Witness testimony in Trump’s hush money trial wraps for the day

In the hush money trial against the former president, prosecutors called two witnesses Monday who worked in accounting in the Trump Organization: Jeffrey McConney, a former Trump Org. controller, and Deborah Tarasoff, an accounts payable supervisor.

McConney walked the jury through the paper trail that showed how executives organized and paid back Michael Cohen for the money he sent to Stormy Daniels’ attorney. This is important because at the heart of the trial — the falsification of business records — are the payments to Cohen, which were listed as retainer fees.

Tarasoff described in more detail how checks were paid at the organization and when Trump’s approval was needed for payments.

Here’s what happened in court today:

Jeffrey McConney

Deborah Tarasoff

What’s next: Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass estimated they still need about two weeks from tomorrow to make their case. He stresses that’s a very rough estimate. The defense will also get an opportunity to call its witnesses after that if they choose.

Gag order hearing: Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt for violating the gag order again, specifically concerning comments he made about the makeup of the jury in this case. Prosecutors had alleged Trump violated the gag order on four separate occasions. The judge ruled that the three other comments did not violate the order. “Going forward this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said, noting the $1,000 fine is not stopping him, but he told Trump “incarceration is truly a last resort.”

Remember: Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. Each criminal charge relates to a specific entry among the business records of the Trump Organization, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege that Trump allegedly disguised the transaction to Daniels as a legal payment and falsified business records numerous times to “promote his candidacy” in the 2016 election.

Judge Juan Merchan asks the prosecution how they’re doing on timing for making their case.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says they’re doing “well,” but estimates they still need about two weeks from tomorrow. He stresses that’s a very rough estimate.

Trump tapped defense attorney Todd Blanche’s arm as Steinglass made the estimation.

Deborah Tarasoff, an employee in the Trump Organization’s accounting department, testified for just over an hour Monday about the check-writing process at the company.

Tarasoff helped arrange the 12 checks for $35,000, each signed by Donald Trump and sent to former attorney Michael Cohen in 2017 as reimbursement for the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

She testified that after 2015 any invoice over $10,000 had to be approved by Trump or one of his sons. When she created the checks, Trump would sign them, she testified — or, if he disapproved, he would write “void” on them, she said.

“If he didn’t want to sign it, he didn’t sign it,” she said. She knew he was the one signing them because, “It was signed in Sharpie and it was black and that’s what he uses.”

She testified she had no decision-making authority but followed instructions, including getting invoices approved, entering them into the system, cutting the checks and getting them signed.

On cross-examination, she acknowledged that she was not present for conversations between Trump and former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg about the payments.

“Jurors we’re going to stop a little bit early today,” Judge Juan Merchan tells the jury.

The jurors are now leaving.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche just wrapped up his cross-examination of Deborah Tarasoff.

There won’t be a redirect, and Tarasoff is off the stand

Trump attorney Todd Blanche also noted that Deborah Tarasoff was not present for conversations between former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump.

“When Mr. Weisselberg on some of the emails or Mr. McConney told you to go ahead and pay it, generate a check, you didn’t get permission from President Trump himself, correct?” Blanche said.

“Correct,” she said.

She clarified with Blanche that all the checks to Michael Cohen shown in court were signed and that she doesn’t know what happened with the checks after she mailed them to the White House.

But she did receive them back in the mail signed.

Attorney Todd Blanche is asking Deborah Tarasoff if Trump was focused on getting ready to be president during the start of 2017.

“I think so,” Tarasoff replies.

Blanche follows up and asks whether the requests to pay for invoices “happens all the time?” Yes, Tarasoff says.

Blanche is trying to rehabilitate earlier testimony from Tarasoff that Trump would sometimes void checks for invoices he didn’t want to pay. “If he didn’t want to sign it, he didn’t sign it,” she testified earlier.

Deborah Tarasoff confirms to defense attorney Todd Blanche that the Trump Organization is a family-run business. She says she has worked with Trump’s children Eric, Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump over the years.

Trump is fully turned 90 degrees in his chair while Tarasoff is testifying. His arm is over the back of the chair, and he’s facing toward Tarasoff.

Prosecutors have wrapped up their questioning of Deborah Tarasoff. Trump attorney Todd Blanche is now starting his cross-examination for the defense.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy is resuming questioning of witness Deborah Tarasoff.

“I think as we were walking through those exhibits, I missed one,” Conroy said, bringing up the June 2017 invoice from Michael Cohen — and implicitly acknowledging the tedious process of going through every piece of paperwork.

Caught up to September, the jury is again seeing Tarasoff’s accounts payable stamp on Cohen’s invoice.

Tarasoff is reading the same emails from this morning that Cohen sent to former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg with the 2017 invoices attached. She’s then testifying to each of the vouchers associated with those invoices.

She’s also testifying about each of the $35,000 checks with Trump’s signature sent to Cohen.

As she made her way back to the witness stand, Deborah Tarasoff tapped Eric Trump on the knee.

Tarasoff still works for the Trump Organization, which means she works for Eric Trump, who’s in the courtroom today.

The two witnesses who took the stand on Monday in the hush money trial against Donald Trump are giving the jury an inside look at how the Trump Organization pays its bills — and how small the organization is, CNN analysts say.

Jeffrey McConney, a former Trump Organization controller; and Deborah Tarasoff, an accounts payable supervisor, walked the jury through the accounting processes. Their testimonies painted the picture that it was an “intimate affair,” CNN political director David Chalian said.

“This is not being processed through some massive accounts payable department. We heard today from the two people basically responsible at the Trump Organization for getting bills paid,” Chalian said.

Before Trump was president, Tarasoff testified that she “would cut the check, put it with the backup and bring it over to Rhona (Graff) who would bring it in to Mr. Trump to sign,” referring to Trump’s former longtime assistant. 

The invoices and the checks were stapled together, she said, with the check on top of the invoice.

