4:36 pm ET, May 13, 2024
Key Points From Michael Cohen’s Testimony About How He Was Repaid for the Secret Settlement
By CNN’s Eric Levenson
Michael Cohen is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger on Monday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is in the foreground.
Cristina Cornell
Michael Cohen ended the day’s testimony by explaining how he, former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg, and Donald Trump agreed to reimburse him for the $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels.
After Trump won the election, Cohen presented Trump with a proposal in which he would act as Trump’s personal lawyer for free but would be paid by companies hoping to obtain information about Trump.
In early January, Cohen went to Weisselberg to be reimbursed for the $130,000 payment, and Weisselberg agreed, Cohen testified. He showed Weisselberg the wire transfer document, and Weisselberg made handwritten notes calculating what Trump owed Cohen based on their conversations.
Weisselberg suggested that Cohen accept the money as income and not as untaxed refunds, Cohen testified. “I didn’t really think about it. I just wanted to get my money back,” he said.
According to Cohen, they agreed that Trump would pay him $420,000 in total: $130,000 to reimburse him for paying Daniels, $50,000 to reimburse him for unrelated technology services, $180 thousand to account for estimated taxes and a $60 thousand bonus. The payments would be made over 12 months “as if it were a legal service provided, as he would then receive the title of personal lawyer to the president,” Cohen testified.
They presented the plan to Trump and he approved it, Cohen said. The payments were designed to look like future legal services, but were actually reimbursement for the Daniels’ settlement, he testified.
“What (Weisselberg) told me is, ‘Every month, just send us an invoice. And just check off the legal services provided under the agreement, and we’ll give you a check,'” Cohen testified.
Cohen never worked out a retainer agreement for any future work he did for Trump, “because I knew there would be no compensation,” he testified.
