Michael Cohen admitted this week that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization as part of the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, a testimony that may have provided the “ammunition to fatally undermine the prosecution case.”
In a courtroom bombshell to come shortly after Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand on Monday morning, the former lawyer for Donald Trump admitted that he stole $30k from the Trump Organization back in October 2016.
The bombshell came shortly after Trump’s defense attorney, Todd Blanche, pressed Cohen about the $20,000 that Cohen paid to the owner of RedFinch – a tech company that had done work for Trump.
Blanche asked Cohen how Cohen paid the tech firm, and the disgraced lawyer testified that he visited TD Bank “over a couple of days” to “take out” the $20,000.
“I went to TD Bank and took out cash over a couple of days,” Cohen explained on Monday morning, “I just didn’t want to take out $20,000.”
Blanche then asked Cohen whether he had a “duffel bag of cash” for the RedFinch owner, which, according to Cohen, was not the case. Cohen testified that the $20,000 was handed off in “a brown paper bag.”
“He came to the office and I gave him the cash,” Cohen told the court.
Flash forward to a few moments later during Cohen’s cross-examination, and Blanche pressed Cohen about how the money paid to RedFinch did not add up to the total that the Trump Organization provided Cohen to make the payment.
The Trump Organization reportedly gave Cohen $30,000 for RedFinch, and Cohen only handed off $20,000.
“You stole from the Trump Organization, right?” Blanche asked Cohen regarding the $10,000 difference.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen admitted. Michael Cohen also admitted that he never paid the total amount that he owed.
According to those in the courtroom on Monday morning, Trump “shook his head with a smirk” after Cohen admitted that he stole from the Trump Organization back in October 2016.
Meanwhile, Cohen also admitted that he lied to the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, in an effort to cover up the $130,000 hush money payment for Daniels.
“You lied to Weisselberg about how much you needed for RedFinch?” Blanche pressed Trump’s former fixer.
“Correct,” Cohen responded.
Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, rushed to X shortly after Cohen’s courtroom bombshell to throw shade at the former lawyer.
“This just got interesting,” Eric tweeted. “Michael Cohen is now admitting to stealing money from our company.”
CNN’s Laura Coates also took to X to argue that Cohen’s admittance in the courtroom on Monday morning provided the “ammunition to fatally undermine the prosecution case.”