Under cross-examination from Mr Trump’s defence attorney yesterday, Cohen testified that he pocketed $60,000 from his former boss by overstating the amount he paid a tech company that rigged online opinion polls in Mr Trump’s favour.
He said the extra money was “like self-help”, an apparent attempt to extract more money from Mr Trump after Cohen was upset that he didn’t receive a larger annual bonus, even after paying Ms Daniels out of his own pocket.
The reimbursements to Cohen for the hush money payment – which Mr Trump paid out in monthly $35,000 installments in 2017 – totalled $420,000.
As part of the reimbursement plan, Cohen had also billed the Trump Organization $50,000, plus taxes, for money that Cohen was supposed to pay to the tech firm Red Finch.
Cohen gave Red Finch a “brown paper bag” filled with $20,000 in cash, but still owed the vendor another $30,000 for the contract, he testified.
The initial payment was only “enough to placate him for the time being”, he said. “I still needed his service and I still needed his availability”.
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