While there is no testimony directly linking Trump with the payments, the fact that the accounting operation was small suggests that “at a certain point it becomes hard to square that the head at the top of the organization is not aware of what these checks are and what they mean,” said CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams.

Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench.

Deborah Tarasoff is also back on the witness stand, and prosecutor Chris Conroy is standing at the lectern while they wait to get the jury.

During the break, Trump was standing and talking to his attorney Todd Blanche.

Court is taking a break. Judge Juan Merchan is now off the bench.

Trump held a few papers as he left the courtroom for the break.

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

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

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 Jeffrey McConney walk through each monthly invoice Cohen sent.

Tarasoff testified that the check dated April 18, 2017, was lost and voided in June 2017. It was then reissued, she said.

Jurors 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.

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.

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.

The jury is being shown the voucher form that said “retainer” in the description line. Tarasoff said she obtained the information for the voucher from the invoice. The distribution line on the voucher was filled out as “legal expense,” which Tarasoff said she had copied from the invoice.

Earlier today, the jury saw a full list of the vouchers in a spreadsheet during McConney’s testimony.

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.”

Deborah Tarasoff testified that Trump didn’t always sign checks. Sometimes “he would write void and send it back,” she said.

Asked how she knew it was him, she said, “it was signed in Sharpie and it was black and that’s what he uses.”

Tarasoff said that even when CFO Allen Weisselberg would approve them, Trump did not always sign the checks.

Trump attorney Emil Bove and Susan Necheles turned with a smile to the former president at Tarasoff’s comment about his preference for Sharpies.

Former President Donald Trump is expected to headline the Minnesota GOP’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner on Friday, May 17, the party announced in a statement Monday.

Trump will not have to be in court that day after Judge Juan Merchan said it will not be in session in order to allow the defendant to attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron.

A source close to the campaign said Trump would be attending both events. 

The announcement comes after Trump’s campaign gave a presentation to donors and presented a case for Trump’s electoral path that suggested he could compete in Virginia and Minnesota, two states that have leaned toward Democrats in recent elections.

Asked who could sign checks for the “DJT account” in 2016 and 2017, Deborah Tarasoff says “only Mr. Trump.”

She adds that it is still true today.

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.

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.

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.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy asks Deborah Tarasoff who owns the Trump Organization.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Mr. Trump,” Tarasoff says.

Trump smiled at the answer.

Tarasoff said the accounting department is on the 26th floor with Trump’s office and the legal department.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy is questioning witness Deborah Tarasoff about her work at the Trump Organization.

She said she has worked there for 24 years

Deborah Tarasoff turned to look at Trump at the defense table as she walked in.

He was leaning the opposite direction talking to his attorney Emil Bove. Todd Blanche is first chair at the defense table.

He’s looking over at her now, craning his neck to see her.

Deborah Tarasoff, who worked in the Trump Organization accounting department, is taking the stand.

Tarasoff allegedly helped arrange for Michael Cohen to be reimbursed for Stormy Daniels’ hush money payment.

She is a Trump Org. accounts payable employee and, like Jeffrey McConney, she testified in this witness box before Judge Juan Merchan at the Trump Org. tax fraud trial in 2022 about the inner workings of the company’s accounting department.

Trump lawyers are objecting to canceled checks coming in as exhibits with the next witness.

“While they were generated by Capitol One, they were produced by the Trump Organization from their records,” prosecutor Chris Conroy explains of the checks.

The judge overrules the objection.

The next witness is Deborah Tarasoff, prosecutor Chris Conroy just said.

She is a Trump Org. accounts payable employee. Like Jeffrey McConney, she testified in this witness box before Judge Juan Merchan at the Trump Org. tax fraud trial in 2022 about the inner workings of the company’s accounting department.

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

The next witness has yet to be called to the stand.

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.

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.

Cameras are not allowed inside the Manhattan courtroom during proceedings, but sketch artists have been capturing the scenes unfolding in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial.

Monday morning saw Judge Juan Merchan ruling that Trump again violated his gag order for his comments about the jury.

Afterward, the prosecution called its 10th witness, Jeffrey McConney. McConney is a former Trump Organization controller.

Former President Donald Trump is on trial in Manhattan for his alleged role in a hush money scheme to silence his alleged mistresses before the 2016 election. He faces 34 counts related to “falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.” 

Prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, but they don’t have to prove that Trump committed that crime. The prosecution theory is that the second crime could be in violation of federal and state election laws or state tax laws regarding how the reimbursements to Michael Cohen were handled. 

Trump’s attorneys have kept their defense close to the vest, but in court filings they’ve indicated that they plan to attack the credibility of Cohen and Stormy Daniels and paint them as liars who are motivated by grudges and money. 

Trump’s legal team is led by Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, two former federal prosecutors from New York, and Susan Necheles, a veteran criminal defense lawyer with deep experience in New York and before Judge Juan Merchan. Necheles represented Trump’s business at its tax fraud trial in 2022. The company was convicted. 

Outside lawyers who have been following the case closely say Trump is likely to argue that hush money payments are legal and distance the former president from the repayment scheme and bookkeeping handled by his trusted employees. They may also argue the payments were made to prevent embarrassment to Trump’s family and not to influence the election. Trump could also testify in his own defense. He has testified in two recent civil trials, after regretting not taking the stand in a prior civil trial, but the stakes are higher in a criminal case.

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.

“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.

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.

Trump didn’t speak as he left the courtroom for the lunch break, but he gave a thumbs up with his back to the cameras.

Court proceedings will resume at 2:15 p.m. ET.

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.

“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.”

Witness Jeffrey McConney, the former Trump Organization controller, testified for about three hours.

Jeffrey McConney is off the witness stand. The court is breaking for lunch.

Asked if former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg ever kept him in the dark, Jeffrey McConney answers, “Yes”

“You were told to do something and you did it,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asks. “Yes,” McConney replies.

