Throughout Donald Trump’s hush money trial, prosecutors repeatedly told jurors not to rely on what Michael Cohen, their key witness and the ex-president’s former lawyer and fixer, had said in court.
Instead, they should focus their attention on the paper trail.
The jury seems to have done that, finding Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. At the heart of the prosecution’s case against Trump were 34 documents: 11 invoices, 12 vouchers and 11 checks. Each of these documents accounted for one of the charges on which Trump was found guilty.
Breaking down the 34 charges in Trump’s hush money trial
Guilty count of falsifying business records
Invoices
Payment requests
from Cohen
Vouchers
Business records
documenting payment
Checks
Money paid
to Cohen
The invoices, vouchers and checks in early
2017 were handled by Trump’s trust. The rest
was handled via Trump’s personal account.
JAN.
2017
2
1
3
4
7
5
6
10
8
9
APRIL
13
11
12
14
16
15
17
18
19
JULY
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
OCT.
30
29
31
32
33
34
Dec.
Breaking down the 34 charges in Trump’s hush money trial
Guilty count of falsifying business records
JAN.
2017
APRIL
JULY
OCT.
Dec.
Invoices
Payment requests
from Cohen
29
1
5
8
11
14
17
20
23
26
32
Vouchers
Business records
documenting payment
2
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
Checks
Money paid to Cohen
31
4
7
10
13
16
19
22
25
28
34
The invoices, vouchers and checks in early 2017 were handled by
Trump’s trust. The rest was handled via Trump’s personal account.
Breaking down the 34 charges in Trump’s hush money trial
Guilty count of falsifying business records
JAN.
2017
APRIL
JULY
OCT.
Dec.
Invoices
Payment requests
from Cohen
29
1
5
8
11
14
17
20
23
26
32
Vouchers
Business records
documenting payment
2
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
Checks
Money paid to Cohen
4
7
10
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
The invoices, vouchers and checks in early 2017 were handled by
Trump’s trust. The rest was handled via Trump’s personal account.
Prosecutors alleged that these documents show that Trump intentionally misclassified payments to Cohen that reimbursed him for hush money he gave adult-film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. The hush money was to keep Daniels quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006 — an allegation Trump denies.
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Trump guilty verdict
Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. Will Trump go to jail? Can he be president? We explain what’s next.
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In total, the prosecution found that Cohen was paid $420,000 by Trump and his trust in 2017. Cohen told jurors in his testimony that this sum was discussed at a meeting with Trump and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg days before Trump’s inauguration. It includes the $130,000 in hush money, $50,000 toward a vendor payment Cohen had addressed for Trump, $180,000 to cover any tax liability on those two payments and a $60,000 bonus.
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The various amounts were documented on a handwritten note by former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, who testified to a separate meeting with Weisselberg where they discussed the repayment plan to Cohen.
In the meeting with Trump and Weisselberg, Cohen testified, the men decided he would be repaid for his $130,000 payment to Daniels through twelve $35,000 payments.
Here’s an overview of how the reimbursem*nt process worked each month, according to the evidence presented by prosecutors:
Invoices
Each month, Cohen filed what he said were phony
invoices seeking payment for legal services.
Vouchers
The prosecution alleges these invoices were then
recorded incorrectly as legal expenses.
Checks
Finally, Cohen was paid via check — nine of which
carried Trump’s distinctive signature.
Invoices
Each month, Cohen filed what he said were phony invoices seeking payment for legal
services.
Vouchers
The prosecution alleges these invoices were then recorded incorrectly as legal expenses.
Checks
Finally, Cohen was paid via check — nine of which carried Trump’s distinctive signature.
Invoices
Vouchers
Checks
Each month, Cohen filed what he said were
phony invoices seeking payment for legal
services.
The prosecution alleges these invoices were
then recorded incorrectly as legal expenses.
Finally, Cohen was paid via check — nine of
which carried Trump’s distinctive signature.
And here are the 34 exhibits the prosecution introduced into evidence to support their claim of a paper trail to reimburse Cohen for his payment to Daniels.
The invoices
+
8
In total, Cohen sent 11 invoices to Weisselberg in 2017 for “services rendered.” He later testified that no services were in fact rendered, and that the check was really “reimbursem*nt of hush money.”
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The vouchers
+
9
In total, 12 vouchers were created to record the payments to Cohen. Vouchers are a standard business practice to record how much money a company spends, and to detail who is paid and why, but the prosecution alleges that these vouchers inaccurately describe the money being paid to Cohen as a legitimate legal expense. The voucher entries were recorded by Trump Organization bookkeeper Deborah Tarasoff, who testified that authorization to pay Cohen came from Weisselberg and another top financial officer of the company.
The checks
+
8
In total, 11 checks were made out to Cohen, totaling $420,000. Two of the checks were from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Account, but nine were from Trump’s personal account.
Documents from the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Editing by Sarah Frostenson, Kevin Uhrmacher and Debbi Wilgoren. Copy editing by Dorine Bethea. Photo editing by Max Becherer. Illustration by Emma Kumer.
Trump New York hush money case
Donald Trump is the first former president convicted of a crime.
Can Trump still run for president? Yes. He is eligible to campaign and serve as president if elected, but he won’t be able to pardon himself. Here’s everything to know about next steps, what this means for his candidacy and the other outstanding trials he faces.
What happens next? Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11. He faces up to four years in prison, but legal experts say incarceration appears unlikely. Trump has 30 days to file notice of an appeal of the verdict and six months to file the full appeal.
Reaction to the verdict: Trump continued to maintain his innocence, railing against what he called a “rigged, disgraceful trial” and emphasizing voters would deliver the real verdict on Election Day.
The charges: Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Falsifying business records is a felony in New York when there is an “intent to defraud” that includes an intent to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal” another crime.
