retainer

He also insisted that his client only ever paid Cohen for his legal work, subject to a retainer that was never documented.

Cohen said he submitted monthly invoices for a year for legal work he never actually performed, pursuant to a purported retainer agreement that he said did not exist.

The checks’ stubs falsely say they were for a “retainer”; the false invoices say, “per retainer”; and the vouchers say the same.

To keep the cover-up alive, Cohen said, Trump’s company disguised the reimbursement as ordinary legal expenses that arose from a retainer agreement.

While the former president seethes under a gag order that blocks him from threatening jurors, witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff, his loyal retainers have expressed his thoughts for him.