• Trump is alleged to have sought $1 billion from oil executives at Mar-a-Lago for his 2024 campaign.
• He promised to lift drilling barriers, gas export moratoriums, and pollution regulations.
• Oil companies risk losing $110 billion in tax breaks if Biden's budget is enacted, said The Guardian.

Donald Trump is alleged to have made a $1 billion fundraising pitch to oil executives in a closed meeting, The Washington Post reported earlier this month, in exchange for $110 billion in savings, according to The Guardian

Trump's forward approach came as reports suggested the size of his reelection campaign war chest lags behind his Democratic opponent. Meanwhile, the former president, who is facing 88 criminal counts, indicted in four separate prosecutions, has been spending millions on legal fees and drawing on campaign funds to pay his lawyers.

A billion dollars would dramatically exceed Biden's fundraising. In March, the president's campaign said it had $192 million in the bank.

The Guardian reports that Trump assured these executives that in return for the campaign cash he would eliminate barriers to drilling, lift the moratorium on gas exports, and overturn regulations designed to reduce automotive pollution in exchange for substantial campaign donations.

The alleged offer could save the oil industry $110 billion, The Guardian said. The exclusive dinner, held at the Mar-a-Lago last month, hosted more than 20 executives from leading oil companies, including Chevron, Exxon, and Occidental Petroleum was the scene of the transactional deal, Per The Washington Post.. 

The primary incentive for the oil and gas companies to back Trump lies in preserving about $110 billion in tax breaks, which would be at risk if President Joe Biden is re-elected, reported The Guardian.

Trump was on a quest to woo oil and gas tycoons

Since taking office, Biden has placed a high priority on climate issues as he's touted tax credits for Americans to purchase electric vehicles and promoted rebates to make homes more energy efficient.

On his first day in White House, Biden rejoined the Paris climate accord, bringing the United States back into fold among nearly 200 countries that have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Biden, in also canceling the Keystone XL oil pipeline and also canceling oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeastern Alaska, that Trump says have weakened the United States on energy policy.

Lukas Ross, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth Action, who conducted the analysis shared with The Guardian, emphasized the stakes: "Big oil executives are anxious about losing $110 billion in tax benefits under Biden's policies in 2025. Trump's promise to safeguard these subsidies during tax negotiations could make his $1 billion fundraising effort seem like a minimal investment for the industry."

Trump's 2017 tax cuts significantly benefited the oil and gas sector. With some of these cuts set to expire next year, intense lobbying efforts are underway. Records show that major oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute (API) have actively engaged lawmakers to oppose Biden's tax proposals.

The high-stakes Mar-a-Lago event featured executives from smaller firms specializing in areas like fracking and gas exporting, which are particularly vulnerable to regulatory changes.

Trump is continuing to court oil industry donors, holding high-cost fundraisers with figures like John Catsimatidis, whose refinery has a poor safety record, said The Guardian.

In November, BI's John L. Dorman reported that Trump was on a quest to woo oil and gas tycoons into backing his presidential campaign.

"Trump 2024 is actively courting the right people and trying to get them on board, but specifically the oil industry," Canary LLC chief executive Dan Eberhart told the Washington Post last year.

• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky spoke to NBC News in an interview set to air on Sunday.
• Chesky said it is "hard" to enforce a carbon monoxide mandate across 220 countries and regions.
• NBC News reported that at least 19 deaths at Airbnbs involved carbon monoxide poisoning.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said enforcing certain safety measures, like carbon monoxide detectors, across all listings worldwide is "very hard."

Chesky's comments came during an interview on NBC Nightly News, which is scheduled to air on Sunday. NBC said Chesky will discuss a range of challenges facing his multibillion-dollar company.

NBC reported in November 2023 that there had been 19 deaths on Airbnb properties related to carbon monoxide poisoning. Airbnb responded to the initial deaths in 2014 by asserting it would mandate carbon monoxide detectors in all its listings but that's yet to happen, the outlet said.

While Airbnb has tackled issues like indoor security cameras with outright bans, Chesky said during Sunday's interview that addressing carbon monoxide poisoning has been a tougher obstacle.

