Jurors were shown a record showing the transfer of $130,000, which Cohen said he provided to Weisselberg. Written in the corner is “plus $50,000 paid to RedFinch for tech services,” for a total of $180,000. (Cohen reportedly arranged for RedFinch to rig polls in favor of Trump’s 2016 campaign. He said on the stand that he ultimately paid RedFinch less than $50,000 and kept the remainder for himself, feeling that he deserved it.)
Because Cohen would be receiving the reimbursement as income, taxes would be applied, so Weisselberg said the repayment needed to be “grossed up.” In order for Cohen to get back the $180,000, Weisselberg doubled the amount to $360,000. With a little extra bonus for Cohen — although not the full bonus he’d expected to receive — the total owed by Trump came to $420,000.
All of this is familiar to jurors by now. We’ve been over these numbers multiple times.
Weisselberg then came to Trump with Cohen to explain how they would pay Cohen back in monthly installments of $35,000, categorized as “legal services.” Trump approved the plan, Cohen said, but he got the feeling that Trump and Weisselberg had already discussed the matter beforehand. He estimated that the meeting happened on Jan. 17, 2017.
