During the final month of the campaign, the agreement with Ms. Daniels hit a snag. Mr. Pecker refused to pay her, shifting the responsibility to Mr. Trump and consequently Mr. Cohen. When Mr. Trump hesitated in making a decision, hoping the issue would fade away after Election Day, Mr. Cohen revealed that he used various excuses to delay Ms. Daniels’s lawyer, including even the sacred Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
“I was just following orders,” Mr. Cohen clarified.
However, Ms. Daniels grew impatient and threatened to walk away, prompting Mr. Cohen to cover the payment from his own funds. He informed Mr. Trump immediately after finalizing the deal, a fact supported by phone records.
“I was doing everything in my power and more to protect my boss, something I had been doing for a long time,” Mr. Cohen testified.
His efforts paid off as Mr. Trump emerged victorious in the election a few days later.
However, Mr. Cohen’s patience wore thin when he did not receive a job in Washington from Mr. Trump and was given what he considered to be a meager bonus. He expressed his frustration to the Trump Organization’s CFO, Allen H. Weisselberg, who assured him that Mr. Trump would increase the bonus and reimburse him for the hush money.
Mr. Weisselberg devised a plan, documented in notes presented in court by prosecutors, and as Mr. Cohen testified, Mr. Trump gave his approval.
“Did he show this document to Mr. Trump?” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger inquired.
“He did,” Mr. Cohen confirmed. “He approved it.”
Contributions to this report were made by Kate Christobek, Alan Feuer, Jesse McKinley, Jonathan Swan and Wesley Parnell.