Colangelo follows up and asks whether McConney was privy to any conversations between Trump and Weisselberg about these payments. He says he was not.

Colangelo asks if somethings went “over your head,” and McConney said yes. He agreed he was asked to do things he sometimes didn’t know about.

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

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.

Jeffrey 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.

Trump attorney Emil Bove raised the agreement Allen Weisselberg cited between Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump in agreeing to pay Michael Cohen, asking McConney whether he had any idea about what that agreement was in reference to.

McConney confirmed he did not.

“You have no idea what reference to that agreement meant. All you took from that message is that these payments had been approved right?” Bove asked. “Yes,” McConney said.

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.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche just passed a note to Trump as the cross-examination of Jeffrey McConney continues.

Trump read it and then put the note on the table. Blanche then passed him another note, Trump put that one in his jacket.

Jeffrey McConney confirmed that Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, did not say anything about what Michael Cohen was seeking reimbursement for in 2017.

McConney said grossing up the payment to $180,000 didn’t make sense because “an expense reimbursement is not taxable.”

“You don’t know, do you, how if at all Mr. Cohen treated these payments on his taxes?” Bove asked.

No, McConney said.

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.

Jeffrey McConney testified that at times Donald Trump’s cash position was in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Trump attorney Emil Bove asked if in 2017 it was “$60 million in unrestricted cash?”

McConney replied, “at least.”

Trump attorney Emil Bove asks Jeffrey McConney whether the general ledger for Trump’s account was intended to cover his personal expenses.

“It was like his personal checkbook,” McConney says.

McConney agreed with Bove when he started it could include costs related to housing or education for Trump’s children.

Jeffrey McConney says the way of doing business at the Trump Organization had to change “drastically” once Trump became president.

He that after Trump became president, “I don’t remember seeing him in New York at all.”

Judge Juan Merchan sustained an objection from prosecutors to this point.

Trump attorney Emil Bove pointed to the invoice email where Michael Cohen asked Allen Weisselberg to call him to discuss an open foundation matter.

Bove asked whether that suggested that there was an “open matter Michael Cohen was handling?”

“Yes,” McConney said.

McConney said “I do not know” when Bove asked him if Cohen was doing legal work for Trump as a personal attorney around 2017.

When Bove asked him if he knew Cohen did work for Trump related to Summer Zervos, McConney said “no idea.”

Trump attorney Emil Bove is showing the emails from Michael Cohen in 2017 and points out Cohen’s signature block, which states he’s the “Personal attorney to President Donald J Trump.”

“It doesn’t say fixer, does it?” Bove asks Jeffrey McConney.

“No,” McConney confirms.

McConney also confirms Cohen sent the invoices using a personal Gmail account not a Trump Organization email address, meaning he was essentially acting as a vendor to the Trump Organization.

Attorney Emil Bove explained that Jeffrey McConney testified to a series of emails involving Michael Cohen and asked whether he ever spoke to Cohen about any of these issues.

“No, talk to Michael, no,” McConney said.

Jeffrey McConney is testifying that he didn’t speak to Trump very often.

“When you did speak to him, you didn’t talk about accounting software?” Trump attorney Emil Bove asks.

“No,” McConney says.

Trump attorney Emil Bove has begun cross-examination of witness Jeffrey McConney.

Remember: Defense attorneys can cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses and typically aim to discredit their testimony. Witnesses’ responses are considered evidence, but not the questions posed by an attorney. Read more about how the trial works.

The amount listed as a liability to Michael Cohen on the form was between $100,001-$250,000, as the form lists amounts in ranges. 

Witness Jeffrey McConney testified that the $130,000 wire to Keith Davidson and the $50,000 to Red Finch totaled $180,000.

The full footnote reads: “In the interest of transparency while not required to be disclosed as reportable liabilities on part 8 in 2016 expenses were incurred by one of the Donald J Trump’s attorneys, Michael Cohen. Mr. Cohen sought reimbursement of those expenses and Mr. Trump fully reimbursed Mr. Cohen in 2017. The category of value would be $100,001-$250,000 and the interest rate would be zero.”

Jeffrey McConney identifies Trump’s signature as prosecutors walk through a financial disclosure document.

“I’ve seen it many times,” he says.

There’s been another objection over the financial disclosure document.

Prosecutors moved to enter in the OGE 278-e form for 2017, and Trump attorney Emil Bove objected.

After meeting at the bench, the document was accepted into evidence.

The first time they went through the financial documents, Jeffrey McConney says they went through it A-to-Z.

“At one point, it was 4 o’clock in the morning filling in these documents,” he says.

After that, they split it up. He testified that he handled Melania’s assets, Trump’s stock holdings, bank and brokerage accounts and liabilities.

Jeffrey McConney said he helped prepare Donald Trump’s annual financial statements to the Office of Government Ethics.

Trump had to file the financial disclosure reports from the time he was a candidate for president, McConney says.

McConney said he worked on this form before Trump became president.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now asking Jeffrey McConney about 1099 tax forms generated by the Trump Organization. Part of his job responsibilities included the preparation of the 1099s.

Trump is focused on the screen in front of him, he was looking directly at the monitor eyes scrunched to see it.

McConney is now explaining the 1099 for $420,000 that was sent to Michael Cohen for the year 2017.

The jury is now seeing the general ledger of the trust account from 2017.

It shows the three payments made to Michel Cohen under “legal expenses.” They total $105,000 for January, February and March 2017.

McConney is also looking at the general ledger of Trump’s personal account in 2017. It shows the nine payments made to Cohen from April to December 2017. They’re described as “legal expenses” and total $315,000, McConney confirms.

Each of the general ledger line items listed as a retainer agreement payment to Cohen are tied to individual counts of falsifying business records in the indictment against Donald Trump.

Prosecutors moved to enter into evidence a document related to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.

The document detailed general ledger is limited to “legal expenses” and is for the full calendar year of 2018. The ledger does not have any legal expenses paid to Michael Cohen in 2018.