"It is very hard to verify whether or not a property has a carbon monoxide detector, but we're working really, really hard to make sure that every single property has a verified address," he said.

He added: "It's really hard to mandate things in 220 countries and regions and cities all over the world, and then if you mandate something, you have to have a mechanism to verify that it happens."

Airbnb has 7.7 million listings worldwide and 5 million hosts. The company says that — as of December last year — it has hosted some 1.5 billion guests. Since Airbnb is a global company, it must adhere to various carbon monoxide laws and regulations.

When asked if Airbnb is "walking away" from that mandate because it may not be "realistic," Chesky said tackling carbon monoxide poisoning and enforcing detectors is still a priority.

"There's a really good question about, 'Is a mandate the right approach?'" Chesky said. "But what is absolutely the right approach is to make sure that every single listing is safe. Every single person is safe."

Airbnb began offering free combination carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms to hosts in 2014. Chesky also said Airbnb provides travel information to guests visiting "high-risk" areas.

Representatives for Airbnb did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Sean "Diddy" Combs apologized in an Instagram video on Sunday. 
• Video footage showed Combs physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2016.
• Combs called his behavior "inexcusable."

Sean "Diddy" Combs broke his silence after video footage showed him physically assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at a California hotel in 2016.

Combs posted an Instagram video on Sunday, writing in the caption, "I'm truly sorry."

"It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that," Combs said. "I was fucked up. I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses."

Combs called his behavior in the video "inexcusable."

"I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I'm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now," he said.

Combs said he began therapy and rehab following the events of that video.

"I'm committed to be a better man each and every day," he added.

Representatives for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Combs' statement comes after CNN published video footage from March 2016 that showed him physically assaulting Ventura at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The footage appeared to match an incident Ventura described in a 2023 lawsuit against Combs. The lawsuit said Combs got intoxicated before punching Ventura and giving her a black eye.

The footage, compiled from several camera angles, shows Ventura leaving a hotel room and approaching a set of elevators.

Combs, dressed with only a towel around his waist, then exits the hotel room and runs toward Ventura, whom he grabs by the neck and throws to the ground. The footage showed Combs shoving, dragging, kicking, and throwing an object toward Ventura.

Ventura's attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, called the footage "gut-wrenching" in a statement to CNN.

"The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light," Wigdor said.

Representatives for Combs declined to comment on the video footage at the time, CNN reported.

Ventura's lawsuit against Combs accused him of rape and abuse during their decadelong relationship. Combs denied the allegations at the time.

The two reached a settlement just one day after the lawsuit was filed, according to The New York Times.

Although Ventura and Combs' legal battle was cut short, he's still embroiled in other legal troubles after several other women accused him of sexual misconduct.

The fallout has begun to affect Combs' business ventures, which span a range of industries. Revolt, a cable TV network, announced on Instagram that Combs would step down as a chairman.

According to Rolling Stone, more than 20 brands cut ties with Combs' marketplace for Black-owned businesses, Empower Global, following the accusations. The outlet also reported that Hulu canceled a planned reality TV show based on his family called "Diddy+7."

• Donald Trump hinted at extending his presidency for a third term at an National Rifle Association meeting.
• It was the former president's ninth time addressing the US's top gun lobby.
• The speech ended with a pessimistic monologue from Trump set against dramatic music.

Donald Trump hinted at extending his stay in the White House to a third term if he wins in November.

Speaking to a crowd at the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting in Dallas on Saturday, he said: "You know, FDR 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don't know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?"

Some members of the crowd cried back: "Three!"

It was the former president's ninth time addressing the US's top gun lobby, which contains some of Trump's most fervent supporters and donors.

It isn't the first time Trump has hinted at going for a third term.

On the campaign trail in 2020, he told a rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin: "We are going to win four more years. And then after that, we'll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years."

But last month, in an interview with Time magazine. he seemed to dial back on his desire for a third term.

"I intend to serve four years and do a great job. And I want to bring our country back. I want to put it back on the right track. Our country is going down. We're a failing nation right now. We're a nation in turmoil," he said.

Trump also used the event on Saturday to slam President Joe Biden for increasing restrictions on gun ownership, promising the crowd that he would reverse any gun safety provisions that Biden had implemented, per Politico.

