Here are the takeaways from what happened Monday in Trump’s trial:
Judge threatens to jail Trump: Judge Juan Merchan began Monday’s session by announcing he found Trump in contempt for violating his gag order a 10th time, after fining him last week for nine violations cited by prosecutors. Each violation came with a $1,000 fine, the maximum allowed under New York law. While only fining Trump for one violation Monday, the judge felt it was enough to issue a sharp warning: He would put Trump in jail if he didn’t stop. “Mr. Trump, it’s important to understand that the last thing I want to do is to put you in jail,” Merchan told Trump.
The judge continued saying that he was “aware of the broader implications of such a sanction. The magnitude of such a decision is not one-sided.” But the judge said his job was to “protect the dignity of the judicial system and compel respect.”
Jurors see checks, invoices and books at heart of charges: Monday’s testimony from two witnesses was important because jurors saw documents prosecutors say were falsified so Cohen could be repaid for the hush money payment to Daniels. Former Trump Org. controller Jeffrey McConney testified to the $35,000 invoices he processed to Cohen as a reimbursement for the $130,000 hush money payment. Month-by-month, McConney confirmed that he received an email that contained Cohen’s invoice for $35,000, which the Trump Org. claimed were “legal expenses.”
He also confirmed he sent the invoice to Trump Org. accounts payable employee Deborah Tarasoff to cut the check. Tarasoff later testified that she cut checks from Trump’s personal account and sent them to Washington, DC, to be signed by Trump at the White House. Those records were tied to the 34 counts against Trump in the indictment, which accused Trump of having “made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise,” through the checks, invoices, vouchers and ledger entries used to repay Cohen.
The testimony from McConney and Tarasoff may have been drier than what jurors learned about the world of tabloid magazines and celebrity scandals from David Pecker and Keith Davidson – but it’s what jurors need to hear as they consider Trump’s fate.
Read all the takeaways here
Sumber: www.cnn.com
