From the reporting this morning in the Manhattan case, it looks like Cohen was constantly initiating invoices and payments to himself. Then he accuses Trump of not having a written retainer agreement with him, but it’s the attorney’s responsibility to prepare that. Even so, he clearly was providing regular legal advice even at his own initiation.

What’s happening here is that Bragg and Cohen have contrived a narrative that turns the perpetrator, Cohen, into an innocent victim and Trump, who was being manipulated by Cohen (his lawyer) into the perpetrator. Cohen used his position to exploit and manipulate events.