Michael Cohen admits to stealing from Trump Organization while clawing back Stormy Daniels’ hush money

Michael Cohen has admitted to “stealing” tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization as part of his reimbursement plan with Donald Trump to recoup $130,000 for paying off Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Those reimbursements – paid out in monthly $35,000 installments in 2017 – totaled $420,000.

The payments also included $60,000 intended to reimburse Cohen after he hired a tech firm that helped rig opinion polls in Mr Trump’s favor, including a CNBC poll that asked participants to name the most-famous businessmen.

Cohen gave Red Finch a “brown paper bag” filled with $20,000 in cash, but still owed the vendor another $30,000 for the contract, according to his testimony in the former president’s hush money trial on Monday.

The initial payment was “enough to placate him for the time being,” he said. “I still needed his service and I still needed his availability.”

But Cohen billed Trump for the full $50,000 as part of his reimbursement scheme, “grossed up” by several thousands of dollars to account for taxes.

“You stole from the Trump Organization?” defense attorney Todd Blanche asked Cohen on Monday.

“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.

Mr Blanche also asked whether he has ever pleaded guilty to larceny, or paid back any of the money to the Trump Organization that he “stole from them.” He did not.

Red Finch was hired to juice the numbers on a poll involving “the most famous businessmen in, like, the last century,” Cohen said.

“Mr Trump’s name was on that list. At the beginning of this poll, he was polling at the very very bottom, and it upset him,” he added. “He had me come to his office and he provided me a sheet of paper and he showed it.”

Red Finch would then “create an algorithm to ensure that Mr Trump would rise and rise in