Former Employee Says Trump Used Personal Account to Repay Hush Money

Donald J. Trump's Monday began with a grave warning from Juan M. Merchan, the judge presiding over the former president's criminal trial, threatening to imprison him if he continued to flout a gag order.

Justice Merchan said that the fines levied against Mr. Trump — $10,000 so far — "are not serving as a deterrent."

The judge said that "therefore, going forward, this court will have to consider jail."

That warning preceded a desert-dry description of a $130,000 payment made by Mr. Trump's fixer, Michael D. Cohen, to a porn star to buy her silence about her story of a one-night stand in 2006. That testimony was elicited from two employees, one current and one retired, of the Trump Organization.

The former president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up that $130,000 payment. Mr. Trump, 77, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with the woman, Stormy Daniels. If convicted, he could face prison time or probation.

Here are five takeaways from Mr. Trump's 12th day on trial:

Trump's comments continue to bring him trouble.

Justice Merchan once again found Mr. Trump in contempt for violating his gag order that prohibited attacks on jurors, witnesses, court staff and others. It was Mr. Trump's 10th violation, and resulted from an April 22 interview in which he said the jury was from "a purely Democrat area," calling those circumstances "very unfair."

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The violation resulted in a $1,000 fine, which was on top of the $9,000 he was fined last week for nine other violations, a pittance for a billionaire. But the comments by Justice Merchan, who called the repeated violations "a direct attack on the rule of law," may have a far greater impact.

Justice Merchan said he recognized what a disruption and dramatic decision jailing Mr. Trump would be, but made clear he would imprison him, if necessary.

"You are the former president," the judge said, adding, "and possibly the next president."

But, he added, "at the end of the day, I have a job to do."

A chastised Mr. Trump seethes.

As Justice Merchan admonished Mr. Trump, the former president hunched over the defense table staring at him. When he finished, Mr. Trump shook his head. After court, Mr. Trump again blasted the trial as "election interference" in comments in the hallway outside the courtroom.

"They want to keep me off the trail," said Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, adding he had hoped the trial might end on Monday.

Mr. Trump did perk up when Jeffrey S. McConney, the Trump Organization's former corporate controller, recounted when Mr. Trump told him — as a joke — that he was fired because of a dip in his cash balances. Mr. Trump smiled at the memory.

The jury saw evidence of Michael D. Cohen's payments.

Mr. McConney testified about reimbursing Mr. Cohen for his payment to Ms. Daniels. (He was ultimately paid $420,000, which included a bonus and money to offset taxes, an arrangement outlined in a handwritten note by Mr. McConney shown to jurors.)

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Paid over a year, the hush money amounted to $35,000 a month. The schedule was painstakingly documented by prosecutors, who showed invoices Mr. Cohen sent to the Trump Organization and checks to Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen's invoices mention a "retainer agreement," something that prosecutors say didn't exist, but rather was a way to disguise the reimbursement.

On Monday, Mr. McConney was asked if he saw such an agreement.

"I did not," Mr. McConney replied.

It was dull, but it was important.

Mr. McConney and another witness — Deborah Tarasoff, an accounts supervisor at the Trump Organization — both testified about internal machinations to pay back Mr. Cohen.

Prosecutors asked them to identify a raft of business records and other forms to authenticate and describe them. After a week that had set a sensational backdrop for the case — including the presidential race in 2016, and the frantic efforts to keep stories about extramarital affairs quiet — Monday's testimony was often soporific.

Notably, Ms. Tarasoff also testified about the checks to Michael Cohen, which account for business records, which prosecutors say were falsified.

But the slog was necessary for prosecutors hoping to hang a case on documents. Still, Mr. Trump didn't seem impressed, keeping his eyes closed for some of it, as he has for swaths of testimony on other days.

The week — and weeks — ahead may get more exciting.

Despite Mr. Trump's shut eyes, his trial has featured gripping testimony about tabloid deals, celebrity shakedowns and life inside his inner circle. The rest of the week may intensify, including a possible appearance by Ms. Daniels.

She will likely attract a crush of media attention, driven by the spectacle of her sitting just across from Mr. Trump. With eight days of testimony complete, prosecutors said on Monday that they would need approximately two weeks to finish their case. The defense then gets its turn, and closing arguments follow.

After that, the jury will take over.

May 6, 2024, 4:20 p.m. ET

Court is adjourned. The prosecutors just said they have a little more than two weeks of their case left, citing a few Fridays off in the coming weeks. After that, the defense can put on a case, but does not have to. And after that, we will get closing arguments and the case will go to the jury.

May 6, 2024, 4:05 p.m. ET

The jury is being sent home for the day.

May 6, 2024, 4:18 p.m. ET

We've had two dry but important witnesses for the prosecution today, and a stern warning to Trump from the judge, threatening jail if he continues to violate his gag order.

May 6, 2024, 4:03 p.m. ET

Deborah Tarasoff is done. It is unclear whether we will get another witness today or not. The lawyers are huddling with the judge. I believe we've now seen all the records for which Trump was charged — 34 in all.

