Trump Hush-Money Lawyer Uses DA Evidence Against the Former President

Prosecutors allege that Trump falsified 34 business records to conceal a year’s payment to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, for prepaying a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

During his three-hour closing argument on Tuesday, Blanche detailed to jurors that Trump was not involved in any conspiracy to affect the 2016 election.

But if he wasMr. Blanch argued there was no necessary intent. He questioned how there could be necessary intent when Mr. Trump freely acknowledged that he had repaid Mr. Cohen.

Blanche then showed the jury three exhibits from the prosecution’s case.

Each exhibit – tax returns, tweets, government ethics forms – was shown on a display screen in the courtroom.

Both charges bolster the prosecution’s case that Trump knew full well that the $130,000 he paid to Cohen in installments throughout 2017 were compensation and not, as falsely stated in his business records, attorney’s fees.

“The government must prove that President Trump wrote these posts with the intent to defraud, even if they are false,” Blanch told jurors.

“Where did President Trump have the intent to defraud?” the lawyer asked the jury.

Prosecutors will need to prove that Trump had intent to defraud to prove a first-degree falsification of business records charge, a state charge that Trump allegedly violated 34 times throughout 2017, including by signing nine checks to repay Cohen.

Below are the three exhibits that Blanche presented to the jury in court as “proof” that Trump had nothing to hide.

1. 2017 1099 tax return

The Trump Organization and Trump personally reported paying a combined $420,000 to Michael Cohen in 2017.

Prosecutors said that’s how Trump’s then-chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, calculated the amount to be paid to Cohen in reimbursement for the hush money, as well as taxes and other monies Trump owes to Cohen.

1. “If there was a deep-seated intent on President Trump’s part to commit fraud, why did he release these payments to the IRS?” Blanche asked the jury.

   
   

   Manhattan District Attorney’s Office/BI

   
   
   

2. Tweets from 2018

On May 3, 2018, Trump posted a somewhat cryptic tweet acknowledging that the payments he made to Cohen throughout 2017 were, in his words, “repayment.”

The tweet came just five months after Cohen signed the last of nine $35,000 checks, each labeled “RETAINER.”

3. Government Ethics Form

During closing arguments, Blanche also presented jurors with what he called a 2017 “Executive Department Employee Financial Disclosure Report,” a mandatory report of assets and liabilities for then-presidents.

3. In the “Debts” section, where Trump must list money he borrowed, he certified that he “repaid in full” between $100,000 and $250,000, interest-free, to Cohen in 2017.

“President Trump tweeted what happened once it became known,” Branche told jurors on Tuesday, after he signed a government ethics code that also allowed for the reimbursements.

“This is not evidence of intent to defraud,” Blanche said.

The defense spent much of their closing arguments questioning Cohen’s credibility, whose testimony was key to the prosecution’s case.

Cohen is “literally the MVP of lying,” Blanche told jurors. A female juror in the front row and two male jurors in the back row smiled when Blanche called Cohen “The Gloat,” meaning “the greatest liar of all time.”

Deliberations are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.