Donald Trump’s lawyers caught off guard by Alvin Bragg’s witness

Donald Trump’s legal team has tried to argue that it is not ready to hear testimony from a potential key witness in the former president’s secret trial, according to reports.

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann described how Trump’s lawyers suggested to Judge Juan Merchan that they were not “prepared” to confront former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, who was called by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to answer questions during the trial on charges of falsifying business records.

But Merchan denied the request and allowed McConney to continue being questioned during Monday’s proceedings. McConney described how Trump’s company reimbursed attorney Michael Cohen for $130,000 he paid Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep his alleged affair with the former president secret.

Prosecutors argue that amounts to a crime because it was listed in official documents as a court fee. Trump denies accusations that he falsified records and denies any rumors of an affair with Daniels.

“Filing under a really lame excuse: Trump’s lawyers say they’re not prepared for Jeff McConney – he is the longtime comptroller of the Trump Org and testified at the Trump Org trial – and news were provided about him a long time ago,” Weissmann posted on X, officially on Twitter. . “Judge Merchan denies request to adjourn his testimony.”

George Conway, a lawyer and frequent critic of the former president, I postedResponse to Weissmann: “If they weren’t representing a lying, untrustworthy criminal trying to intimidate witnesses, they would have known who the next witness would be. It’s up to them to break.”

Trump’s legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

During his testimony, McConney recalled conversations he had with Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, telling him to pay Cohen in monthly installments starting in February 2017.

McConney made two payments to Cohen through a shell company the lawyer had created, and the rest of the payments came from checks signed by Trump from his personal account.

The total money paid to Cohen was $420,000, once separate fees and bonuses are added. McConney said Weisselberg said the additional payments were intended to cover taxes on the initial $130,000 paid to Cohen.

Prosecutors say increasing the amount paid to Cohen was part of a plot to hide the secret payments.

McConney also testified that Trump never personally asked him to record Cohen’s payments as legal fees, and Weisselberg never said that was how they would be listed in the company’s records.

Another former Trump employee, Deborah Tarasoff, who worked in the Trump Organization’s accounting department, also discussed check-signing procedures at Trump’s company and how once in the White House, the former president personally signed several checks to Cohen.

Elsewhere during Monday’s proceedings, Trump was fined for the 10th time for violating his silence order, and Merchan once again warned that the former president faced jail time if he continued to be found guilty of contempt.

“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Merchan told Trump. “You are the former president of the United States and perhaps also the next president.

“There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for me. Taking this step would disrupt this process, which I imagine you want to end as quickly as possible.”

Jerry H. Goldfeder, an election and campaign finance attorney, described how “important things” happened during Trump’s trial Monday.

“First, two Trump employees authenticated the fabricated business records that were at the heart of the cover-up of Stormy Daniels’ secret payment,” Goldfeder said. News week. “After the last two weeks’ 10,000-foot story about the catch-and-kill plan to hide Trump’s conduct from voters, the jury got to see the checks and bills in black and white.

“The second significant event was when the judge told Trump directly that further violations of the Court’s silence order to protect witnesses and jurors could send him to prison. I wonder if that will stop Trump or will incline it.”