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Michael Cohens testimony at Donald Trumps fraud trial.
, Faherty’s questioning prompted Cohen to reveal his familiarity with Trump’s financial statements – and state, under oath, that his ex-boss told him to come up with favorable numbers.
“I was tasked, by Mr Trump, to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrary selected, and my responsibility, along with Allen Weisselberg predominately, was to reverse-engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets, in order to achieve the number that Mr Trump had [requested,” Cohen testified.
When Faherty asked what sum he and Weisselberg came up with, Cohen responded, “Whatever number Mr Trump told us to.”
“We would take this specific list of assets and we would figure out which specific line to increase the number, again to reverse-engineer … the total assets that Mr Trump sought,” Cohen said.
Referring to the 30 June 2011 statement of financial condition displayed in court, Cohen said they would have taken this document and “mark it up by hand … in able to get the total asset number that Mr Trump asked us to achieve”.
Typically, Cohen said, these spurious adjustments would start with a phone call from Trump’s executive assistants. “I would come into the office, Allen Weisselberg would either already be there, or come with me, and the topic was the statement of financial condition.”
Trump, Cohen said, “would look at the total assets and he would say ‘I’m actually not worth $4.5bn, I’m really worth more like six.’”
“He would then direct Allen and I to go back to Allen’s office and return after we achieved the desir[ed] goal.”
They were referred to as the “gang of four” or “group of four” by an insurance broker who helped secure coverage for Trump’s various properties. Cohen said that this cohort came together at Trump’s direction.
“All the final decisions were done by Mr Trump,” Cohen said.
Cohen said that when brokering insurance deals, “there would be a conversation about his extensive net worth, he’s actually richer than the insurance companies … we’ve got to get a good premium”.
During sit-downs between the group and insurers, Trump would generally show up “three quarters through the meeting”; Cohen appeared to intimate that Trump’s late arrival was meant to convey his importance.
“It was coordinated that he would arrive like that,” Cohen said.
While granular, Cohen’s rundown of how Trump’s cronies handled acquiring of insurance speaks to the attorney general’s case that they conspired to commit fraud with his knowledge. Remember: Trump is accused of using questionable calculations to puff up his net worth when it suited his financial needs.
, Faherty’s questioning prompted Cohen to reveal his familiarity with Trump’s financial statements – and state, under oath, that his ex-boss told him to come up with favorable numbers.
“I was tasked, by Mr Trump, to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrary selected, and my responsibility, along with Allen Weisselberg predominately, was to reverse-engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets, in order to achieve the number that Mr Trump had [requested,” Cohen testified.
When Faherty asked what sum he and Weisselberg came up with, Cohen responded, “Whatever number Mr Trump told us to.”
Cohen: Trump would look at total assets and say 'I’m actually not worth $4.5bn, I’m worth more like six'
“We would take this specific list of assets and we would figure out which specific line to increase the number, again to reverse-engineer … the total assets that Mr Trump sought,” Cohen said.
Referring to the 30 June 2011 statement of financial condition displayed in court, Cohen said they would have taken this document and “mark it up by hand … in able to get the total asset number that Mr Trump asked us to achieve”.
Typically, Cohen said, these spurious adjustments would start with a phone call from Trump’s executive assistants. “I would come into the office, Allen Weisselberg would either already be there, or come with me, and the topic was the statement of financial condition.”
Trump, Cohen said, “would look at the total assets and he would say ‘I’m actually not worth $4.5bn, I’m really worth more like six.’”
“He would then direct Allen and I to go back to Allen’s office and return after we achieved the desir[ed] goal.”
Cohen describes 'gang of four' cutting insurance deals
Michael Cohen has described how a group of Trump cronies – he, Weisselberg, the Trump Organization COO Matthew Calamari, and company executive Ron Lieberman – were assigned to work together on insurance deals.They were referred to as the “gang of four” or “group of four” by an insurance broker who helped secure coverage for Trump’s various properties. Cohen said that this cohort came together at Trump’s direction.
“All the final decisions were done by Mr Trump,” Cohen said.
Cohen said that when brokering insurance deals, “there would be a conversation about his extensive net worth, he’s actually richer than the insurance companies … we’ve got to get a good premium”.
During sit-downs between the group and insurers, Trump would generally show up “three quarters through the meeting”; Cohen appeared to intimate that Trump’s late arrival was meant to convey his importance.
“It was coordinated that he would arrive like that,” Cohen said.
While granular, Cohen’s rundown of how Trump’s cronies handled acquiring of insurance speaks to the attorney general’s case that they conspired to commit fraud with his knowledge. Remember: Trump is accused of using questionable calculations to puff up his net worth when it suited his financial needs.
Michael Cohen describes ‘gang of four’ cutting insurance deals and says ‘final decisions were done by Mr Trump’ – as it happened
Trump’s former fixer testifies in ex-president’s civil fraud trial at Manhattan court