"Crooked Joe Biden has a 40-year record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens," he said.

The speech ended with a pessimistic monologue from Trump set against dramatic music.

"Now we are a nation in decline," Trump said. "We are a failing nation. We are a nation that has the highest inflation in 58 years, where banks are collapsing, and interest rates are skyrocketing."

"We are a nation that is begging Venezuela and others for oil," he went on. "We are a nation whose leaders are demanding all-electric cars, despite the fact that they don't go far…"

The music was compared to the QAnon anthem — the conspiracy-theory-led movement that baselessly claims Trump is fighting a deep-state cabal of pedophiles.

Trump has leant hard into his support of QAnon in recent years.

The New York Times reported in September 2022 that music sounding like a QAnon song had been played at a Trump rally in Youngstown, Ohio. During the rally, the former president's supporters were also seen pointing their fingers to the sky in a one-finger salute, which experts said might have been a nod to the movement's slogan, "Where we go one, we go all."

• Biden appeared to applaud after a Morehouse graduate called for a "permanent" cease-fire in Gaza.
• The invitation for the president to speak at Morehouse was criticized by many students.
• Many young people are unhappy with the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

President Joe Biden on Sunday appeared to clap after the valedictorian of Morehouse College called for an "immediate and permanent cease-fire" in Gaza during the school's commencement ceremony.

In the lead-up to graduation at Morehouse, a prestigious historically Black men's college in Atlanta, many students opposed Biden speaking at the ceremony, frustrated by his administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

DeAngelo Fletcher, the Morehouse valedictorian, gave an impassioned speech during the commencement, where he didn't shy away from his stance regarding the conflict.

"From the comforts of our homes, we watched unprecedented numbers of civilians mourn the loss of men, women, and children, while calling for the release of all hostages," he said. "For the first time in our lives, we've heard the global community sing one harmonious song that transcends language and culture. It is my stance as a Morehouse man — nay, as a human being — to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza strip."

Biden appeared to applaud Fletcher's comments, which also attracted cheers from many of the graduates.

"Hear the people of this world. Sing the song of righteous justice," Fletcher concluded in his remarks.

The graduation ceremony revealed a stark generational divide. Many young alumni questioned the Biden invitation while older alumni and top university figures were largely supportive of Biden coming to Morehouse.

Morehouse College President David Thomas indicated during a recent NPR interview that he was prepared to end the ceremony if disruptions became so severe that they could warrant police intervention.

"The last thing that we want to do is create a moment where someone is taken out of commencement by law enforcement because they are being disruptive," he told the outlet last week. "Faced with the choice of having police take people out of the Morehouse commencement in zip ties, we would essentially cancel or discontinue the commencement services on the spot."

During the interview, Thomas said that "silent non-disruptive protests" would be permitted during Biden's speech.

Some graduates turned their backs on the president as he spoke, The Atlanta Voice reported. Several Morehouse graduates also wore keffiyeh scarves, a symbol of Palestinians, around their shoulders as part of their graduation regalia.

Biden, during his speech, said he "heard" the voices of the graduates regarding Gaza.

"I promise you, I hear them. It's a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," he said. "That's why I've called for an immediate cease-fire to stop the fighting. Bring the hostages home."

The widespread destruction and loss of life in Gaza have diminished Biden's standing among young voters, as many oppose his administration's initial support of the Israeli government in the conflict.

Georgia is a key swing state that Biden won in 2020, but the issue could go a long way in impacting enthusiasm for his campaign, especially among young and Black voters — two groups that he needs to turn out for him if he wants to win the state this time around.

• Trump is unlikely to testify in his Manhattan hush-money trial, sources told The Washington Post.
• New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said the presentation of evidence could end Monday.
• Experts believe Trump would not benefit from testifying and would likely open himself up to perjury.

Donald Trump is unlikely to testify in his hush-money trial in Manhattan, despite previously saying he would, sources familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

Four unnamed people close to the former president told the paper that they were not expecting him to take the witness stand next week. The jury is, therefore, expected to begin deliberations later in the week after the defense calls on a small number of witnesses.