May 6, 2024, 4:03 p.m. ET

The defense's strategy has been to put to try to put as much distance between Trump and whatever is under discussion as they can. Todd Blanche just tried it again while questioning Deborah Tarasoff, saying she didn't get direct permission from Trump to draft the checks he signed, but rather from her boss, Jeffrey McConney. The cross-examination concludes, very quickly.

May 6, 2024, 3:59 p.m. ET

Christopher Conroy, a prosecutor, concludes his questioning of Deborah Tarasoff and Todd Blanche, a defense lawyer, stands up to cross-examine her. Trump turns his body to watch his lead lawyer and is now staring toward the lectern with his arm over the back of a chair. Blanche begins by establishing that he and Tarasoff don't know each other.

May 6, 2024, 4:01 p.m. ET

Blanche takes a slight swipe at the prosecution, noting the confirmation of the checks took "an hour and a half." Conroy, who led Tarasoff through that testimony, shoots Blanche a look.

May 6, 2024, 4:02 p.m. ET

Blanche looked down at his wrist when he did this, as if to look at a watch. As he mentioned how long it took to go through this evidence, Trump scoffed and shook his head.

May 6, 2024, 3:58 p.m. ET

We are seeing a series of checks made out to Michael Cohen, signed by Trump. His signature looks like a seismograph, all ups and downs, with a single decernible letter: the D at the front of his first name.

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May 6, 2024, 3:36 p.m. ET

Trump leaves as the court takes its afternoon break. He walks out without Todd Blanche, the lawyer who is normally with him at all times, right next to him.

May 6, 2024, 3:29 p.m. ET

We've arrived at the heart of the case, actually looking at the false documents and related exhibits for which Trump was charged.

May 6, 2024, 3:34 p.m. ET

This is a good moment to remind people that we have no idea how the jury is interpreting any of this. There is lots of circumstantial evidence that decisions didn't get made on spending without Trump, that Michael Cohen made a payment to a porn star, and that Trump said later it was better the story didn't come out before the election. But there has been no direct testimony tying Trump to how the payments were recorded yet.

May 6, 2024, 3:20 p.m. ET

As a side note, Trump's campaign is fund-raising off the judge's warning to him this morning about possible jail time if he does not stop violating his gag order, and attacking witnesses and others connected to the case.

May 6, 2024, 3:10 p.m. ET

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, which includes invoices, ledger entries and checks. This morning, during the testimony of the former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, we saw the invoices in question. Now, with Deborah Tarasoff, we are seeing the checks. This testimony has been granular yet essential to the prosecution's case.

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May 6, 2024, 3:12 p.m. ET

It's not clear how closely jurors are paying attention to this records recitation. Some are clearly looking at the screens in front of them. At least one looks drowsy.

May 6, 2024, 2:57 p.m. ET

Some serious chain-of-custody testimony right now, concerning who sent and received checks, how they were sent, and how they were stapled to the front of invoices.

May 6, 2024, 2:57 p.m. ET

Deborah Tarasoff says that Trump had to sign all the checks from his personal account, even after he became president and was living in Washington, D.C. She says they were sent by FedEx. She added that after Trump signed the checks, she would eventually get them back.

May 6, 2024, 2:59 p.m. ET

Christopher Conroy, the prosecutor, is emphasizing Tarasoff's point that only Trump could sign checks from his personal account. He is surprisingly halting as he questions her, moving slowly and thumbing through his binder at the lectern between questions.

May 6, 2024, 2:53 p.m. ET

At the defense table, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, two of Trump's lawyers, are passing a note back and forth. In between them? Trump, sitting with his eyes closed.

May 6, 2024, 2:52 p.m. ET

Slowly but surely, Deborah Tarasoff is being guided toward testifying about payments made to Michael Cohen in 2017. Those payments, as we saw before lunch, were reimbursements. The Trump Organization — and the defense lawyers — say they were for legal services rendered. But the prosecutors say that they were reimbursements for hush money, and that each individual record represents a felony.

May 6, 2024, 2:48 p.m. ET

Deborah Tarasoff is walking the court through the very mundane way in which Trump would sign checks, down to the black Sharpie he would use. She is underscoring that, for all of Trump's emphasis on the size of his company, Hope Hicks was correct when she testified that the company functioned like a family business. Things take place on a small and almost parochial level.

May 6, 2024, 2:39 p.m. ET

Deborah Tarasoff is being asked to run through a who's who of Trump Organization employees. Just a few years ago, these names would have been all but anonymous. But given the three times in three years the Trump Organization has been in the bright glare of one trial or another, these are essentially celebrities to the reporters covering this case: Jeffrey McConney! Rhona Graff! Allen Weisselberg!!

May 6, 2024, 2:29 p.m. ET

Deborah Tarasoff says she still is employed by the Trump Organization, and the company is paying for her lawyers.

May 6, 2024, 2:32 p.m. ET

Trump smiles a little when Tarasoff mentions he owns the Trump Organization.