The judge overruled an objection from Trump’s defense team to that exhibit.

The document has been entered into evidence.

The jury is now seeing the voucher records detailing the payments cut to Michael Cohen by the Trump Organization’s accounts payable department.

The vouchers are business records tied to several of the 34 falsifying business records charges against Trump. 

The records shows several rows and columns organized to record the payments. The first column is the voucher number, “when you send invoices out you create a voucher, a number automatically assigned to that invoice,” Jeffrey McConney explained.

The second column is the “comp” column, which is the company used to pay the invoice. DJT rev and DJT (Trump’s personal account) are listed.

“Did this indicate the payment was issued?” Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked. “Yes,” McConney said.

The document also shows payments were made between January 1, 2017, through and including January 5, 2018.

“What does the handwriting on the top right sum up?” Colangelo asked.

McConney said it was the total of the first three payments that were paid out of the president’s trust for $105,000.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is walking Jeffrey McConney through a report with a spreadsheet of the payments to Michael Cohen.

It shows Trump’s trust and then his personal account paid Cohen in 2017.

The first three payments were paid from the revocable trust for $105,000. The final nine payments were paid by Trump’s personal account and totaled $315,000, according to the report.

Jeffrey McConney, the former long-time Trump Organization controller, testified Monday morning about the nuts and bolts of how Michael Cohen was allegedly reimbursed by Donald Trump for the 2016 hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels.

McConney testified that he had a conversation with Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, about a need to “reimburse” Cohen.

McConney then showed jurors 12 checks, each for $35,000, that were paid to Cohen in 2017. Cohen sent invoices for those checks and asked that the payments be listed as part of a “retainer agreement.”

McConney also explained to the jury why Cohen was paid $420,000 in all – a total that included money set aside to cover taxes on the hush money payment to Daniels – and how each check was cut, first from Trump’s revocable trust and then from his personal account.

Jeffrey McConney smiled and said something to Eric Trump ask he walked past him in the courtroom.

McConney is now back on the stand and is being questioned by prosecutor Matthew Colangelo.

Prosecutors have reentered the courtroom following the break. Trump is also back inside the courtroom.

Trump waved and gave a thumbs up as he entered.

Trump was whispering with his attorney Todd Blanche when Jeffrey McConney left the stand. Trump did not appear to look at him

Eric Trump and Alina Habba, who are in the courtroom today, left with Trump and his attorneys for the break.

The court is taking a short morning break.

Jeffrey McConney, the former longtime Trump Organization controller, is expected to continue to testify when the court returns.

Jeffrey McConney says that he does not recall any additional payments made to Cohen after December 2017.

Jeffrey McConney’s voice appears to grow more tired as he repeats himself for each month.

“35,000 dollars,” he said with a bit of a sigh, when discussing the August payment to Michael Cohen.

The July invoice from Michael Cohen did not include an amount — but it was known to be $35,000, Jeffrey McConney says.

“Pursuant to the retainer agreement, kindly remit payment for services rendered for the month of July 2017,” the email from Cohen to Allen Weisselberg reads.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asks McConney if there was an understanding of the amount that needed to be paid, even if it wasn’t explicit in the email. McConney says yes.

“What was that understanding?” Colangelo asks.

“$35,000,” McConney says.

“What was that understanding based on?” Colangelo asks.

It was “based on the prior notes,” he took in Weisselberg’s office, McConney says.

Jurors are mostly looking at their screens as prosecutors walk through all of these records.

A couple of jurors are watching prosecutor Matthew Colangelo and Jeffrey McConney talk through the document. One juror is looking out into the gallery.

As testimony continues, Trump is facing foward, leaned back in his chair. He appears to be looking at the monitor where these emails are displayed before him.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is walking Jeffrey McConney through the paper trail behind each monthly payment to Michael Cohen separately because each payment is tied to a separate count in the charges against Trump.

Defense attorney Emil Bove objected to these exhibits for each month.

Judge Juan Merchan said the objection was noted and overruled and admitted the documents into evidence.

The prosecution continued to walk through the invoices to Michael Cohen in 2017 and when the payments were made from Donald Trump’s personal account rather than the trust account.

The first check for January and February came from the Donald J Trust Revocable Trust. The check from March came from Trump’s personal account.

In an email directly to Allen Weisselberg, Cohen wrote on March 16, 2017.

“Pursuant to the retainer agreement kindly remit payment for services rendered for the month of March 2017.
March 2017 $35000”

“Did there come a time when you switched from using the trust account to using the DJT account to pay for the invoices to Mr. Cohen?” Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked.

“Yes.” McConney answered. In order to get the signatures required they had to send the checks down to Washington so Trump could sign them, McConney said. “Whole new process for us,” McConney testified.

The jury is now shown Michael Cohen’s invoice for March 2017.

“After submitting and getting approval on this invoice request for payment…did Mr. Cohen submit other invoices?” Colangelo asks. “Yes,” Jeffrey McConney says, adding that he submitted an invoice every month in 2017.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is asking Jeffrey McConney if he sent an invoice to the legal department following Allen Weisselberg’s email saying it was “Ok to pay” Michael Cohen’s invoice.

McConney says he did not.

McConney says he sent an email to Deb Tarasoff, the accounts payable supervisor in the accounting department, a few minutes later.

McConney says he forwarded the email chain to Tarasoff and instructed her, “Please pay from the trust. Post to legal expenses put retainer for the months January and February 2017 in the description.”

In a February 14, 2017, email that’s being shown, Michael Cohen writes, “Dear Allen, pursuant to a retainer agreement kindly remit payment….”

Jeffrey McConney testifies that he never saw a retainer agreement. He says he emailed Allen Weisselberg asking him to approve the invoice.

“Ok to pay as per agreement with Don and Eric,” Weisselberg wrote back to McConney.

