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While all eyes are on Stormy Daniels, the first witness on the stand Tuesday in Donald Trump’s criminal trial was Sally Franklin, senior vice president at the Penguin Random House. The 26-year veteran of the publishing house was there to speak about Trump’s ghostwritten books, including advise therein that could be relevant to his defense.
Prosecutors themselves drew attention to excerpts from two of Trump’s books, “Trump: How to Get Rich,” “Pay Attention to the Details,” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.”
“Always look at the numbers yourself. If things turn grim, you’re the one left holding the checkbook,” states one of the excerpts, which Trump wrote with the help of a ghostwriter. “I always sign my checks so I know where my money is going,” Trump states in another.
While the defense has maintained that Trump was unaware of the $130,000 payment made to Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with him, the excerpts — read into the record by Franklin — are suggestive of a “penny-pinching” micromanager eager to track where all his money goes.
Prosecutors argue that Trump would have known about any scheme to falsify business records to cover up a $130,000 hush payment to Daniels. On Monday, a current Trump Organization account testified that money to allegedly reimburse Michael Cohen for the payment came from Trump’s own personal bank account.
Before she left the stand, Franklin read another excerpt from a Trump book, stating: “When somebody hurts you, just go after them as viciously and as violently as you can.”