May 6, 2024, 2:32 p.m. ET

Her current title is "accounts payable supervisor." She is expected to play a similar role, as a witness, to that of Jeffrey McConney, her former boss. She will likely testify about various exhibits, including potentially some of the false records.

May 6, 2024, 2:27 p.m. ET

The jury has been seated, and the new witness, Deborah Tarasoff, is being brought to the stand. Tarasoff didn't look at Eric Trump as she walked right by him on her way up.

May 6, 2024, 2:20 p.m. ET

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Deborah Tarasoff, who testified in Donald J. Trump's criminal trial on Monday, is an accounting department employee at the Trump Organization who played a significant role in the reimbursement of a hush-money payment at the center of the trial.

In about two hours of testimony Monday afternoon, Ms. Tarasoff described being asked in February 2017 by senior Trump Organization employees to send $35,000 checks to Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer.

Some checks were issued from Mr. Trump's personal bank account, which were sent via FedEx to him in the White House for his signature and returned with it in black Sharpie.

Prosecutors say those checks were to repay Mr. Cohen for the $130,000 he gave a porn star, Stormy Daniels, in the final days of the 2016 campaign to keep her from going public with her claim that she had sex with Mr. Trump a decade earlier.

Before taking the stand on Monday, Ms. Tarasoff had been identified in the statement of facts only as the company's accounts payable supervisor, the person who was told to label each of the 11 payments to Mr. Cohen as a "legal expense," according to prosecutors.

They have charged Mr. Trump with falsifying business records, saying that characterization of the payments disguised illegal campaign contributions as legitimate business expenses.

Ms. Tarasoff worked closely at the Trump Organization with Jeffrey S. McConney, the company's controller, who testified on Monday about being instructed to send payments to Mr. Cohen in 2017. He, too, is mentioned in the statement of facts, but not identified by name.

Ms. Tarasoff also had a small but key role in the Manhattan district attorney office's tax-fraud case against the Trump Organization, Mr. Trump's company. She testified that she knew about fringe benefits being paid to Allen H. Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer.

The Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud in December 2022. Mr. Trump himself was not charged.

May 6, 2024, 2:19 p.m. ET

Christopher Conroy, a prosecutor, just told the judge that the next witness would be Deborah Tarasoff, who has run the Trump Organization's books for years.

May 6, 2024, 2:16 p.m. ET

Justice Merchan runs a tight ship/courtroom. We're back on time at 2:15.

May 6, 2024, 2:18 p.m. ET

Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, complains to Justice Merchan that the defense only learned who the prosecution's next witness would be 30 minutes ago. The prosecutors' lack of trust toward the defense team is underscored here.

May 6, 2024, 2:26 p.m. ET

Prosecutors suggested early on that they did not trust Trump with the knowledge of which witnesses were being called in advance — a professional courtesy in many trials — because of worries that he would attack them on social media.

May 6, 2024, 2:14 p.m. ET

The lunch break is ending. Prosecutors are back, as is Trump, his lawyers, his son Eric, his advisers Alina Habba and Boris Epshteyn, and the Trump Organization's general counsel, Alan Garten.

May 6, 2024, 1:41 p.m. ET

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Former President Donald J. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, all stemming from accusations that he covered up a $130,000 hush-money payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, to suppress her story of a sexual liaison with him.

Why are they felony charges? Here are the basics.

What is a felony?

A felony is a crime of greater seriousness than a misdemeanor, and conviction of a felony carries the possible penalty of a year or more in prison.

Falsifying business records in New York State can be a misdemeanor, but prosecutors can bring the charge as a felony if they believe the records were falsified to conceal another crime.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin L. Bragg had suggested that Mr. Trump concealed three potential crimes, although he has not charged him with any of those.

Prosecutors do not need to prove such crimes were committed — only that there was "the intent to commit or conceal" an additional crime.

What do the business records show?

The $130,000 payment was made by Mr. Trump's fixer, Michael D. Cohen, in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Mr. Cohen said he had done so at Mr. Trump's direction.

While "hush money" payments are not necessarily illegal, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen during his presidency. In internal records, Mr. Trump's company classified the repayment to Mr. Cohen as legal expenses, citing a retainer agreement. Prosecutors say there were no such expenses or retainer agreement.

The records related to the reimbursement underpin the 34 counts of falsifying business records: 11 counts involve the checks issued to Mr. Cohen, 11 center on monthly invoices Mr. Cohen submitted to the company, and 12 involve entries in the general ledger for Mr. Trump's trust.

What crimes do prosecutors believe Trump was trying to conceal?

Prosecutors have suggested three possible crimes since filing the charges against Mr. Trump last year: a federal campaign finance violation, tax fraud and a state election-law crime. But since the start of the trial, they have largely focused on the state election-law crime: conspiracy to promote or prevent election.

Prosecutors have framed the falsified documents as concealing a broader conspiracy to protect Mr. Trump's campaign. They allege that Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen coordinated with the former publisher of The National Enquirer, David Pecker, to bury stories that could damage Mr. Trump's campaign and promote others that would harm his political rivals.