The objection is noted and has been overruled. Judge Juan Merchan is accepting the exhibits into evidence.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now walking Jeffrey McConney through a series of emails, including Michael Cohen telling McConney “thank you for the reminder” to send invoices. McConney responded asking for an invoice so they could send him a check.

Cohen then asked for a reminder of the amount. McConney responded with $35,000, and Cohen sent in the body of the email with an invoice dated February 14, 2017.

McConney says this was sufficient as an invoice. “As long as it got approved, yes,” McConney says.

Trump attorney Emil Bove is objecting to the document.

Lawyers are now at the judge’s bench.

Defense attorney Susan Necheles is speaking with Trump at the defendant’s table while lawyers are at the bench.

Trump was talking to Necheles very intently. He’s moving his mouth quickly and the attorney is nodding.

Witness Jeffrey McConney said it was a typical practice for employees to submit an invoice for an expense reimbursement.

The witness is now being shown an email he sent to Cohen in February 2017 reminding Trump’s then personal attorney to send an invoice. 

The email read:

Subject line: $$
Mike,
Just a reminder to get me the invoices you spoke to Allen about.
Thanks,
Jeff

Trump’s attorney objected to the document.

Jeffrey McConney’s notes included “wire monthly from DJT,” which McConney confirms meant it would be sent out of the former president’s personal account.

The notes indicate that Cohen would need to send an invoice to get paid.

“If Michael wanted to get paid, he needed to send us an invoice,” McConney testifies.

Jeffrey McConney said the $35,000 was to be wired to Michael Cohen monthly beginning February 1, 2017.

The wire was to be sent from Donald Trump’s personal account, McConney testified.

McConney explained the corresponding handwritten note says “wired monthly from DJT.”

The bank statement shows the calculation of $180,000 grossed up, with an additional $60,000 bonus added together and divided by 12 months. It’s in Allen Weisselberg’s handwriting.

The total amount Weisselberg wrote on the document was $420,000 — the $180,000, grossed up to $360,000, along with a $60,000 bonus.

Here’s more on what’s included in that total:

The jury is now being shown the notes Jeffrey McConney took on the conversation about Michael Cohen’s payments on a Trump Organization notepad.

Trump looked forward at the screen in front of him to look at the note.

“This was during the first meeting when we realized we owed Michael money,” McConney say. “The top starts with Michael Cohen payment for January 20, 2017, the 20th was crossed out and replaced with 27th,” McConney says, explaining the notes in the exhibit.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, called Judge Juan Merchan’s threat to incarcerate the former president a “Third World authoritarian tactic.”

Cheung also said the gag order imposed on Trump is “unconstitutional and un-American.”

Judge Merchan found Trump in contempt of his gag order for the 10th time Monday morning, and said he’d consider jail time, moving forward.

Jurors are now being shown the bank statement with Allen Weisselberg’s writing as well as a documents with the notes he took.

It is a First Republic Bank account statement for Essential Consultants LLC.

The statement lists the $130,000 wire transfer to the Keith Davidson trust made in October 2016.

The statement shows the $130,000 wire to Keith M Davidson Associates.

The court is now reviewing an exhibit with Allen Weisselberg’s writing. He was the former CFO of the Trump Organization.

“Did Mr. Weisselberg sometime take acute notes to record financial decisions?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes,” McConney said.

“How do you know it’s his handwriting?” Colagnelo asked.

“I’ve been looking at his handwriting for 35 years,” McConney said.

“I kept it in the payroll book I kept in a locked drawer in my office,” McConney said.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is asking about a conversation Jeffrey McConney had with Allen Weisselberg.

“Al said, ‘we have to get some money to Michael, reimburse Michael,’” McConney testifies. “I started taking notes on what Allen said.”

Cohen was complaining about his bonus so that was factored in at the time, McConney says on the stand. “We added everything up, and came up with the amount we would have to pay him.”

Donald Trump has not turned away from witness Jeffrey McConney since he took the stand.

He’s leaned back in his chair but is facing McConney and watching the testimony much more closely than many others.

Jeffrey McConney says he overlapped with Michael Cohen for Cohen’s entire employment at the Trump Organization.

The last day he was paid was January 27, 2017, McConney recalled.

He said he had conversations with Cohen by the coffee machine over the years.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is asking Jeffrey McConney about Michael Cohen.

“Are you familiar with someone named Michael Cohen?” Colangelo asks.

Colangelo follows up and asks what position Cohen had at Trump Org. “He said he was a lawyer,” McConney says.

“Did he work in the legal department?” Colangelo asks. McConney paused and shrugged. “I guess so,” he says, drawing laughs from courtroom.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is walking Jeffrey McConney through a host of exhibits, including business records and emails.

Colangelo offers the exhibits into evidence, and defense lawyer Emil Bove objects to several of them.

CNN’s Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid says that Jeffrey McConney going through the general account ledger for former president Donald Trump’s personal account in court is critical to the case.

“This is not exactly riveting testimony — talking about the accounting practices of this organization, but it’s what is at the heart of the case,” she said.

“This is what you need to put before the jury. You need them to understand Trump’s role in the accounting process. How much did he know about invoices? How much did he know about how and why cheques were cut?” Reid said.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked whether an employee receiving a reimbursement has to report that money as taxable income.

Witness Jeffrey McConney said they do not.

Colangelo then asked if an outside lawyer receives a payment for legal services, would that have to be reported as taxable income.

“I would assume so, yes,” McConney says.

Jeffrey McConney says he once walked into Trump’s office, and Trump, who was on the phone, told McConney he was fired.

After he got off the phone, Trump told him he was not actually fired, but warned him to “negotiate” his bills.

“He got off the phone call, and he said, ‘You’re not fired but my cash balances went down from last week,’” McConney says.

“‘Negotiate my bills, look at my bills,’” McConney recalls Trump telling him.

“It was a teaching moment. Just because somebody is asking for money negotiate with them, talk to them,” McConney adds.

