passionate about Mr. Trump.
“Was he a good boss?” Necheres asked.
“He was fair and – what’s the word I’m looking for? – a boss I respect,” Graf told jurors about working with Trump at the Trump Organization’s headquarters on the 25th floor of Trump Tower. I think it was,” he said.
The aide said Trump asked her about her family, told her to go home when she was working late and gave her a good seat at the inauguration.
“I was at the podium,” Graf said, smiling at the memory of the inauguration. “Frankly, I don’t think I deserved it, but I was there,” she added.
“I think it was a very unique and fun experience,” she added.
Testimony is scheduled to continue Tuesday, and the trial is expected to last another month. If convicted, Trump faces a sentence of up to four years in prison.