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In January 2017, Cohen in seeking reimbursement for election-related expenses, presented executives of the Company with a copy of a bank statement from the Essential Consultants bank account, which reflected the $130,000 payment Cohen had made to the bank account of Attorney-1 in order to keep Woman-2 silent in advance of the election, plus a $35 wire fee, adding, in handwriting, an additional "$50,000." The $50,000 represented a claimed payment for "tech services," which in fact related to work Cohen had solicited from a technology company during and in connection with the campaign. Cohen added these amounts to a sum of $180,035. After receiving this document, executives of the Company "grossed up" for tax purposes Cohen's requested reimbursement of $180,000 to $360,000, and then added a bonus of $60,000 so that Cohen would be paid $420,000 in total. Executives of the Company also determined that the $420,000 would be paid to Cohen in monthly amounts of $35,000 over the course of 12 months, and that Cohen should send invoices for these payments.
On February 14, 2017, Cohen sent an executive of the Company ("Executive-1") the first of his monthly invoices, requesting "[p]ursuant to [a] retainer agreement, . . . payment for services rendered for the months of January and February, 2017." The invoice listed $35,000 for each of those two months. Executive-1 forwarded the invoice to another executive of the Company ("Executive-2") the same day by email, and it was approved.