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Trump attorney Susan Necheles was in the middle of questioning Westerhout Thursday when proceedings drew to a close.
Necheles asked Westerhout about her experience working for Trump, who Westerhout called, “a really good boss.”
That’s a tactic the defense team has taken with several of Trump’s former employees, eliciting often glowing testimony of their time working for the defendant.
“He never made me feel like I didn’t belong there,” Westerhout said.
Necheles also continued a defense theme of eliciting testimony from former employees about Trump’s relationship with family members. Westerhout said he’s “very close” to them.
Westerhout seemed cheerful this morning, smiling frequently. It was quite a contrast from her tearful testimony yesterday, when she broke down on the stand and choked up as she answered questions.
Necheles established that Trump did not call all of the people on the list Westerhout received from Rhona Graff, Trump’s assistant at the Trump Organization. In particular, Westerhout didn’t specifically recall any phone calls with Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer who is accused of orchestrating the scheme to funnel the “hush money” reimbursements to Cohen.
“He spoke to so many people,” Westerhout said.
Graff testified earlier in the trial that she maintained a list of Trump’s contacts, which included entries for Karen McDougal and Daniels. She also said she had a “vague recollection” of seeing Daniels “waiting in the reception area of the 26th floor” of Trump Tower.
Necheles also questioned Westerhout about the plan to send checks and personal items for Donald and Melania Trump by Federal Express to Keith Schiller, John McEntee and then later, Westerhout, rather than to the White House. Westerhout testified that they bypassed the White House mail system because it was slow and things would get lost.
Westerhout also said that she had seen Trump signing things without reviewing them.
When the story about Stormy Daniels broke in 2018, Westerhout said Trump was “very upset by it.”
“My understanding is that he knew it would be hurtful to his family,” she said. “I don’t believe he specifically said that,” she conceded, “but I could just tell that the whole situation was very unpleasant.”
Graham Kates, Katrina Kaufman