Defense attorney Susan Necheles suggested that the practice of not mailing Trump’s personal items directly to the White House — including checks for him to sign — was a standard practice used by past presidents to quickly get their personal mail.
“It was a way that items could be sent to you and you could get them promptly to President Trump?” Necheles asked Trump White House aide Madeleine Westerhout, suggesting that security practices delayed mail sent to the White House and that packages might get lost.
“That’s right,” Westerhout said.
“This was a problem [that] … exists for everybody who is in that office?” Necheles later asked, suggesting past administrations used a similar solution.
“I don’t have any knowledge of what is was like in previous administrations, but I can’t imagine it would have been any different,” said Westerhout.
Necheles also sought to contradict the prosecution’s contention that Trump personally reviewed every check he signed.
“You said he signed a tremendous amount of documents … commissions, proclamations, executive orders, memos, letters … hundreds of documents a day?” Necheles asked Westerhout.
“Not every day, but sometimes,” Westerhout said.
“Sometimes he would sign checks without reviewing them?” Necheles asked.
“Yes,” said Westerhout.
