Costello on Wednesday said Cohen "decided that while he didn’t believe the allegation, he thought the story would be embarrassing for Trump, and especially for Melania, so he decided to take care of it himself."
Costello testified that Cohen’s "motivation for this became obvious" amid Cohen’s alleged desire to work in the Trump administration after the 2016 election.
Costello testified Cohen thought Trump would make him attorney general "or at least chief of staff to the president."
"Cohen then explained that, for that reason, he negotiated the sum of $130,000 in exchange for the NDA. When asked if Trump had any knowledge of this, Cohen told me no. When asked whether Cohen got the $130,000 from Trump or any Trump entity or friend, Cohen again said no," Costello testified.
"When asked if this was from Cohen’s own money, Cohen said no. He was asked where, then, did he get the money, and Cohen explained he took out a HELOC Loan because he didn’t want anybody to know where the money came from."