John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School, told The Telegraph that the former president would be "mad" to take the stand, saying "he would open himself to a perjury indictment, even if he won in this case."

"An early question on cross [examination] if Trump testified would be whether he ever had sex with Stormy Daniels," he added.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case, said on Thursday that the presentation of evidence could be wrapped up on Monday, per The Post.

Lawyers often advise defendants not to testify in their own defense.

"In almost every case, the risk of what could come out on cross-examination outweighs any benefit that could be gained from hearing directly from the defendant," according to the criminal defense firm Elmen Legal.

Despite this, Trump has previously insisted that he would "absolutely" testify in the trial.

"I'm testifying. I tell the truth. All I can do is tell the truth and the truth is they have no case," he said at a press conference in April.

On Friday, a centrist Washington DC-based think tank, Third Way, released an ad dubbed "Coward," daring Trump to take the stand.

"Donald Trump would never plead the Fifth Amendment," the narrator says in the ad.

The former president is then heard saying, "The mob takes the Fifth. If you are innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?

"Now he's on trial for hiding hush money payments to a porn star, but he won't take the stand," the narrator adds. "Donald, why won't you testify? After all, you believe only guilty cowards take the fifth."

But Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor, told The Post that Trump had "little to gain" by testifying, especially given that the defense has attempted to undermine the prosecution's case by poking holes in the credibility of Michael Cohen, Trump's former "fixer."

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche sought to characterize Cohen as a liar when he questioned him earlier this week.

Nevertheless, Trump has a legal right to defend himself, Coffee told The Telegraph, and either way, Blanche "would have to respect his decision," he added.

• Ukraine says it has destroyed a Russian minesweeper in the Black Sea.
• The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine celebrated the loss of the Kovrovets minesweeper on X.
• Ukraine claims to have destroyed or disabled a third of Russian ships in the Black Sea during the war.

Ukrainian forces destroyed Russia's Kovrovets sea minesweeper, the Ukrainian Navy reported on Telegram.

"The Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with their comrades, continue to bring us closer to victory," the Ukrainian Navy wrote on its Telegram channel.

No information on where the attack took place or what weapons were used to target the Kovrovets, but Ukraine has had notable success in tormenting the Russian fleet with exploding drone boats.

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the Russian Navy's latest loss.

The Kovrovets, a Project 266M Natya class minesweeper, was used for mine-sweeping operations, reconnaissance, and control sweeping, Euromaidan Press reports. It had also been deployed off the coast of in Syria.

The Soviet-era minesweepers were built in the 1970s and 1980s and carried a crew of 68.

In March, the Ukrainian Navy told AP News that Ukraine had destroyed or disabled one-third of all Russian warships that had been stationed in the Black Sea before the war.

The latest sinking of a Russian warship follows attacks on Novorossiysk on Friday. The Russian port has become an important base for the Black Sea Fleet after repeated attacks on its traditional base in Crimea.

It appears the attack on Novorossiysk was part of Ukraine's biggest drone attack ever.

Satellite images from April indicate that Russia was beefing up its defenses for its Black Sea Fleet naval base in Novorossiysk.

However, Novorossiysk was struck by Ukrainian missiles and drones this weekend.

As Ukraine maintains pressure on Russia in Crimea and the Black Sea region, its troops have struggled to fend off Russian advances along the eastern front, particularly near Kharkiv.

Despite progress made by Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was not experiencing a shortage of artillery shells for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

• A helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi "crashed upon landing," state media reported.
• Harsh weather conditions and heavy fog are complicating rescue missions.
• Raisi was traveling with other senior officials. 

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other senior Iranian officials "crashed upon landing" on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without providing further details.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran's border with Azerbaijan when his helicopter crashed upon landing.

The incident is believed to have occurred near Jolfa, a city sitting on the border with Azerbaijan, some 375 miles northwest of Tehran, Iran's capital.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, Malik Rahmati, and other officials were on board the helicopter, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

One local government official used the word "crash" to describe the incident, but he told an Iranian newspaper that he had yet visited the site himself, the Associated Press reported.

State media did not provide any information on Raisi's condition or the other officials on board the helicopter.