Mr. Pecker testified about how the tabloid purchased the story of a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who said she'd had an affair with Mr. Trump, and about how he declined to buy Ms. Daniels's story and suggested that Mr. Cohen buy it instead.

In Case You Missed It

May 6, 2024, 1:03 p.m. ET

To catch you up during the lunch break, Jeffrey McConney, the former corporate controller at the Trump Organization, testified for about three hours on Monday about the repayment of a hush-money deal that was made in the final days of the 2016 election to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump. The repayment is at the center of the 34 felony counts against Trump.

Daniels was paid by Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, who was reimbursed after Trump was elected president. McConney testified that most of the repayment in 2017 originated from Trump's personal bank account. Some checks were sent to the White House for Trump to sign, McConney said.

Prosecutors will call a new witness after the break.

May 6, 2024, 12:57 p.m. ET

Matthew Colangelo, the prosecutor, questioned Jeffrey McConney again during a brief re-direct. He leaned into the arguments the defense was making, and only really asked McConney if he later learned that there were things going on to which he had not been privy to.

This takes advantage of Emil Bove, Trump's lawyer, not having an alternative explanation for the documentary evidence. Bove argued that McConney didn't know what he was talking about when it came to the transactions that Allen Weisselberg directed him to make. But not only was Colangelo fine with that — he thought it was helpful for the prosecution's case.

May 6, 2024, 12:57 p.m. ET

"You were told to do something and you did it?" Colangelo asked. "Yes," McConney answered.

May 6, 2024, 1:01 p.m. ET

McConney is done. Trump appeared to give him two fist pump gestures as he left the stand.

May 6, 2024, 12:54 p.m. ET

Watching Emil Bove's largely hard-to-follow cross examination of Jeffrey McConney, the challenge facing Trump's lawyers again becomes clear. They're basically doing a version of: "He didn't do it, and even if he did it's not a crime."

That worked effectively during, say, Trump's first impeachment trial, which was a political trial. But this is a criminal case involving a lot of pretty clear evidence that Michael Cohen made a payoff to Stormy Daniels that he was reimbursed for after discussions involving top Trump financial officials.

Since the client here — Trump — never wants his lawyers to cede any ground as to whether he did anything questionable, the defense lawyers are left with this jumble.

May 6, 2024, 12:44 p.m. ET

As we listen to Emil Bove seek to emphasize that Jeffrey McConney was not personally sure what the repayments to Michael Cohen were for, I'm reminded that the defense lawyers, in their opening statement, did not offer a cohesive alternative theory of the case, but rather attacked various parts of the prosecution's case. That can make it difficult to follow what Bove is trying to achieve with an individual witness, especially one like McConney who mostly testified about documentary evidence. Bove is implying that McConney doesn't truly understand the documents he was asked to testify about — but even accepting McConney's relative ignorance, it's hard to know what the defense wants the jury to make of these damning documents.

May 6, 2024, 12:47 p.m. ET

Bove appears to be trying to make the jury feel like none of this was secretive or nefarious. To that end, he just spent a bunch of time getting McConney to say how he routinely locked cabinets to protect Trump Organization employees' sensitive financial details. In other words, he implies, the cabinet was not locked to protect the secret agreement with Michael Cohen.

May 6, 2024, 12:37 p.m. ET

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The name of Allen H. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, arose repeatedly on Monday during the criminal trial of his former boss, as a former employee that Mr. Weisselberg knew about the payments at the heart of the trial.

The former Trump Organization employee on the stand, Jeffrey S. McConney, said that Mr. Weisselberg had instructed him in early 2017 to send money to Donald J. Trump's former fixer, Michael D. Cohen. A few months earlier, Mr. Cohen paid $130,000 from a home equity credit line to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Cohen was repaid for that deal throughout 2017 in 11 checks — nine of them originating from Mr. Trump's personal banking account — that were recorded as "legal expenses" in Trump Organization records. Prosecutors have accused Mr. Trump of falsifying those business records to conceal the hush-money deal.

The checks to Mr. Cohen ultimately totaled $420,000, covering the hush money, a bonus and additional funds for taxes.

Mr. McConney joined the Trump Organization in 1987 and worked as its corporate controller, reporting to Mr. Weisselberg. He said he had a close relationship with Mr. Weisselberg and ate lunch with him every day. For nearly 50 years, Mr. Weisselberg worked for Mr. Trump's family business, with an unflinching devotion to the former president.

Mr. Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to perjury in another case involving Mr. Trump, is currently incarcerated and is not expected to testify in the case.

He and Mr. McConney were sued along with Mr. Trump in a civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general's office. In his ruling, the judge in that case, Arthur F. Engoron, issued a fine of more than $450 million to Mr. Trump and gave a lifetime ban to Mr. Weisselberg from serving in a financial management role in any New York company.

Last month, Mr. Weisselberg, 76, was sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty to lying during his testimony in that case. He had already served about three months for tax fraud at the Rikers Island jail.

