Ryan Goodman, former Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, spoke about former President Donald Trump‘s criminal trial in Manhattan where the presumptive GOP nominee faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business documents to cover up payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election.
Goodman said on CNN that there are two documents in evidence which are “close to being smoking guns.”
I discussed why two documents shown by prosecutors on Monday in the Trump trial are “close to being smoking guns.”
On @OutFrontCNN.
The Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg document is truly mind blowing. pic.twitter.com/7JxAwI4KuF
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 7, 2024
Goodman first noted a document — a copy of the bank account showing the $130,000 in question wired on October 27, 2016 to Stormy Daniels’s lawyer — with then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s handwriting on it. Goodman said, “In fact, the handwritten notes say ‘this is to gross him up,’ you do not gross up legal fees.”
2/ Get this :
Trump CFO’s contemporaneous handwritten notes recording the underlying scheme – the true reason for payments to Michael Cohen – are written on a copy of the bank account showing the $130,000 hush money wired on Oct. 27 to Stormy Daniels’ lawyer! pic.twitter.com/mwHdQy3kha
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 7, 2024
The second document is one with Jeffrey McConney’s handwritten notes. He too, as the comptroller of the Trump Organization, wrote that Cohen’s legal fees are “grossed up,” and according to Goodman, “show how they got from $130K to $420K (including grossing up x 2 ‘for taxes’).”
4/
On the left:
Trump Controller Jeffrey McConney ‘s handwritten notes showing how they got from $130K to $420K (including grossing up x 2 “for taxes”).
On right:
Trump lawyer’s Opening Statement telling jurors impossible to see how get from $130K to $420K reimbursement. pic.twitter.com/lJ2aRzNg1H
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 7, 2024
Goodman added: “Looks like Cohen’s testimony will be most important for DA to prove that piece of the case.”