The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have complicated the efforts of rescue teams, who arrived at the crash site an hour after the incident occurred, IRNA reports.

Video footage from the crash site reveals the state of the weather conditions.

Raisi, 63, had been traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province for the inauguration of the Qizqalaasi dam on the Aras river, which runs along Iran's border with Azerbaijan.

The hardline president is seen as a favorite of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is sanctioned by the US, at least in part because of his role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

Last month, Iran launched more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles at Israel.

This is a breaking news story

• People's Exhibit 35 is key evidence in the Donald Trump hush-money trial.
• It documents the hush-money payment and an alleged conspiracy to falsify its reimbursement.
• But whether Exhibit 35 will clinch or crash the DA's case depends on Michael Cohen.

Welcome to People's Exhibit 35, the single most important piece of evidence in the Donald Trump hush-money trial.

You'll see this one-page document in its succinct entirety just a few paragraphs down. Then, I'll walk you through it, section by section.

People's 35 is the fulcrum for the entire case. As they make their closing arguments next week, prosecutors are sure to say it proves Trump is guilty, while the defense will say it proves he's innocent.

And which side wins will depend in large part on whether jurors believe key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer who testified last week that Trump personally saw — and approved — the document's contents.

People's 35 looks a little complicated, but I promise this won't hurt a bit. Go ahead, scroll through it, just to see what it looks like, and I'll meet you on the other side, where we'll take it apart.

As you can see, People's 35 is a one-page bank statement from October 2016 for something called "Essential Consultants," an LLC controlled by Cohen.

The highlights, but not the handwriting, are mine.

It may not look like a lot, but I bet you when prosecutors found this hardcopy sheet of paper among hundreds of thousands of pages of subpoenaed Trump Organization documents, somebody shouted, "Holy @#$%!!!!"

People's 35 encapsulates almost the entirety of the alleged hush-money-conspiracy. It has almost everything, and all on one page.

The block I've colored turquoise shows Cohen wired $130,000 of his own money to a lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels on October 27, 2016, just 11 days before the election.

That, for anyone who's sleeping through the trial, is the hush money.

The green block? That's where Cohen scribbled that Trump owes him $180,000, which is the hush money plus a $50,000 outlay Cohen previously made. (That "TECH SERVICES" outlay is a funny story of its own, which we'll get to.)

And the yellow block shows where Trump's former top money man, ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg, scratched out how much Cohen was owed. Weisselberg then worked out how that total would be (allegedly illegally) doubled to account for income taxes and how that grand total would then be (allegedly illegally) reimbursed.

No fingerprints, though

Yes, People's 35 has almost everything — the $130,000 hush-money payment itself and the actual chicken-scratched math behind what prosecutors call a conspiracy to falsify the business records for Cohen's reimbursement.

What People's 35 does not have is Trump's fingerprints, a point that the defense is sure to point out in closing arguments set to begin as early as Tuesday.

To connect Trump to the alleged scheme, jurors will need to believe Cohen — who told them last week that when all the calculating and scribbling was done, he and Weisselberg marched this very page into Trump's office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

It was mid-January 2017, and Trump was days away from his inauguration.

Prosecutors say that Trump's schedule was packed at the time with teleprompter training sessions and meetings with future chief of staff Reince Priebus.

But Trump carved out a moment nonetheless to sit with Weisselberg, his loyal CFO, and with Cohen, his attorney, who prosecutors say had just fronted $130,000 of his own cash to pay off a porn actor and was eager for repayment.

The defense counters that this meeting never happened and that Cohen and Weisselberg are solely responsible for any falsified documents.

They are expected to tell jurors next week that Trump was too busy running the country in 2017 to have had a hand in the year's worth of bogus "retainer" reimbursement checks to Cohen — including nine checks he signed personally.

'He approved it'

"Did he show this document to Mr. Trump?" prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Cohen during his direct testimony on Monday, the "he" being Weisselberg.

"Yes," Cohen answered, as Trump watched from the defense table

"And what, if anything, did Mr. Trump say at the time?" the prosecutor asked.

"He approved it," Cohen answered, referring to Trump. "And he also said, 'This is going to be one heck of a ride in DC.'"

