Former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial took another dramatic turn on Monday after his former lawyer and the prosecution’s star witness, Michael Cohen, made a shocking admission on the stand. 

Trump’s defense attorney, Todd Blanche, got Cohen to admit on the witness stand that he stole from the Trump organization in 2017. Cohen testified Monday that he lied to former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg about how much he needed to be reimbursed for a payment he made on behalf of the former president’s company. 

Cohen in 2107 collected $50,000 from the Trump Organization as reimbursement for a payment he made to tech company RedFinch. Blanche got Cohen to admit that he had only paid the tech company $20,000 and kept the rest to himself. 

“You stole from the Trump Organization, correct?” Blanche asked, according to multiple reports.

“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.

Cohen’s testimony not only marked a significant twist in the case but also raised questions about the validity of the trial itself, a point that many experts have vehemently argued against. 

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, while reacting to Cohen’s latest bombshell testimony, maintained that Cohen committed larceny, a more serious crime than falsifying business records.

“The direct testimony the way Michael Cohen explained what happened. Michael Cohen explained this whole thing, quote ‘That’s what was owed and I didn’t feel Mr. Trump deserved the difference.’ That’s a lot different than ‘I stole $60,000 from my boss on the transaction at the heart of this case.’ And by the way, the fact that he was ever charged with larceny is important because stealing $60,000 through fraud, which would be larceny in New York State, is more serious of a crime than falsifying business records.”