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Jeffrey McConney testifies the documents were kept in a locked drawer because it was kept in the payroll book, which contained sensitive information including social security numbers.
"I had a lot of sensitive information," McConney says, agreeing that most drawers were locked.
"One of the reasons you want to keep salaries and bonuses secure is because you don't want rumors about who's making what right?" attorney Emil Bove asks. "Yes," McConney says.
Bove confirmed with McConney that the invoices and notes pertaining to Michael Cohen's reimbursements were not considered particularly sensitive and that they were singularly locked in a drawer. They were just included with all of the sensitive payroll documentation.

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effrey McConney said it was a "mistake" to send the check from the trust account and not Donald Trump's personal account.
McConney testified that he was told that Trump "should be paying from his personal account," and that's why the account was changed from the trust to Trump's personal account.
McConney agreed that part of the issue was Trump had moved to Washington, DC, and it was not clear how to get him to sign a check.
It was new to the accounting department how to figure out how to deal with Trump now that he was president, he said.

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I assume it will be the job of the Defense to start calling out that most of this is perfectly legal when it is their turn to start calling witnesses?

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Trump attorney Emil Bove notes that the 1099s sent to Michael Cohen from 2017 means that the payments were also disclosed to the IRS.
"These payments were also disclosed to the IRS correct?" Bove asks.
"Yes," McConney replies.
"There's no place on this form to break out payments for legal services versus expenses incurred right?" Bove asks, to which McConney agrees.
"And it's Michael Cohen's job to figure out how to account for these payments on his personal taxes correct?" Bove asks.
"Yes," McConney says.
"And you don't know what he did, right?" Bove asks.
"Thats correct," McConney says.

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Attorney Emil Bove is done with his cross-examination. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now starting redirect with "just a few questions."

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Did the judge back self into a corner by giving a final warning to Trump?

Media waiting with baited breath.

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Attorney and jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn told CNN said that he believes Jeffrey McConney is the "wrong guy" to testify for the prosecution in former president Donald Trump's hush money trial.
"The guy that prosecution ought to have up on the bars is Allen, who's currently in the cross bars motel."
He was referring to, Allen Weisselberg, the Former Trump Organization CFO, who admitted to falsely testifying in Trump's civil fraud case and was sentenced to five months in prison.
Since Weisselberg is in prison, McConney, a former Trump Org. employee, is the only other option for the prosecution to call as a witness, Hirschhorn said.
"He's the highest one up so far from the Trump Org. side. He has not provided that crucial… link between the crime and the defendants either knowledge of it or ordering that the documents be falsified," he told CNN.

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"It's a big problem and I'm telling you, if they don't fix this problem what you're looking at is, is this kind of verdict right here of a not guilty. Even from a predominantly Democratic jury, they have to follow the evidence in the case."

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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The accounting system used by the Trump Organization was "antiquated" by 2017, Trump attorney Emil Bove says in his line of questioning, noting that it had been designed in the 1990s.
Jeffrey McConney says he agrees, chuckling on the stand as he confirms it was "antiquated."
McConney also confirms that the dropdown categories used in the system were rigid and that anytime payments were made to an attorney, the legal expenses category was used.

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So fair to say "legal expenses" wasn't a rare description on the ledger like an attempt to cover up something lol

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Did the judge back self into a corner by giving a final warning to Trump?

Media waiting with baited breath.

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That's funny coming from you who has been waiting with bated breath for close to a year now for Trump to go to jail!

Im Gipper said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Did the judge back self into a corner by giving a final warning to Trump?

Media waiting with baited breath.

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That's funny coming from you who has been waiting with bated breath for close to a year now for Trump to go to jail!

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Been about 7-8 years of waiting for some

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So fair to say "legal expenses" wasn't a rare description on the ledger like an attempt to cover up something lol

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Yes. Usually legal billings have details of how much time was spent on various matters and other expenses which were reimbursable and not taxable as income if properly documented by Cohen.

But both fees (taxable) and costs (non-taxable) fall under a budget category of Legal Expenses to the payor. How Cohen treated all of those fee payments and cost reimbursement on his taxes was his decision.

How the Trump Org or Trump personally booked those payments doesn't matter.