Ready? Here's a closer look, starting with the purple-highlighted section at the top.

Prosecutors allege that less than two weeks before the 2016 election, Cohen tapped his own home equity line of credit in order to purchase Daniels' silence.

But Cohen obscured his role as a hush-money bag man. Instead of sending the money directly, he first wired the $130,000 into the bank account for a newly created shell company called Essential Consultants, LLC.

The LLC's sole purpose was to handle the hush-money payment, Cohen testified.

"Can we put up People's Exhibit 35, please, in evidence?" Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asked just after Monday's lunch break.

The document was displayed on personal screens for each of the jurors, and on four large overhead screens for the audience.

"Do you recognize this document?" Hoffinger asked.

"I do," Cohen answered. "This is the bank statement for Essential Consultants for the period of October 26th of 2016 through the 31st of October of 2016," Cohen explained.

Next, let's turn to the pink-highlighted section.

Here, we see the $130,000 hush-money payment moving in, and then out, of the Essential Consultants bank account.

Cohen testified last week that he took the money from his HELOC, or home-equity line of credit, so he could hide the big outlay from his wife.

Her name was on the HELOC, but the billing was paperless, Cohen explained.

"You decided to do it this way, it was quick, you could move the money quickly, because you wanted to conceal it from your wife, correct?" defense lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen during cross-examination on Thursday.

"Correct," Cohen answered.

Let's move to the turquoise section, highlighting where the money went.

So long, hush money.

People's Exhibit 35 shows that on October 27 — only 11 days before the election — Cohen wired the $130,000 from Essential Consultants to Keith Davidson, who was Daniels' lawyer at the time.

Davidson also repped Karen McDougal, the former Playboy Bunny who had been paid $150,000 just weeks prior to keep her silent about a nearly yearlong affair she said she had with Trump.

Both the porn star and the pinup model say they slept with Trump at the same Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament in 2006. Trump's son with Melania Trump was then four months old.

Trump has consistently denied having sex with the two women.

Davidson's testimony in early May was noteworthy for its name-dropping. The attorney told jurors he peddled salacious celebrity stories to the National Enquirer, including stories targeting Charlie Sheen, Hulk Hogan, Lindsay Lohan, and Tila Tequila.

The defense used its cross-examination of Davidson to imply that Trump was no mastermind and was instead a helpless victim of something akin to celebrity extortion.

Next: Cohen's handwriting, highlighted in green, from the bottom right corner.

Here is where Cohen testified he made a jotted note of another personal outlay Trump owed him for, on top of the $130,000 and the wiring fee of $35.

This was a reimbursement for $50,000 paid to the Virginia tech company RedFinch Solutions LLC.

RedFinch did polling for the Trump campaign and set up the Twitter account @WomenForCohen, touting him as a so-called "pit bull" and "sex symbol."

"He told me to add up the 130 with the 50,000 for RedFinch — total it to 180,000," Cohen testified Monday, referring to a talk he said he had with Weisselberg before the two men marched People's 35 into Trump's office.

Cohen never reimbursed RedFinch for the whole $50,000, he testified.

Finally, let's look at the bottom left section, highlighted in yellow.

"And whose handwriting is at the bottom left and middle?" Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asked Cohen as People's 35 was displayed.

"That's Allen Weisselberg's," Cohen answered.

Weisselberg has been unavailable to testify. He is currently serving a five-month perjury sentence for lying on Trump's behalf at last year's civil fraud trial.

"And how were you able to recognize Allen Weisselberg's handwriting?" the prosecutor asked.

"Well, I recognize the handwriting, but I was also there in the room when he was writing it," Cohen answered.

Weisselberg, in his handwritten note, started with the $180,000 Cohen said Trump owed him.

The CFO underlined the amount. Below that, he wrote, "Grossed up to $360,000."

"He told me what he was going to do was to — it's called 'gross it up,'" Cohen explained to the jury.

Weisselberg's idea — approved by Trump — was to falsely process Cohen's $180,000 reimbursement as legal fees, paid in monthly installments throughout 2017, Trump's first year in office, prosecutors say.

