Trump trial live updates: Drama sweeps courtroom as defense tries to get case tossed

Michael Cohen testified on Monday that he shelled out money to a tech firm to help boost Donald Trump's performance in an online CNBC poll about the most famous businessmen of the last half-century.

At first, Trump was polling near the bottom "and it upset him," Cohen said during redirect. So Cohen reached out to Red Finch, who said they could create an algorithm that would get Trump's name "to rise and rise significantly" in the poll by acquiring IP addresses to cast phony votes.

He said Trump initially wanted to finish first, but the two decided that would be suspicious. Instead, they decided to settle for ninth. But Trump refused to pay the firm after CNBC decided to nix a second round of the poll featuring the top 10 names. Trump, Cohen testified, didn't feel he'd gotten his money's worth.

When he was later reimbursed by Allen Weisselberg to pay back Red Finch, Cohen kept the proceeds for himself - an act of deception that, Cohen admitted earlier in the day, amounted to stealing from the Trump Organization.

But describing his actions to the prosecutor, Cohen defended the move. "I felt it was almost like self-help," he said.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche grilled Michael Cohen on Monday about his initial public denials that Donald Trump knew about the Stormy Daniels payoff.

After The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2018 that Cohen had arranged the payout to the porn actor more than a year earlier, Cohen told journalists, friends and others that Trump had been in the dark about the arrangement.

So until April 2018, "you had told anybody who asked that President Trump knew nothing about the payment at the time?" Blanche asked.

"That's what I said, yes," Cohen acknowledged.

In April 2018, federal authorities searched Cohen's home, office and other locations tied to him. Four months later, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other charges and told a court that Trump had directed him to arrange the Daniels payment.

Defense lawyer Todd Blanche asked Michael Cohen on Monday about legal matters he helped Donald Trump handle - including by finding outside lawyers - in early 2017 when he began receiving $35,000-a-month payments that reimbursed him for the payment to Stormy Daniels and some other things.

It's a point the defense wants to hammer home to counter prosecutors' argument that those monthly payments were deceptively logged as legal expenses to disguise the Daniels deal.

The defense, and Trump himself, have argued that the checks to Cohen were properly categorized because he was indeed working as a lawyer for Trump.

Cohen said he also did legal work for former first lady Melania Trump as part of his job - including reviewing an agreement with Madame Tussauds, the famous chain of wax museums, and working with her on a trademark issue.

Michael Cohen on Monday admitted that he stole from Donald Trump's company when he pocketed tens of thousands of dollars that was earmarked as a reimbursement for money he said he shelled out to a technology firm.

The Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen for the costs under the same arrangement as his repayment for the hush money payment he made to porn actor Stormy Daniels.

Cohen had claimed he shelled out $50,000 to the tech firm, Red Finch, but during cross-examination in Trump's criminal trial he testified that he gave a company executive just $20,000 in cash and never forked over the other $30,000 that was owed.

The Trump Organization repaid Cohen $50,000 and then doubled that payment in a practice known as "grossing up" to cover taxes he'd incur by declaring the money as income rather than a tax-free reimbursement.

Defense lawyer Todd Blanche noted that despite Cohen's guilty pleas in 2018 to federal charges including a campaign finance violation for the hush money payment and unrelated tax evasion and bank fraud crimes, he'd never been charged with stealing from Trump's company.

"Have you paid back the Trump Organization the money you stole from them?"

"No, sir," Cohen responded.

Trump, who had been slouched back in his seat with his eyes closed for much of the testimony, looked directly at the witness stand as Cohen made the admission about stealing.

Eric Trump, Trump's son, who is in court, posted on X: "This just got interesting: Michael Cohen is now admitting to stealing money from our company."