Trump smiled as McConney told that story, and he laughed so that his shoulders shook when McConney testified “Jeff, you’re fired.”

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now walking Jeffrey McConney through who had the authority to approve invoices and cut checks at the Trump Organization.

Before 2017, Donald Trump had signature authority to cut checks. After Trump was inaugurated, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Allen Weisselberg had signature authority for checks on the trust account.

After 2017, anything over $10,000 had to be signed by two of the signatories.

Jeffrey McConney testified that he hand-delivered Trump’s weekly cash report to him.

The accounting department ran reports on Trump’s cash position weekly, McConney says. “I’d hand deliver the report to him once a week,” he says.

“In the 2017 time period did Mr. Trump use a Capital One checking account as his main operating account?” Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asks.

“I believe so, yes,” Jeffrey McConney replies.

Jeffrey McConney is explaining how the Trump Organization’s general ledger process worked.

McConney said the accounting department also maintained the general ledger for Trump’s personal accounts.

The code was DJT, he said.

It also maintained the books and records for Trump’s bank accounts.

Jeffrey McConney is now walking the jury through how the accounting department would run reports on the Trump Organization general ledger for tax purposes.

Trump is whispering to his attorney Todd Blanche, who is modding and looking over to McConney.

Jeffrey McConney testifies that he oversaw Deb Tarasoff, the accounts payable supervisor in the accounting department.

Tarasoff, who testified in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial, is also expected to testify in this case.

McConney says he also oversaw the accounting department. When asked, he says he technically oversaw the approval of company expenses — but they were really handled by the accounts payable personnel.

Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling on Monday found Trump violated the court’s gag order specifically in relation to comments he made about the makeup of the jury in this case.

Trump’s comments came in an April 22 interview with a program called “Just the News No Noise” on Real America’s Voice.

“You know [the judge is] rushing the trial like crazy. Nobody’s ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast - 95% democrats. The area’s mostly all democrat. You think of it as a - just a purely democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation that I can tell you,” Trump said.

The judge ruled those comments violated the gag order.

“Defendant violated the Order by making public statements about the jury and how it was selected,” Merchan wrote.

Prosecutors had alleged Trump violated the gag order on four separate occasions, including once about the jury, once about David Pecker and twice about Michael Cohen. The judge ruled that the three other comments did not violate the order.

The prosecution’s first witness of the week, Jeffrey McConney is the former long-time Trump Organization controller.

He was a co-defendant in Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York last year. In February, Donald Trump and other former Trump Organization executives were ordered to pay a total of $450 million for inflating the value of Trump’s assets.

McConney was banned for life from serving any New York company in a financial management capacity. He was also barred from holding an officer role in any New York company for three years.

Jeffrey McConney says he became controller when Allen Weisselberg was promoted to CFO.

Weisselberg was McConney’s boss from “the day I was hired to the day he left.” That was more than three decades, McConney confirms.

Weisselberg and McConney had lunch together everyday, McConney says.

Jeffrey McConney testified that most assets are held in their own entity but ultimately all the entities and assets are owned by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, of which Trump is the beneficiary.

Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg were the trustees of the trust.

When the trust was created, McConney said they “didn’t use it in 2014, 2015. I’m not a lawyer, that’s my guess, that it was set up in April 2014.”

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now asking Jeffrey McConney about a Trump Organization document showing the ownership structure of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.

The document has been accepted into evidence and is being shown to the jury.

The jury is paying attention to Jeffrey McConney’s testimony, turning back and forth between the prosecutor and witness.

Several are taking notes.

Trump, his attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche seem locked into McConney, too. They are all facing his direction. Trump is craning his neck looking towards McConney. Trump attorney Susan Necheles is taking notes down.

Jeffrey McConney says he has not had any conversations with Trump since he retired last February.

Jeffrey McConney is testifying that Trump himself ran the Trump Organization.

“He ran the organization. He was the brains behind it,” he says.

CNN legal analyst Karen Friedman Agnifilo says Judge Juan Merchan has options that don’t involve putting the former president Donald Trump in prison.

The judge has been clear that he does not want to put Trump in prison for violating his gag order on Monday morning, but feels he may have no choice.

Friedman Agnifilo says instead Merchan could put Trump in jail for a short amount of time, increasing that amount of time if he continues to breach the gag order.

“He has several options: for example, he could put him in for a few hours. There is a holding cell behind the court room,” she said.

Jeffrey McConney says he began working for the Trump Organization in 1987 and retired in February 2023.

McConney confirms he’s here under subpoena and the Trump Organization is paying for his attorney.

Trump’s body is turned to face McConney. He’s leaning back in his chair and appears to be watching McConney.

“Are you still working for the Trump organization?” Colangelo asked. “I’m retired happily,” McConney said.

Jeffrey McConney has avoided looking at Trump as he takes the stand. He let out a sigh as he took his seat in the witness box.

McConney previously testified in this same witness box before Judge Juan Merchan during the Trump Organization tax fraud trial in 2022. He also testified in the fall at Trump’s civil fraud trial.

The prosecutors have called former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney to the stand.

Defense attorney Emil Bove says he just found out yesterday that Jeffrey McConney is the next witness prosecutors will call.

Trump whispering is into the ear of another one of his attorneys, Todd Blanche.

The jury is now seated.

The attorneys are now discussing exhibits to be brought in with the next witness, who is expected to be Jeff McConney, the former controller of the Trump Organization.

Trump was looking at Judge Juan Merchan while he was speaking.

“The magnitude of this decision is not lost on me but at the end of the day I have a job to do,” Merchan says. “So as much as I don’t want to impose a jail sanction…I want you to understand that I will if necessary and appropriate.”

“But at the end of the day I have a job to do and part of that job his to protect the dignity of this judicial system,” he says.

Trump just shook his head as they handed down the paper copy of the ruling.