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The defense is homing in on the "chaos" within the Trump Organization after Donald Trump was elected into office, CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid noted.
Reid noted that during Jeffrey McConney's first answers while testifying, he said Trump was hands on and knew everything that was going on within the organization up until 2017 when Trump was sworn into office.

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"And the problem for prosecutors is that what they have alleged, these 34 counts of falsifying business records, all occurred in 2017. So, now you're going to see defense attorneys really drill down on that. How dramatically did you need to change the way you did business once the head of your organization, right? He had to divest from the business, pass it off to his sons and Allen Weisselberg and also became the leader of the free world," Reid explained.

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Reid also highlighted that the defense asked McConney if the Trump Organization was "influx" and "chaos." McConney answered: "That's putting it mildly," Reid noted.
"And this is really going to be significant because they're going to argue that what transpired here wasn't the result of a conspiracy, instead it's the result of chaos, which so often, as we know in Trump world, is the explanation or at least the defense against conspiracy, that they're just not organized enough to engage in them."
McConney even said during this testimony that he doesn't remember seeing Trump in New York "at all" after he became president, Reid said.

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Im Gipper said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Did the judge back self into a corner by giving a final warning to Trump?

Media waiting with baited breath.

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That's funny coming from you who has been waiting with bated breath for close to a year now for Trump to go to jail!

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Why y'all think they'll dance around the finish line?

Sound like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saying 'surely this is all for show and they ain't about to put us in that furnace ... right?''

Gyles Marrett said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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The accounting system used by the Trump Organization was "antiquated" by 2017, Trump attorney Emil Bove says in his line of questioning, noting that it had been designed in the 1990s.
Jeffrey McConney says he agrees, chuckling on the stand as he confirms it was "antiquated."
McConney also confirms that the dropdown categories used in the system were rigid and that anytime payments were made to an attorney, the legal expenses category was used.

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So fair to say "legal expenses" wasn't a rare description on the ledger like an attempt to cover up something lol

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They'll move on to saying tax evasion is the underlying felony. All seventeen theories beyond a reasonable doubt of course.

fredfredunderscorefred said:

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Gyles Marrett said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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The accounting system used by the Trump Organization was "antiquated" by 2017, Trump attorney Emil Bove says in his line of questioning, noting that it had been designed in the 1990s.
Jeffrey McConney says he agrees, chuckling on the stand as he confirms it was "antiquated."
McConney also confirms that the dropdown categories used in the system were rigid and that anytime payments were made to an attorney, the legal expenses category was used.

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So fair to say "legal expenses" wasn't a rare description on the ledger like an attempt to cover up something lol

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They'll move on to saying tax evasion is the underlying felony. All seventeen theories beyond a reasonable doubt of course.

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How Cohen treated those payments would make him the only one at concern of tax evasion. Testimony was that Trump Organization filed all necessary 1099's related to the payments.

Not sure it matters if Trumps organization knows how Cohen treats the payments.

Gyles Marrett said:

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fredfredunderscorefred said:

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Gyles Marrett said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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The accounting system used by the Trump Organization was "antiquated" by 2017, Trump attorney Emil Bove says in his line of questioning, noting that it had been designed in the 1990s.
Jeffrey McConney says he agrees, chuckling on the stand as he confirms it was "antiquated."
McConney also confirms that the dropdown categories used in the system were rigid and that anytime payments were made to an attorney, the legal expenses category was used.

---

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So fair to say "legal expenses" wasn't a rare description on the ledger like an attempt to cover up something lol

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They'll move on to saying tax evasion is the underlying felony. All seventeen theories beyond a reasonable doubt of course.

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How Cohen treated those payments would make him the only one at concern of tax evasion. Testimony was that Trump Organization filed all necessary 1099's related to the payments.

Not sure it matters if Trumps organization knows how Cohen treats the payments.

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Has anything mattered to the tyrants pursuing the
this banana republic stuff?

lol true. Sorry, brain reverted back to using facts and logic as the basis of our system. Appreciate the reminder.

Quote:

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Not sure it matters if Trumps organization knows how Cohen treats the payments.

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It doesn't matter.

When Cohen initially was arrested and charged, he had a lot of tax charges and after hearing how lazy he was regarding accurate bookkeeping, I can understand why.

Cohen has a real Bloom County Steve Dallas vibe to him.

