In court Monday, Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen admitted to stealing $30,000 from the Trump Organization.
The theft occurred when Cohen requested a $50,000 reimbursement from Trump for IT services that only cost $20,000.
Cohen is the prosecution’s final witness in Trump’s “hush money” criminal trial presided over by Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan Supreme Court.
On his fourth day on the stand, Cohen made his admission during defense attorney Todd Blanche’s cross examination.
"You stole from the Trump Organization, correct?" Blanche asked.
"Yes, sir," Cohen replied.
Blanche asked if he ever repaid the money or "Did you ever have to plead guilty to larceny?"
"No sir," Cohen said.
“At the defense table, Trump shook his head and pursed his lips,” ABC News reports.
“Prosecutors have argued that Trump falsified business records by describing a reimbursement for the Stormy Daniels payment and other expenses as payment for legal services pursuant to a retainer agreement, even though Cohen never had a retainer agreement with Trump,” the outlet added. “Throughout his cross-examination this morning, defense attorney Todd Blanche has attempted to legitimize the repayment arrangement between Trump and Cohen in 2017.”
During another exchange with the defense, Cohen admitted he would be willing to lie under oath.
Blanche also pressed Cohen about the number of communications he had with his former attorney, Robert Costello. Cohen previously said he spoke with Costello about a dozen times in 2018, but when Blanche suggested the two spoke on the phone over 75 times, Cohen said, “It seems excessive but possible.”
Cohen confirmed that he participated in some lengthy calls with his former attorney and said Costello “reached out more to me.”
In contrast to his testimony last week, when Cohen said he did not trust Costello because he was concerned anything he told him would be communicated to Trump via Rudy Giuliani, Cohen said he utilized that connection to learn more about the federal search of his hotel room and office.
“I spoke with the person you asked me to and he said he would find out exactly how the matter ended up in the SDNY and in particular who in Main Justice approved this,” Costello wrote to Cohen in a 2018 email.
Cohen confirmed the person mentioned here was Giuliani.
During a May 16 interview with Fox News, Costello recalled an April 2018 meeting with Cohen where he felt suicidal and concerned about future legal problems.
"They were so bad in his mind that he was willing to kill himself and so I kept on going back and suggesting to him, listen, Michael, if you have something truthful on Donald Trump, now is the time to cooperate," Costello said. "He kept on saying over and over again, 10 to 20 times, 'I swear to God, Bob, I don't have anything on Donald Trump.'"
"I even said to him, Michael, think about this, isn't it easier to cooperate against Donald Trump if you have truthful information than it is to kill yourself? Well, the answer is obvious. That was his moment in time," Costello said. "If he had something truthful to say, I'm willing to cooperate, but he didn't take that. He kept on saying, ‘I have nothing on Donald Trump.’"
Costello alleged Cohen claimed it was his idea to take care of Stormy Daniels’ NDA after he was contacted by her lawyer.
"Cohen said, 'I didn't believe the allegation, but nevertheless, it would be embarrassing to Melania,' that's Michael Cohen's words he said, and so ‘I decided to take care of this myself,’" Costello claims. "Now, he took out a home equity loan for $130,000 and used that, and he did tell us that he got repaid later."
Though Costello has not been subpoenaed, he hopes he will be called to the stand before the trial ends.
Closing arguments are currently scheduled for May 28 “to ensure there are not multiple days between summations and deliberations,” NBC News reports.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article did not include information regarding Cohen's admission that he would be willing to lie under oath. The subheading has also been updated to reflect the latest information.