May 6, 2024, 12:30 p.m. ET

Emil Bove, who has been handling a lot of the cross-examination at this trial, is questioning Jeffrey McConney quite aggressively. It's a bit of a mysterious approach. The prosecutor used McConney to bring up documents that were damaging to the defense's case, but his testimony itself was fairly innocuous. If I were a juror, I might be confused as to why Bove is taking such a tough tone with him, as the defense lawyers continue to try to distance their client from any false documents.

May 6, 2024, 12:29 p.m. ET

Emil Bove, Trump's lawyer, is trying to establish that Jeffrey McConney had no way of knowing what work Michael Cohen did as Trump's personal lawyer in 2017. But this line of questioning seems to simply underscore the direct connection between Trump and Cohen. If Cohen was a such a mess who they wanted to get rid of, why did Trump continue letting him serve as a personal lawyer?

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May 6, 2024, 12:25 p.m. ET

In his cross-examination, Trump's lawyer Emil Bove is trying to establish some distance between Trump and the actions of his accounting department. Trump has opened his eyes for this section and is paying close attention. He smiled as Jeffrey McConney said he never discussed accounting software with Trump.

May 6, 2024, 12:26 p.m. ET

McConney said he never gave Trump a tour of the company's accounting software. But it's important to remember the government's lawyers need not prove that Trump personally falsified the records, only that he orchestrated their falsification.

May 6, 2024, 12:24 p.m. ET

Emil Bove, one of Trump's lawyers, has begun his cross-examination of Jeffrey McConney. Michael Cohen, who has been slammed a few times in this trial, just got trolled again, as Bove asked McConney to confirm that Cohen was a lawyer. McConney scoffed and said "OK," in a dismissive way.

May 6, 2024, 12:23 p.m. ET

Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor, ends his direct questioning by asking Jeffrey McConney a series of questions about a financial disclosure publicized in 2018 in which Trump reported to the government that he had repaid more than $100,000 to Mr. Cohen the previous year. This form is further documentary evidence of the hush-money reimbursement, and as our colleagues reported then, raised many questions when it was first made public. Now we see prosecutors using them at Trump's criminal trial as further evidence of the transaction at issue in the case.

May 6, 2024, 12:09 p.m. ET

We have now reviewed several general ledgers associated with Trump himself and his trust. 12 of the 34 counts against Trump are related to ledger entries that accounted for the reimbursements to Michael Cohen. It's not clear, yet, that we've actually seen the entries in question — the ledgers we saw related to 2018, while the payments in question were made in 2017.

May 6, 2024, 12:09 p.m. ET

Tax forms were generated to account for the money paid to Michael Cohen, the implication being false records were also filed with the I.R.S.

May 6, 2024, 11:43 a.m. ET

We're back in action, if "action" means a steady, often stultifying recitation of business records. As dull as it seems, it is critical to the prosecution's case in trying to prove said business records were false and meant to cover a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, who could testify later this week.

May 6, 2024, 11:38 a.m. ET

As has almost always been the way, prosecutors return post-break before Trump does.

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May 6, 2024, 11:25 a.m. ET

We've concluded looking at the series of 11 invoices that prosecutors say were falsified. With that testimony, we take our morning break.

May 6, 2024, 11:27 a.m. ET

Jeffrey McConney ambles out of the courtroom at the break. He doesn't seem to look at Trump.

May 6, 2024, 11:15 a.m. ET

The last 10 minutes or so have consisted of a slow procession of invoices from Michael Cohen and related emails between Jeffrey McConney, Deborah Tarasoff and Allen Weisselberg being shown on the video monitors in the courtroom. These, prosecutors say, are the false documents. They don't look like much, and despite their centrality to the case, the room has taken on a relaxed atmosphere as we make our way through them.

May 6, 2024, 11:14 a.m. ET

It's worth noting that Cohen was not working for the Trump Organization anymore as he was submitting these invoices. At some point in 2017, he set up shop at Squire Patton Boggs's offices in Midtown. Cohen continued to describe himself as Trump's personal lawyer that year, providing a connection to Trump directly. But he was not working for the company.

May 6, 2024, 11:18 a.m. ET

This may be repetitive but it doesn't appear that the prosecutors have lost the jurors. They appear to be following along on their screens.

May 6, 2024, 11:10 a.m. ET

As Jeffrey McConney continued to testify, Trump turned to one of his lawyers, Emil Bove, and whispered to him urgently, with Bove responding a bit more calmly and nodding.

May 6, 2024, 11:00 a.m. ET

In a funny aside, Jeffrey McConney is asked where Trump physically was in 2017. He deadpans that Trump was in Washington, D.C. He then describes the fact that the checks would have to be sent to the White House for the president of the United States to sign.

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May 6, 2024, 11:02 a.m. ET

McConney makes clear that starting in March 2017, these checks reimbursing Michael Cohen began coming out of Trump's personal bank account.

May 6, 2024, 11:02 a.m. ET

In March 2017, Trump began a pressure campaign on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to get him to reverse his recusal from the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russians.