Quote:

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After explaining the nuts and bolts of $420,000 in payments to Michael Cohen, former Trump Org. controller Jeffrey McConney testified further for the prosecution Monday and was questioned about his connection to Trump while under cross-examination.
The jury saw the vouchers detailing the 12 payments of $35,000 made to Cohen by the Trump Organization's accounts payable department. The vouchers are tied to several of Trump's 34 charges of falsifying business records.
Further, McConney testified that each of the payments to Cohen was listed as "legal expenses" and had a description that indicated they were related to a retainer agreement. However, previous testimony revealed there was no retainer for Cohen, and prosecutors say these payments were actually reimbursements for Cohen's payment to Stormy Daniels. Each of the general ledger line items listed as a retainer payment are tied to counts of falsifying business records.
On cross-examination, defense attorneys questioned McConney about his knowledge of Trump's role in these payments.
"President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you described?" defense attorney Emil Bove asked.
"He did not," McConney testified.
He said he was told to do this work by former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg. McConney also said he did not know if Cohen did legal work for Trump in 2017.
He testified for about three hours in all.

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Quote:

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Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench and the court is in session.
Witness testimony is expected to resume soon.
Donald Trump waved and gave a thumbs up in the hallway as he reentered the courtroom.

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Quote:

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Attorney Todd Blanche said they only found out 30 minutes ago who the next witness is.

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Prosecutors really do not want Trump to have a fair trial with these antics.

ETA:

Quote:

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The next witness is Deb Tarasoff, prosecutor Chris Conroy just said.
Tarasoff testified in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial.

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Quote:

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Asked about former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg's management style Deborah Tarasoff says, "He had his hands in everything"
Prosecutor Chris Conroy asks whether Weisselberg interacted often with Trump.
"To my knowledge, yes," Tarasoff says.
Conroy is also walking Tarasoff through various Trump Organization employees and her relationship with them, including Jeffrey McConney, Michael Cohen and Alan Garten.

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Quote:

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Deborah Tarasoff told the court that she did not work directly with Donald Trump, but saw him often.
She testified that she had no decision-making authority. She agreed that she followed instructions.
Tarasoff said that during her whole time at the Trump Organization, she would get an approved invoice, enter it into the system, cut the check and get it signed.

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Quote:

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Deborah Tarasoff says that after 2015, any invoice for more than $10,000 had to be approved by Trump or one of his sons.
Trump is leaning slightly toward Tarasoff as she speaks, watching her from time to time. He also was watching Jeffrey McConney's testimony this morning.
Both of these witnesses are testifying about Trump's business and not many of the topics like the hush money payments or alleged affairs where Trump has largely tuned out during the testimony.

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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Deborah Tarasoff says that after 2015, any invoice for more than $10,000 had to be approved by Trump or one of his sons.
Trump is leaning slightly toward Tarasoff as she speaks, watching her from time to time. He also was watching Jeffrey McConney's testimony this morning.
Both of these witnesses are testifying about Trump's business and not many of the topics like the hush money payments or alleged affairs where Trump has largely tuned out during the testimony.

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Not in a knock on Trump as the top dog at an organization that size isn't involved in a lot of the day to day nitty gritty, but it's likely interesting to him and learning more about what some of his employees were doing on a day to day basis lol.

aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench and the court is in session.
Witness testimony is expected to resume soon.
Donald Trump waved and gave a thumbs up in the hallway as he reentered the courtroom.

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Quote:

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Attorney Todd Blanche said they only found out 30 minutes ago who the next witness is.

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Prosecutors really do not want Trump to have a fair trial with these antics.

ETA:

Quote:

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The next witness is Deb Tarasoff, prosecutor Chris Conroy just said.
Tarasoff testified in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial.

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They at least have the LIST of witnesses, right? Just not the order?

Quote:

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Judge Merchan

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I like to refer to him as Judge Merkin.

Ag with kids said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench and the court is in session.
Witness testimony is expected to resume soon.
Donald Trump waved and gave a thumbs up in the hallway as he reentered the courtroom.

---

Quote:

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Attorney Todd Blanche said they only found out 30 minutes ago who the next witness is.

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Prosecutors really do not want Trump to have a fair trial with these antics.

ETA:

Quote:

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The next witness is Deb Tarasoff, prosecutor Chris Conroy just said.
Tarasoff testified in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial.