“Your continued willful violations of this court’s lawful order” constitute a “direct attack on the rule of law,” Merchan says.

The judge tells Trump “incarceration is truly a last resort.”

“Mr. Trump its important you understand the last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well,” Judge Juan Merchan says.

Judge Juan Merchan has found Trump in contempt for violating the gag order again.

“Going forward this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan says, noting the $1,000 fine is not stopping him.

Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench and the court is in session.

“Good morning Mr. Trump,” Merchan said.

Trump just walked into the courtroom accompanied by his attorneys. His son Eric Trump is also attending the trial today.

Jason Miller took a seat in back, too.

Prosecutors have entered the courtroom as they prepare to continue to present their case against Donald Trump in the criminal hush money trial.

It’s unclear who the prosecutors will call as their next witness.

Remember: Prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, but they don’t have to prove that Trump committed that crime.

Donald Trump’s motorcade is arriving at the Manhattan courthouse, where the former president is expected to attend witness testimony in his historic criminal trial.

It is unclear who will take the stand when court resumes at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is expected to take six to eight weeks, from start to finish.

Where we are in the trial: Prosecutors are presenting evidence through witness testimony and exhibits. Defense attorneys can cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses and typically aim to discredit their testimony. It’s unclear who the prosecutors will call as a witness next.

To better understand what’s going on, here are the steps of a criminal trial.

Read up on the stages of the proceedings here.

Former President Donald Trump’s motorcade is en route to the Manhattan courthouse to attend his criminal hush money trial.  

It’s unclear who the prosecutors will call as a witness next. Trump White House aides, Trump Organization employees, Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen are all still on deck for prosecutors to call.

Trump’s former campaign press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks concluded her testimony on Friday. She described the fallout from the “Access Hollywood” tape and the Trump White House response to stories about hush money payments — just feet away from her former boss.

Meanwhile, the judge is yet to rule on the four additional gag order allegations against Trump.

CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia contributed reporting to this post. 

Donald Trump has been accused of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which included a hush money payment made to an adult film star to hide an affair. The former president has denied the affair.

Prosecutors allege that Trump allegedly disguised the transaction as a legal payment and falsified business records numerous times to “promote his candidacy.” Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty.

Donald Trump has continued to rail against the gag order issued by Judge Juan Merchan that blocks the defendant from speaking out about potential witnesses and most people in or associated with the court or the New York district attorney’s office. (The judge himself and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg are not covered.)

Trump has repeatedly made the gag order sound far broader than it is, CNN fact checker Daniel Dale wrote. For instance, Trump claimed at a Wednesday campaign rally in Michigan that “I’m not even supposed to be, I would say, talking to you, because he gagged me” – though the gag order actually says nothing to prevent him from making a campaign speech.

He’s also said previously it would prevent him from taking the stand. But while Trump acknowledged to reporters Friday morning that the gag order doesn’t impact his ability to testify if he chose to do so, the judge made clear there was no doubt.

“The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way,” Merchan said in court Friday. “It does not prohibit you from taking the stand and it does not limit or minimize what you can say.”

Trump has paid the $9,000 fine he was assessed for previously breaking the gag order, using two cashier’s checks.

Merchan did not, however, rule on the additional alleged gag order violations brought against Trump.

We begin the fourth week of court proceedings in Donald Trump’s historic hush money criminal trial.

To refresh your memory, here are the key moments and witnesses from the trial so far:

April 15: Trial began with jury selection.

April 19: A panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was selected.

April 22: The prosecution and defense made their opening statements. Former tabloid boss David Pecker was called to testify.

April 23: Judge Juan Merchan held a Sandoval hearing for Trump’s alleged gag order violations, but reserved his decision.

April 25: While Trump sat in the Manhattan courtroom, the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., heard arguments on the matter of his immunity in special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case against him.

April 26: Pecker’s direct questioning and cross-examination concluded. Trump’s former longtime assistant Rhona Graff was called to testify briefly. Finally, Michael Cohen’s former banker Gary Farro testified.

April 30: Farro’s testimony concluded. Prosecutors then called Dr. Robert Browning, the executive director of C-SPAN archives, and Philip Thompson who works for a court reporting company. Then, Keith Davidson, the former attorney for Daniels and McDougal, took the stand.

May 2: Davidson’s testimony concluded. Digital evidence analyst Douglas Daus was called to testify.

May 3: After Daus finished testifying, Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal at the district attorney’s office, spoke about reviewing Trump’s social media posts for this case. She was followed by Hope Hicks, once a longtime Trump aide. Her highly anticipated testimony was a little less than three hours.

Read a full timeline of key moments here.

Former President Donald Trump ramped up his attacks on Democrats on Saturday at a private luncheon hosted at his Mar-a-Lago club, during which he referred to Democrats as “running a Gestapo administration” — equating President Joe Biden’s administration to Nazi Germany, according to three attendees.

The remarks were part of a larger tirade during which the former president accused the Biden administration of being behind the four criminal indictments he is facing.

The fundraiser served as the main attraction during the Republican National Committee’s annual retreat in Palm Beach. Hundreds of people attended the event, and several attendees gave $40,000 or more, sources familiar with the fundraiser told CNN.

Trump cursed repeatedly throughout his speech, the attendees said, including while leveling criticism at special counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors who have charged him with criminal indictments.

The comments were part of a roughly 90-minute speech where he touted his recent fundraising numbers and lavished praise on his vice-presidential contenders, claiming that many people were “begging” to serve as his running mate, two of the attendees said.

Trump walked onto the stage on Saturday to the recording of a January 6 anthem featuring several people convicted for their roles in the 2021 attack on the Capitol — a song his campaign frequently features at his campaign rallies.

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

Here are the takeaways from Friday, which was day 11 of the Trump hush money trial:

Donald Trump’s former campaign press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks looked visibly uncomfortable and quickly acknowledged as much when she began answering questions. “I’m really nervous,” she said as she began her testimony.