May 6, 2024, 10:57 a.m. ET

We are beginning to see the roots of what prosecutors say are false about the documents at issue in this case. Jeffrey McConney told Deborah Tarasoff, who dealt with the details of payroll at the Trump Organization and who is also expected to testify, to record the payments to Michael Cohen as "legal expenses." He also told her to say they were being made as part of a "retainer" agreement between Cohen and Trump, which prosecutors say did not exist. Prosecutors say that was a way to disguise the hush-money reimbursement to Cohen. To find Trump guilty, jurors will have to agree that these documents were indeed falsified.

May 6, 2024, 10:57 a.m. ET

This is also why the prosecutors laid out their case they way they did — with the conspiracy around concealing negative information about Trump ahead of the election coming first.

May 6, 2024, 10:58 a.m. ET

Matthew Colangelo, the prosecutor, asked McConney if he ever saw a retainer agreement. He responded: "I did not."

May 6, 2024, 10:49 a.m. ET

On screen is an email from Allen Weisselberg to Jeffrey McConney saying that it was okay to pay the money to Michael Cohen, "per agreement with Don and Eric." Eric Trump is sitting in the courtroom as this takes place.

May 6, 2024, 10:52 a.m. ET

Notably, McConney testifies that he didn't send the invoice from Cohen to the legal department for review. He acknowledges he typically would do so with invoices.

May 6, 2024, 9:52 a.m. ET

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Jeffrey S. McConney worked as the corporate controller at the Trump Organization and, prosecutors say, helped arrange the reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, who has long claimed to have had an affair with Donald J. Trump.

That reimbursement is at the center of the criminal case against Mr. Trump. Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office have accused Mr. Trump of falsifying business records by mislabeling the reimbursements in 2017 to Michael D. Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer, as "legal expenses." Mr. Cohen made the payment to Ms. Daniels in the last days of the 2016 campaign.

Mr. McConney, who took the witness stand on Monday, testified that he had a close relationship with his boss, Allen H. Weisselberg, then the company's chief financial officer, who told him in 2017 that Mr. Cohen was owed money. He was questioned on the stand for about three hours.

He said that Mr. Weisselberg instructed him to send the money to Mr. Cohen. The checks that Mr. Cohen received throughout 2017 exceeded that amount because he was also paid a bonus and money to cover the taxes on the income. Nine of the 11 checks originated from Mr. Trump's personal account, Mr. McConney testified, and were sent to the White House for Mr. Trump to sign.

Mr. McConney testified that he told a colleague in the accounting department, Deborah Tarasoff, who is expected to take the stand soon, to record the payments as "legal expenses."

Mr. McConney also spoke about Mr. Trump's constant focus on the outflow of cash at the Trump Organization. Mr. McConney joined the company in 1987 and about a year later, Mr. Trump noticed that its cash balances had decreased from the week before. He met with Mr. McConney and said, "Jeff, you're fired."

He was not actually fired, Mr. McConney said on Monday, but the incident served as a lesson about Mr. Trump's attention to cash and bills.

Mr. McConney got involved the following February, according to a statement of facts filed by prosecutors that identified him only as the "TO Controller," using the abbreviation for Mr. Trump's company. That month, prosecutors say, Mr. Cohen emailed an invoice to Mr. McConney for $35,000 worth of legal expenses in January 2017 and the same for February 2017.

Prosecutors say that Mr. Weisselberg approved the payments, and then Mr. McConney asked another accounting division employee to issue them and to register them as "legal expenses." The payments continued through 2017.

Mr. McConney testified for several days last November in a civil fraud case against Mr. Trump that was brought by the New York State attorney general's office. Mr. McConney was also a defendant in the case.

After 35 years at the Trump Organization, he said on the stand that he could no longer handle working there amid its legal challenges.

"I just wanted to relax and stop being accused of misrepresenting assets for the company that I loved working for," he said in November.

The judge who ruled in the civil fraud case, Arthur F. Engoron, barred Mr. McConney from serving as an officer or director of a New York company for three years and issued a lifetime ban on serving in a financial management role at a New York company.

May 6, 2024, 9:41 a.m. ET

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Follow our live coverage of Trump's hush-money trial in Manhattan.

The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan rebuked the former president on Monday for mounting "a direct attack on the rule of law," holding him in contempt of court for a second time and threatening to jail him if he continued to break a gag order that bars him from attacking jurors.

In a moment of remarkable courtroom drama, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, addressed Mr. Trump personally from the bench, saying that if there were further violations, he might bypass financial penalties and place the former president behind bars.

Justice Merchan acknowledged that jailing Mr. Trump was "the last thing" he wanted to do, but explained that it was his responsibility to "protect the dignity of the justice system."

The judge said that he understood "the magnitude of such a decision" and that jailing Mr. Trump would be a last resort. He noted: "You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well."

As the judge delivered his admonition and imposed a $1,000 fine, Mr. Trump stared straight at him, blinking but not reacting, and when the remarks were over, the former president shook his head.

