CNN legal analyst claims Cohen ‘stealing’ is ‘more serious’ than Trump’s charges

A legal analyst for CNN claims Michael Cohen’s admission that he stole money from the Trump Organization is actually “more serious” than the falsified business records charges the former president faces.

During cross-examination on Monday, Cohen admitted that he “stole” from the Trump Organization by upcharging them tens of thousands of dollars as part of the hush-money reimbursement plan he agreed to with Donald Trump.

During CNN’s coverage, legal analyst Elie Honig said that the practice, which is considered larceny in New York state, was “crushing” the prosecution’s credibility.

“The fact that he was never charged with larceny is important because stealing $60,000 through fraud, which would be larceny in New York state, is more serious of a crime than falsifying business records,” Mr Honig said.

Cohen, Mr Trump’s former lawyer and one-time fixer, said during cross-examination that he has never pleaded guilty to larceny or paid back the Trump Organization. The prosecution did not ask Cohen about this while he testified last week.

But during re-direct, Cohen explained that he overcharged the Trump Organization for work he did with Red Finch, a technology firm, to juice-up Mr Trump’s numbers on a poll about the most influential businessmen.

After coming in ninth, Mr Trump felt it wasn’t worth the amount of money Cohen promised to pay Red Finch. Ultimately, Cohen paid the company $20,000 cash in a brown paper bag.

But he still asked the Trump Organization for $50,000 in reimbursement. Cohen said it was “almost like self-help”.

“I wasn’t going to correct the conversation I was having with Allen [Weisselberg] about it. I had not only protected [Mr Trump] to the best that I could but I had also laid out money to Red Finch a