Much of Hicks’ testimony focused on her role in the Trump campaign in October 2016, just before Election Day. Prosecutors asked what happened when the “Access Hollywood” tape came out. “The tape was damaging. This was a crisis,” Hicks said.

The aftermath of the tape then informed how the campaign responded when the Wall Street Journal reported on Karen McDougal’s deal with American Media, Inc. not to speak about an alleged affair as part of a $150,000 agreement

In the WSJ story, which also mentioned Daniels, Hicks, then a Trump campaign spokesperson, denied that Trump had had affairs with either woman. “What I told to the Wall Street Journal is what was told to me,” Hicks said of the denial she gave about the Daniels allegations.

When prosecutors finished with their questions and Trump’s attorney took the podium, Hicks began crying and appeared to become overwhelmed. She finished her testimony after a brief break.

When cross-examining Hicks, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove elicited testimony that Trump was also concerned about what his wife would think. Trump asked for the newspapers not to be delivered to his residence the day the story was published, Hicks testified.

Jurors hear how Trump responded to ‘Access Hollywood’ tape: Jurors saw a full transcript of the “Access Hollywood” tape Friday, including Trump’s infamous “grab ‘em by the p*ssy” comment, as well as other vulgar language the campaign tried to dismiss as “locker room talk.” They did not, however, hear Trump on the tape, as the judge ruled the video would be prejudicial to the jury.

Prosecutors are getting closer to the crime: For two weeks, prosecutors have delved deeply into the negotiations that led to hush money payments made to McDougal and Daniels before the 2016 election. But those payments are not illegal on their own. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from how he allegedly hid the way Cohen was reimbursed for paying $130,000 to Daniels in order to keep her quiet before the 2016 election. With Hicks’ testimony, prosecutors nudged closer to the repayment and the alleged charges.

Attacks continue against Michael Cohen: Trump’s legal team continued its trial-long assault on Michael Cohen’s credibility Friday, going after everything from the way he handled his cell phones to how he would go “rogue” during the 2016 campaign.

Continuing his barrage of courthouse deception, former President Donald Trump made more false claims about his Manhattan trial last week.

CNN has been fact-checking these claims, including:

Trump’s false claim on testifying: Trump falsely claimed Thursday afternoon that he is not allowed to testify in his defense. He acknowledged Friday morning that he is indeed allowed to testify.

Trump’s claim from Thursday is false. He is allowed to testify at the trial – the decision is entirely up to him. Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order, which narrowly restricts his out-of-court speech, does not in any way stop him from testifying. The gag order also does not broadly prevent Trump from talking. He is permitted to speak to the media, speak at campaign events, attack President Joe Biden and other political opponents, and even attack Merchan and the Manhattan district attorney behind the case.

Trump’s false claim about bail: The former president said, “New York City is a violent city; it’s become violent with the cashless bail. I’m the only one who has to put up bail.” 

Trump’s claim is false. Like many other New York defendants whose alleged crimes are non-violent, he didn’t have to put up bail. After his arraignment in 2023, he was released on his own recognizance — in other words, without having to post any cash. 

Trump’s false claim about his schedule: Trump continued Friday to complain that the New York trial is preventing him from being on the campaign trail.

Trump’s claim that the trial is preventing him from having campaign events this weekend is false. The trial is not being held on weekends (or on Wednesdays), so he is free to campaign wherever he wants.

Former President Donald Trump paid his $9,000 fine on Thursday for violating the gag order in his hush money criminal trial, according to a court official.

The fine was paid in two cashier’s checks – one for $2,000 and one for $7,000 at the court clerk’s office.

Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 this week for violating his gag order nine times. He gave him until the end of the business Friday to pay it. 

After hearing arguments Thursday morning, Merchan has yet to rule on the prosecution’s allegations of four additional gag order violations by Trump.

Former President Donald Trump has been accused of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which included a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to hide an affair. Trump has denied the affair.

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, received a $130,000 payment just days before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors allege Trump disguised the transaction as a legal payment and falsified business records numerous times to “promote his candidacy.” Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty.

Daniels shared in a documentary released in March that she accepted the payment to keep her one-night stand with Trump in 2006 from becoming public to protect her husband and daughter.

Meanwhile, Karen McDougal is a model and actress who has said she had a monthslong affair with Trump in 2006. She was paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer, according to prosecutors. Trump has denied the affair.

While the hush money trial is focused on the hush money deal involving Daniels, prosecutors have used the alleged McDougal payoff as evidence the schemes were aimed at protecting Trump’s electoral chances.

See a full timeline of key moments in the case.

CNN has compiled a timeline of events that are central to the hush money case against Donald Trump.

See the full timeline. 

Prosecutors questioned former Trump staffer Hope Hicks on Friday about a Wall Street Journal story that ran on November 4, 2016 — four days before the 2016 election — and threw the campaign into crisis.

What was in the story: That story broke the news that the publisher of the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. The paper then declined to publish the story, a process known as “catch and kill.”

The piece also referenced Stormy Daniels, and that she had abruptly cut off talks with ABC to share her own story.

At the time, Hicks told the Journal that the claim of the affair was “totally untrue.”

Why it matters: Prosecutors are attempting to establish what was happening within Trump campaign headquarters in the hectic weeks before the election. The WSJ story ran just weeks after the “Access Hollywood” tape, which caught Trump making lewd statements about women, was released.

Donald Trump’s legal team is led by Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, two former federal prosecutors from New York, and Susan Necheles, a veteran criminal defense lawyer with deep experience in New York and with appearing before Judge Juan Merchan.

Here are the key things to know about Trump’s legal team:

The hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump is one of four criminal cases he faces while juggling his presidential campaign.

The former president faces at least 88 charges over the four criminal indictments in Georgia, New York, Washington, DC, and Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge in these cases. 

Here’s a recap of each case: 

Read more about the four criminal cases Trump faces.