A longtime Trump Organization employee testified in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial that Mr. Trump had used his personal bank account to reimburse his longtime fixer for the money that bought a porn star’s silence.
Here’s the latest on the trial.
A former Trump Organization employee who handled a key payment at the center of Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan told the jury on Monday that much of the money had come from the personal bank account of Mr. Trump, who was by then the president of the United States.
Jeffrey S. McConney, the former corporate controller at the Trump Organization, described the reimbursement of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime fixer, who paid $130,000 out of his pocket to buy the silence of a porn star during the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Once Mr. Trump was sworn in, he repaid Mr. Cohen for the hush money to the porn star, Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had sex with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cohen ultimately received $420,000 from Mr. Trump — covering the hush money, plus a bonus and additional funds — with nine of the 11 payments coming from the personal account of Mr. Trump.
The testimony came after the judge overseeing the case fined the former president $1,000 and threatened to jail him if he continued to violate a gag order barring attacks on witnesses and jurors, saying it could be necessary to “protect the dignity of the justice system.”
The judge, Juan M. Merchan, directly warned Mr. Trump that he would “have to consider a jail sanction” if he has to again hold him in contempt of court. Mr. Trump shook his head when the judge concluded.
The trial has been moving quickly, and there are only a few key witnesses who have yet to take the stand, including Ms. Daniels and Mr. Cohen.
Mr. Trump, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, is charged with 34 felonies related to the reimbursements: The Manhattan district attorney’s office says that he coordinated the falsification of business records related to the repayment.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied that he had sex with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face probation or as long as four years in prison. He will not testify as part of the prosecution’s case; it is unclear whether he will later take the stand in his own defense.
Here’s what else to know:
- A 10th contempt of court finding: After Monday’s decision, Mr. Trump has now been fined $10,000 for 10 gag order violations in all since the start of the hush-money trial last month. Although prosecutors asked Justice Merchan last week to hold Mr. Trump in contempt for four statements, the judge decided to fine him for just one. “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Justice Merchan said, adding quickly, “But at the end of the day I have a job to do.”
- The false records charges: Prosecutors say Mr. Trump, 77, falsified the records to cover up his reimbursement of Mr. Cohen for the payment to Ms. Daniels, directing his company to describe the payments as “legal expenses” from a retainer agreement. The expenses and agreement were fictional, prosecutors say.
- Hope Hicks speaks: Mr. Trump’s former press secretary and White House communications director on Friday described the deep anxiety that gripped Mr. Trump’s campaign after the revelation of the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape in October 2016. In nearly three hours on the stand, Ms. Hicks also described concerns about a 2016 article in The Wall Street Journal, published days before the election, regarding Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007. Ms. McDougal’s story was purchased by the parent company of The National Enquirer, only to be buried. Here are five takeaways from Friday’s court session.