Donald Trump’s relief was evident as Monday’s first witness left the court.
For three hours, the former president’s head bobbed left and right as he took in the dense financial details of former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney’s testimony.
Then it was over.
Trump pumped his first two times as McConney’s bearded, bear-like body left the stand. For his part, the former Trump Organization employee nodded to Eric Trump, who was sitting in the front row of the court, and took a long, slow breath.
Trump insiders saw it as a good morning.
Former President Donald Trump clenched his fist as his former comptroller Jeff McConney gave testimony Monday morning. Trump seemed relieved that his evidence was not worse
Trump has denied all 34 charges of falsifying corporate records in Manhattan Criminal Court
A relatively low grade had meant a tedious journey through invoices, accounting software and months of emails as he built up the role of former fixer-turned-turncoat Michael Cohen as a lone wolf before destroying it.
These were not porn star confessions.
Yet it was at the heart of the case against the former and possibly future president, who denies 34 charges of tampering with business documents to conceal hush money payments before the 2016 election.
And the jury listened intently to important discussions about 1099 tax forms, general ledger entries and message threads.
Sometimes they turned their heads to the left to listen to prosecutor Matthew Colangelo’s questions and then turned to the right to hear McConney’s answers, as if they were watching a championship tennis rally and not a legal ding dong.
McConney, with his curtains of white hair on either side of his face, played the role of a Trump loyalist forced to testify by subpoena.
He made it clear that he had lost none of his affection for his former boss and sometimes threw dirt on Cohen, the once-loyal fixer who engineered the hush-money payments at the heart of this trial before turning on Trump.
He was asked what Cohen did for the Trump Organization.
“Um, he said he was a lawyer,” McConney replied emphatically, prompting laughter from the public gallery.
Cohen could be the prosecution’s greatest asset and greatest risk. He has admitted to paying $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, for her silence ahead of the 2016 election.
Former Trump lawyer will be a key witness for the prosecution when he appears. But his credibility is on the line and former Trump staffers have already ridiculed him from the stands
McConney arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court Monday morning to testify
Last week, it was former White House communications director Hope Hicks who ridiculed Cohen. At the end of her testimony, she burst into tears
Trump and Hicks in happier times, here outside the Oval Office as they head to Cleveland, Ohio on March 29, 2018
Looking vulnerable and conflicted on the stand, Hicks testified against a former boss she clearly still adored. McConney also expressed his affection for the former president
But he is banned from practicing law and jailed after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other charges.
He has changed his story about the payments. He initially issued stern denials before these strident accusations turned Trump guilty.
At some point he will take the stand and the jury will have to decide whether to believe him.
Last week it was Hope Hicks, a Trump insider for six years, who made her disdain clear.
She described how Trump once told her that Cohen made the payment “out of the goodness of his heart” to silence a false accusation about an affair.
“I would say that would be out of character for Michael,” she said. “I didn’t know Michael was a particularly charitable or selfless person.
There was laughter in the public gallery and she added that she knew him as “the kind of person who looks for credit.”
It must have been music to Trump’s soul. He has been repeatedly fined for trolling Cohen and violating a gag order.
Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney was questioned by prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on Monday as he ridiculed Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen
Another Trump Organization employee, Deborah Tarasoff, even tapped Eric Trump’s knee as she headed to the witness stand later in the day, in a sign of the staff’s loyalty to the family.
Monday started with Judge Juan Merchan threatening him with jail time if he did it again after finding him guilty of a tenth offense, this time after claiming the jury was filled with Democrats.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not a deterrent. Therefore, this court will have to consider a prison sentence in the future,” he said.
Once the evidence resumed, the towering figure of McConney took the stand.
He described the 36 years he worked for Trump before retiring last year in warm terms.
He chuckled at the early memory of how he once delivered weekly cash balance reports to Trump’s desk, only to have his boss briefly hang up on a call to tell him he had been fired.
When the call was over, Trump told him that he had not been fired, but that he did not want any more reports showing that his cash reserves were depleted. The message was to negotiate the invoices next time.
‘It was a learning moment. Just because someone asks for money, negotiate with them, talk to them,” McConney said.
Eric Trump, who sat in the front row behind his father, nodded along during the lesson.
In addition to expressing his admiration, McConney’s evidence could provide a road map for the rest of the prosecution.
Seven-year-old “chicken scratch” notes made by McConney detailing how Cohen should be repaid
The court was later shown checks signed by Trump with his distinctive signature
He described that he first heard about the need to pay Cohen back when Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, talked him through the plan.
“He kind of threw the block at me and said, ‘Take this away,’” he said.
Those seven-year-old “chickens,” as he called them, were published on the large video screens in the courtroom, which showed Weisselberg telling him that the Cohen should be repaid $180,000, doubled to take taxes into account, with a bonus of $60,000.
The notes show that the total had to be divided by 12, which gives a year of monthly payments of $35,000.
The checks were shown to the jury later in the day. The next step in what prosecutors allege was the cover-up of corporate records of transactions to protect the then-Republican candidate’s presidential campaign.
Or, according to the defense, just a routine check paid to a lawyer for legal services rendered, all booked by low-level employees while Trump was in the White House, 300 miles away from Trump Tower.