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They at least have the LIST of witnesses, right? Just not the order?

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This was my question as well. I didn't go to law school, but even I know each side is supposed to provide a list of witnesses (though I'm unsure of the timing...and unsure if that varies from state to state).

Quote:

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They at least have the LIST of witnesses, right? Just not the order?

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The do have a list. But defense lawyers don't know if all of them will be called nor when they will be called.

That makes daily trial prep almost impossible for the defense lawyers. Just a crappy thing to do and shows the prosecutors are not remotely interested in a fair trial for a criminal defendant.

Quote:

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Deborah Tarasoff is testifying that when Trump took office, they'd send checks he needed to sign to the White House via FedEx.
Trump was the only authorized signatory on his personal account through his presidency, she says.
The checks were returned, Tarasoff says, and she would "pull them apart, mail the check, and file the backup."

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Quote:

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Deborah Tarasoff is now being shown the same emails and invoices that Jeffrey McConney testified to this morning.
"Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses. Put 'retainer for the months of January and February 2017' in the description," read a February 14, 2017, email McConney sent to Tarasoff.
Tarasoff is shown another version of the email with an "ACCOUNTS PAYABLE" stamp on it. Tarasoff told the court that's her stamp, which says it was paid out of the entity for the revocable trust.
The coded number on the accounts payable stamp was 51505 the code for legal expenses.

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Will the defense be able to give the same courtesy or lack thereof to the prosecution?

SwigAg11 said:

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Will the defense be able to give the same courtesy or lack thereof to the prosecution?

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You already know the, or rather (D), answer to this one.

SwigAg11 said:

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Will the defense be able to give the same courtesy or lack thereof to the prosecution?

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Yes. But counsel confer on exhibits for the mext day to see if there are objections or stipulations as to admissibility but the defense does not have to identify the witnesses to be called in connection with those exhibits.

The right to a fair trial belongs to the defendant, not the state and the state has the burden of proof so the defense can play things pretty close to their vest. Not so for the state, they are supposed to be open and transparent as to their planned evidentiary offerings.

Here, the defense doesn't even know what the predicate charge is justifying a felony charge. That's a deprivation of rights under the Sixth.

Quote:

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Deborah Tarasoff is now testifying about a check stub for $70,000 covering the January and February 2017 payments from the trust to Michael Cohen.
The jury is seeing the first check for $70,000 to cover the January and February 2017 payment from the trust account to Cohen.
There are two signatures: Eric Trump and Allen Weisselberg.

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Quote:

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urors are also being shown a voided check dated February 14, 2017, to Michael Cohen from the revocable trust, for $70,000.
The check is stamped VOID, which Deborah Tarasoff explains happens when the check is photocopied. But the check is not void.
"Two signatures needed on amts over $10,000," is written above the signatures.

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ETA:

Quote:

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Prosecutors are now walking Deborah Tarasoff through each check that she cut that was sent to Michael Cohen.

This is similar to the line of questioning prosecutors took this morning, where they had Jeffery McConney walk through each monthly invoice Cohen sent.

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Reading this thread, the whole trial seems to be ridiculous. Reading X, the Marxists seem to think they got him this time.

It's a weird juxtaposition.

WHOOP!'91 said:

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Reading this thread, the whole trial seems to be ridiculous. Reading X, the Marxists seem to think they got him this time.

It's a weird juxtaposition.

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Just shows how many people have never had a real job and how many people have TDS

Quote:

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After looking at May's check to Michael Cohen, prosecutor Chris Conroy asks Deborah Tarasoff if she approved a check every month for the rest of the year.

"If I got an invoice, I approved an invoice, yes," she says

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Quote:

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In July, there wasn't an amount on the invoice for Michael Cohen. Deborah Tarasoff said she asked to confirm the amount was $35,000.
"Pay same amount per Jeff + Allen," is written in pen on the invoice.
The jury is then shown the check for August 2017 signed by Donald Trump

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Sends an invoce via a private gmail account without an amount. Jeebus! Cohen was stupid and all over the place. Lazy and incompetent.

TDSers affllicted with melancholia / nymphomania / hysteria. They can't decide what they want here and are squirming in their seat. They got an itch they just can't scratch.

They want something but they anxious about admitting what they want.

A very common issue throughout history. No viable remedy has ever been found.