But because Cohen faced a 50% tax penalty on that income, Weisselberg doubled — or "grossed up" — the $180,000, Cohen testified.

"So in order to get back the 180, what he did was, he then wrote down 360,000," Cohen testified. Cohen could then take his 50% tax hit, paying the IRS $180,000 and still pocketing the $180,000 he was due.

Weisselberg tacked on an extra $60,000 year-end bonus, arriving at a grand total of $420,000, Cohen testified, continuing to translate the CFO's handwriting to jurors.

Cohen said he was told the $420,000 should be divided into monthly "retainer" checks of $35,000.

That was bad news for Cohen, who had walked into the meeting with Weisselberg and Trump assuming he'd be reimbursed in one lump sum.

But Trump and Weisselberg had figured it all out in advance, Cohen said he soon realized.

"Did Mr. Weisselberg say in front of Mr. Trump that those monthly payments would be, you know, like a retainer for legal services?" Hoffinger asked Cohen.

"Yes," Cohen answered.

"Did you say something to the effect of, that you had the sense that they had spoken about this previously?" Hoffinger asked.

"Yes," Cohen answered.

"Why do you say that?" the prosecutor asked.

"Because they always played that sort of game — a 'frick and frack' type game," Cohen said.

People's 35 was still displayed on the courtroom's screens, both large and small, as Hoffinger asked what happened when Weisselberg "showed Mr. Trump this document."

"Did Mr. Trump try to renegotiate?" Hoffinger asked.

"No," Cohen answered.

"So he approved it at that point?" the prosecutor asked.

"Yes," Cohen answered.

Closing arguments could come as soon as Tuesday, with jury deliberations starting as early as Thursday. Trump faces anywhere from no jail to four years in prison if convicted of felony falsification of business records.

• A woman claimed that an Atlantic City casino refused to pay her a seven-figure jackpot win.
• The woman, who is from New Jersey, said she was told the slot machine had malfunctioned.
• It is not the first time a casino has disputed such a claim.

A woman from New Jersey claimed that an Atlantic City casino refused to pay her a more than $1.2 million jackpot win, 6abc Philadelphia reported.

Roney Beal, 72, claims she won the jackpot in February while playing a "Wheel of Fortune" slot machine at Bally's Casino.

"It went off, says, 'you're a winner,' and gold coins popped out," she told the outlet. "This very nice guy says, 'Oh my God, you hit, you hit!' He said, 'Lady you're a millionaire.'"

But after using a button to call for help, a "tilt" message appeared, suggesting that the machine had experienced an issue.

Beal said that an employee of the casino quickly appeared on the scene and told her that she had "won nothing" as the machine had suffered a malfunction known as a "reel tilt," which she said she was told voided the win.

Beal and her attorney Mike Di Croce say the total jackpot figure would have come to $2.56 million, as Beal hit the multiplier, the New York Post reported.

They are preparing a legal complaint against Bally's Casino and its gaming company International Game Technology (IGT) over the disputed win, per the Post.

Di Croce said he also planned to file a more than $1 million emotional distress claim, the report said.

Business Insider has contacted Bally's Casino and IGT for comment.

In a statement to the New York Post, a Bally's spokesperson said: "Bally's has no comment on this incident as we're only the casino who houses the machine. IGT handles the payouts and would be best to get a comment from at this time."

IGT told the Post it was "cooperating with the casino operator's investigation of this matter."

Complaints against casinos run into the thousands each year. Gambling complaints service AskGamblers said it received 8,044 complaints regarding disputes between gamblers and casinos in 2023. It said 2,267 of the complaints were resolved, with just over $9 million returned to the "rightful owners."

However, more than 100 million people visited US casinos in 2023.

It's not the first time IGT has been at the center of such a claim.

In 2000, a man claimed he had won a $1.3 million jackpot at Harrah's Casino in New Orleans but that the Wheel of Fortune machine he had been playing also indicated a reel tilt malfunction, the Las Vegas Sun reported at the time.

The IGT website says that its Wheel of Fortune slot machines, which it calls "the millionaire maker," have created more than 1,180 millionaires, with over $3.5 billion in jackpot prizes awarded on the machines.