Three key takeaways from Monday

Hugo Lowell

Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York entered a new phase on Monday, as prosecutors moved onto the alleged falsification of business records to cover up hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, after previously calling witnesses who described a conspiracy to kill the story.

Three major takeaways of the day:

• Prosecutors argue Cohen’s ‘expenses’ were not processed as expenses

• Trump argues ‘legal expense’ was a dropdown label, not a falsification

• Trump warned of jail for further gag-order violations

For more on these points, you can read the full story below:

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump’s criminal trial over his hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The trial reopened yesterday after a pause over the weekend. It was another lively day with a stern warning from the judge, Juan Merchan, that additional violations of a gag order barring Trump from inflammatory out-of-court comments about witnesses, jurors and others closely connected to the case could result in jail time.

The $1,000 fine imposed on Monday marks the second time since the trial began last month that Trump has been sanctioned for violating the gag order. He was fined $9,000 last week, $1,000 for each of nine violations.

“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said before jurors were brought into the courtroom.

The first witness called this week was Jeffrey McConney, former Trump Organization comptroller and senior vice-president.

Through McConney’s testimony, the prosecution sought to show that Trump had intimate knowledge of his personal and companies’ finances – and that repayments to Michael Cohen were out-of-the-ordinary for his boss.

Next up was Deborah Tarasoff, who works for The Trump Organization as an accounts payable supervisor. Tarasoff’s time on the stand seemed to establish just how intertwined Trump was with his underlings. Cohen, she said, worked next to her and then elsewhere on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, the nerve center of his company.

Here’s a quick recap of their testimonies yesterday:

• Deborah Tarasoff, a former accountant at the Trump Organization, testified that Trump personally signed reimbursement checks to his “fixer” Michael Cohen, who made the payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels that is at the heart of this case. Showing that Trump signed them chips away at the defense claim that Trump was detached from the transactions.

• Tarasoff was led through a succession of checks to Cohen that she cut, then sent to Trump for signing, some while the former president was in the White House. The purpose appeared to be giving the jury a clear understanding of the regular practices in place at the company, and how the hush-money payment to Daniels veered outside normal procedures to point of illegality.

• Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s retired controller and senior vice-president, was pressed by the prosecution on the company’s accounting and reporting procedures, focusing on the argument that Trump was in full control of his personal and company finances, and had authorized and was aware of the purpose of the payment to Daniels.

• Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove got McConney to concede he had never spoken with Trump about repayments to Cohen, and had never been directed to register the payments in a certain way, or improperly.

• Bove suggested there was no falsification, in part because of the narrow way Trump Organization payments had to be recorded, using the drop-down menu of an “antiquated” software recording system.

• Additionally, McConney conceded that Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer, and said he always recorded payments to lawyers as “legal expenses” in the ledger during his 36-plus years with the company.

Donald Trump’s criminal trial over hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels continues on Tuesday – and it could take at least another two weeks for prosecutors to finish presenting their case.

Trump complained about this as he was leaving. Repeating previous false claims, he insisted the trial was merely a ruse to keep the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee “off the campaign trail”.

“I thought they would be finished today,” Trump said. “The judge is so happy about two or three more weeks because they all want to keep me off the campaign trail. That’s all this is about, election interference”.

Trump will have to watch what he says after Monday earned him another $1,000 fine for violating a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses, jurors and other key people involved in the trial.

It was the 10th time he was held criminal contempt and the judge, Juan Merchan, warned him yet again he could face jail for continued violations.