Trump’s ex-fixer Michael Cohen admits stealing $60K from him after Trump stiffed vendor in bizarre scheme to rig popularity poll
Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen coolly confessed to stealing $60,000 from his ex-boss — claiming the theft was a form of “self-help” Monday as he wrapped his testimony in the former president’s hush money trial.
The convicted liar made the admission while being questioned by defense attorney Todd Blanche about a bizarre scheme to rig a popularity poll of “most famous businessmen” in Trump’s favor.
“So you stole from the Trump Organization, right?” Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen, the star witness testifying against Trump, who is charged with fudging company records to conceal a $130,000 payment Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels to bury a sex scandal before the 2016 election.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen, 57, matter-of-factly replied from his seat at the defense table some 15 feet away from Trump, 77, in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Cohen later testified that he stole as a form of “self-help” in response to Trump slashing his bonus to $50,000 from the $150,000 he had been receiving.
“I was angered because of the reduction in the bonus so I just felt it was almost like self-help,” Cohen said.
Cohen testified that, at a key mid-January 2017 meeting at Trump Tower, he falsely claimed that he needed to be repaid $50,000 for fronting funds to a tech company called Red Finch that created fake online accounts to help his billionaire boss climb the rankings of a CNBC poll of famous business titans.
But Cohen admitted that he paid the company only $20,000 — handing the CEO of Red Finch cash stuffed in a brown paper bag — after Trump “refused” to pay the firm the full amount since he’d only risen to ninth in the poll.
The Trump Org payment to Cohen was lumped together with a reimbursement for the $130,000 hush money payoff to Daniels.
And it doubled the amount, in a practice called “grossing up” to make up for taxes, which Cohen would owe by declaring the money as income, instead of a tax-free reimbursement, he told jurors.
“You didn’t just steal the $30,000, right, it was actually, because it was grossed up, it was $60,000?” Blanche asked.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.
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Cohen, wearing a dark blue suit and purple tie, calmly explained that he told “multiple” prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office about the theft, but was never charged in connection with it.
“Have you paid back the Trump Organization the money you stole from them?” Blanche then asked him
“No,” Cohen replied.
Trump, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, perked up, popped a mint into his mouth, and stared directly at Cohen during this part of his former longtime personal attorney’s testimony.
The exchange came as defense lawyers continued to hammer at Cohen’s credibility, citing his past convictions for lying under oath, which he claims he did out of loyalty to Trump.
They also asked Cohen about his new career as a vocal Trump critic, with Cohen testifying that he’s reaped about $4.4 million from his books and podcasts after he was sprung from prison in 2020. He was freed from home confinement the following year.
But Cohen maintained that he had “no doubt” that he spoke with Trump about the Daniels payment at least 20 times in 2016 — and that he would not have paid it had Trump not promised to reimburse him.
“I wanted to ensure that I was going to get those funds back,” he testified when questioned by Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.
Jurors also heard a recorded phone call in which Cohen appears to discuss the hush money payment with Daniels’ lawyer in October 2017.
“I can’t even say how many times he said to me, ‘I hate the fact that we did it,’” Cohen says on the call, referring to Trump, he testified.
“Who else would do that for somebody? I did. Because I care about the guy.”
After Cohen’s testimony ended, Trump’s lawyers moved for the case to be thrown out due to his history of lying.
Justice Juan Merchan did not make an immediate ruling, but appeared skeptical.
“So you want me to take it out of the jury’s hands?” the judge said, suggesting the jury of “12 New Yorkers” were capable of deciding for themselves which parts of Cohen’s testimony to believe.
