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Prosecutor shows transcript of Cohen's testimony about his meeting with Trump in February 2017

From CNN

Joshua Steinglass shows the jury a transcript of Michael Cohen's testimony about his February 2017 meeting with Donald Trump at the Oval Office when Cohen testified that Trump told him to make sure he dealt with Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization CFO, and that there'd be a check for January and February forthcoming.

Steinglass acknowledges Cohen testified there was talk about a retainer agreement but the plan was always to disguise the reimbursement as income.

The prosecutor sarcastically said maybe if they created a fake retainer document it would “give them more cover.”

He then told the jury they’d be considering 35 instead of 34 counts because it’d be another falsified business record.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is explaining the concept of "grossing up" to the jury.

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg "disguised the reimbursement as income so that means (Michael) Cohen will have to pay tax," Steinglass says.

"Did anything you've learned about Donald Trump at this trial make you think he would pay someone double what he owes them?" the prosecutor asks.

"These documents are so damning, you almost have to laugh at the way Mr. (Todd) Blanche tries to explain to you that this wasn’t fraud," Steinglass says.

Steinglass says Trump Org. submitted false 1099s forms to the Internal Revenue Service and reported the reimbursement to Cohen as income.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass brings up the handwritten notes by former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg and former Trump Org. controller Jeffrey McConney.

"They are the smoking guns. They completely blow out of the water the defense claim that the payments [are for] legal services rendered. I’m almost speechless that they’re trying to make this argument," Steinglass says.

Steinglass referenced a passage from one of Trump's book "Think Like a Billionaire" in which Trump called Weisselberg "a loyal employee" and "one of the toughest people in business when it comes to money."

Steinglass says Trump's lawyers have to tell the jury "with a straight face" that the handwritten notes from Weisselberg and McConney do not prove that the payments were for a reimbursement to Cohen in part for the Daniels hush money payment.

Steinglass is now walking jurors through Weisselberg's notes, saying that the documents stated explicitly that the $130,000 and $50,000 reimbursements would be "grossed up" for taxes.

Jurors are all quite alert, mostly looking directly at Steinglass.

Steinglass notes again that the $50,000 Red Finch repayment was more than Cohen should have been paid. "That may matter for his character but it does not matter for the crimes the defendant is charged with," he says.

Steinglass, pointing to the handwritten scribbles, says that "Weisselberg details just how he, the defendant and Cohen are going to commit this crime. They are acting in concert."

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is reading to the jury excerpts from Michael Cohen's testimony describing the Trump Tower meeting.

In his testimony, Cohen agrees that it was described as a retainer agreement in front of Trump.

Cohen testified he and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg went into Trump's office to get his approval on the repayment plan. Cohen testified, "He approved it and he also said, "This is going to be one heck of a ride in DC." 

"We don’t have to prove that the defendant made and created the false entries himself," he says, adding that Trump is guilty of false business records when he makes or causes a false entry in his business records. Steinglass says the "reimbursement scheme. That is causing false entries. Period."

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now showing jurors the bank statement from Michael Cohen that he brought in to Allen Weisselberg.

"Right on the bank statement, Weisselberg and Cohen calculated all the money that was owed to Cohen," Steinglass says.