It was the second time in two weeks that Mr. Trump had been punished for breaking the gag order, which also bars him from attacking prosecutors, witnesses and others. Among the violations of which Mr. Trump has been accused, Justice Merchan has taken those involving the jury most seriously.

The violation for which he was punished on Monday stemmed from an incident on April 22, when Mr. Trump made disparaging remarks about the jurors during a telephone interview with a far-right media outlet, Real America's Voice. The jury, he said, had been picked "so fast" and was "mostly all Democrat," adding, "It's a very unfair situation."

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office, which brought the case accusing Mr. Trump of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal, argued that Mr. Trump had committed a total of four new violations of the order. But Justice Merchan concluded that only the incident in which Mr. Trump attacked the jury amounted to a violation.

"Defendant not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones," Justice Merchan wrote in his order holding Mr. Trump in contempt.

The order came less than a week after Justice Merchan issued a separate decision fining Mr. Trump $9,000 for nine earlier violations. In that ruling, the judge said that he lacked the authority to issue larger fines against the billionaire former president and warned him that continued disobedience could land him in jail.

Although Mr. Trump's comments to Real America's Voice came before the judge issued his first contempt order — and initially warned Mr. Trump of jail time — Justice Merchan appeared exasperated by the continued violations. On Monday, he issued a more explicit and sterner warning, all but pleading with the former president to stop attacking the jury.

"The last thing I want to do is put you in jail," Justice Merchan said, adding quickly, "But at the end of the day, I have a job to do."

Together, the two contempt rulings were the latest reminder of the extraordinary lengths to which judges have gone to keep Mr. Trump from lashing out at participants in his various legal entanglements.

Last year, a judge in Manhattan overseeing Mr. Trump's civil fraud trial imposed $15,000 in fines on the former president for violating a gag order. The former president is also under a gag order in a federal case in Washington, in which he has been charged with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, but he has not yet been accused of violating that one.

Mr. Trump has bridled in various ways at the constraints of Justice Merchan's order, which was first put in place in March and then expanded several days later.

On Thursday, for instance, one of his lawyers, Susan Necheles, asked Justice Merchan to evaluate a stack of articles that Mr. Trump had wanted to post online about the case.

Ms. Necheles expressed concern that the articles might violate the gag order because they mentioned the names of witnesses, but Justice Merchan refused to rule in advance about whether Mr. Trump could post them. He cautioned Ms. Necheles: "When in doubt, steer clear."

That same afternoon, when court let out for the day, Mr. Trump falsely told reporters that the gag order would prevent him from testifying in his own defense at the trial. On Friday morning, Justice Merchan took a moment to publicly correct the former president, instructing him that the order "does not prevent you from testifying in any way."

May 6, 2024, 3:00 a.m. ET

Jurors in Donald J. Trump's criminal trial were shown a series of checks — mostly drawn from his personal bank account when he was president — that repaid his longtime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, for buying the silence of a porn star who said she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.

The checks, bearing Mr. Trump's distinctive signature, were displayed on Monday afternoon during the testimony of Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization's accounts payable supervisor. The checks are at the heart of the 34 felony counts against the former president: Prosecutors say he falsified business records related to the reimbursement of Mr. Cohen, who paid $130,000 out of his own pocket during the final days of the 2016 campaign to bury the account of the porn star, Stormy Daniels.

Here's what to know:

• Key testimony: Before Ms. Tarasoff took the stand, Jeffrey S. McConney, the Trump Organization's former corporate controller, testified for roughly three hours. He described how he had been ordered by Allen Weisselberg, the company's chief financial officer at the time, to reimburse Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen ultimately received $420,000 — covering the hush money, a bonus and additional funds — and Mr. McConney testified that nine of the 11 payments came from Mr. Trump's personal account.

• The defense strategy: Mr. Trump's lawyers repeatedly sought to put distance between the former president and the actions described during testimony. While questioning Ms. Tarasoff, one of Mr. Trump's lawyers noted that she didn't get direct permission from Mr. Trump to draft the checks he signed, but rather from Mr. McConney, who had been her boss.

• Trump found in contempt again: The day began with the judge overseeing the case fining the former president $1,000 and threatening to jail him if he continued to violate a gag order barring attacks on witnesses and jurors. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, directly rebuked Mr. Trump for what he said was "a direct attack on the rule of law," and the former president shook his head when the judge concluded. Mr. Trump has now been fined a total of $10,000, $1,000 for each of 10 violations of the order.

• Prosecutors say they need about more two weeks: Before court adjourned on Monday, lawyers from the district attorney's office said they expected it to take them about two more weeks to finish presenting their case. After that, Mr. Trump's lawyers could mount a defense — although they are not required to, and it's not clear if Mr. Trump would take the stand. Closing arguments from both sides would follow, then the jury would begin deliberations.

• The false records charges: Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney's office have charged Mr. Trump with 34 felonies, saying he coordinated the falsification of business records related to the reimbursement. They accuse Mr. Trump, 77, of directing his company to describe the payments as "legal expenses" from a retainer agreement, which they say did not exist. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied that he had sex with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face probation or as long as four years in prison.

• Hope Hicks speaks: Mr. Trump's former press secretary and White House communications director on Friday described the deep anxiety that gripped Mr. Trump's campaign after the revelation of the so-called "Access Hollywood" tape in October 2016. In nearly three hours on the stand, Ms. Hicks also described concerns about a 2016 article in The Wall Street Journal, published days before the election, regarding Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007. Ms. McDougal's story was purchased by the parent company of The National Enquirer, only to be buried. Here are five takeaways from Friday's court session.

May 3, 2024, 5:34 p.m. ET

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Gasps were heard in the overflow courtroom when Hope Hicks was called as a witness on Friday in Donald J. Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan, an audible sign of the anticipation as Mr. Trump's former press secretary and White House communications director took the stand. Her testimony ended the trial's third week in dramatic fashion.

In nearly three hours on the stand, Ms. Hicks described the impact on Mr. Trump's campaign of the so-called "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Mr. Trump bragged about grabbing women's genitals. As soon as the tape was disclosed in October 2016, Ms. Hicks said, she knew it would be "a massive story."

Taking the stand under a subpoena, Ms. Hicks said she was nervous, and at one point, early in the cross-examination, she broke down in tears.

The Manhattan district attorney has charged Mr. Trump, 77, with falsifying 34 business records to hide a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who says she and Mr. Trump had a tryst in 2006 while he was married. Mr. Trump, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face probation or prison time.

Here are five takeaways from Mr. Trump's 11th day, and third week, on trial:

A scandalous recording resurfaces.

Ms. Hicks, now a communications consultant, testified to her fast rise in the Trump family orbit, going from working for his daughter Ivanka to press secretary for Mr. Trump's campaign. It was in that role that, in October 2016, she had to confront what she called the "intense" fallout from the revelation of the "Access Hollywood" tape.

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Donald Trump's Lewd Comments About Women

In a 2005 recording obtained by The Washington Post before the presidential election, Donald J. Trump talks about women in vulgar terms to Billy Bush, then the host of "Access Hollywood."

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The judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, has said the tape itself cannot be played, but jurors saw a transcript of it on Friday in an email sent to Ms. Hicks by a reporter from The Post.

"When you're a star, they let you do it," Mr. Trump said in the tape about groping women. "You can do anything."

"Deny, deny, deny."

The need for damage control did not abate, however, as Ms. Hicks was confronted with the story of Karen McDougal and a mention of Ms. Daniels in an article by The Wall Street Journal just days before the 2016 election. The story reported that Ms. McDougal, a former Playboy model, had been paid $150,000 in August 2016 by the parent company of The National Enquirer, which then suppressed her story of an affair with Mr. Trump which he has denied.

Ms. Hicks recalled consulting with Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former lawyer and fixer, who eventually paid Ms. Daniels to keep quiet. Mr. Cohen denied the stories, drafting a proposed response calling them "completely untrue," and Ms. Hicks told The Journal the same thing.

Indeed, even as the "Access Hollywood" tape was coming out, Ms. Hicks said one strategy — which she documented in an email to other senior Trump aides — was simple: "Deny, deny, deny."

Election pressures were huge.

Earlier in the week, Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles lawyer, testified about deals he negotiated for Ms. Daniels and Ms. McDougal during the closing months of the 2016 campaign, when Mr. Trump was battling Hillary Clinton.

The election was a constant topic, with Mr. Davidson pressuring Mr. Cohen for payment as Election Day loomed and Ms. Daniels threatening to blow up the deal as days ticked down.

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On Friday, prosecutors introduced online postings and a video statement by Mr. Trump in which he acknowledged saying "foolish things" on the "Access Hollywood" tape, but also attacking Ms. Clinton. The jury also saw posts made in the weeks before the election in which Mr. Trump blasted women who had accused him of misconduct, calling their accounts phony.

"Nobody has more respect for women than me," he wrote.

Trump's voice was heard in court, and outside, too.

Prosecutors on Tuesday played video clips of Mr. Trump's denials of sexual assault while on the campaign trail, as well as part of a deposition Mr. Trump gave in a lawsuit in which he was found liable for sexual abuse.

And on Wednesday, Mr. Trump blasted the criminal case while campaigning, calling Justice Merchan "crooked" and "conflicted."

Back in court on Thursday, jurors heard a conversation Mr. Cohen had recorded with Mr. Trump about how to reimburse the publisher of The Enquirer for the purchase of Ms. McDougal's story.

Trump, fined once, faces another gag-order ruling.

After hearing prosecutors' arguments last week over violations of a gag order barring attacks on trial participants, Justice Merchan on Tuesday fined Mr. Trump $9,000 and threatened him with jail if they continue.

On Thursday, prosecutors presented four more incidents and called Mr. Trump's statements "corrosive." Mr. Trump's legal team argued that he was merely responding to political attacks.

Justice Merchan has not yet ruled, but a decision could come soon, perhaps next week. The trial continues on Monday.