Trump's lawyer paid $130,000 of own money to porn star

[applegrove]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/13/politics/michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-payment/index.html

By Sophie Tatum and Chris Cuomo, CNN

"SNIP........


Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's personal lawyer said Tuesday that he paid $130,000 of his own money to a porn star who allegedly had a sexual encounter with the President before his time in office.

"In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford," Michael Cohen said in a statement. "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly."

Just weeks before the 2016 election, Cohen reportedly created a private LLC to pay Clifford, otherwise known as Stormy Daniels, following an alleged July 2006 encounter with Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported in January.

The New York Times first reported that Cohen had said he made the payment himself.


........SNIP"

[ProudLib72]

1. He stiffed his lawyer?

That's the way I take it.

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. I don't understand the wording

The way I read this, it could mean that he facilitated by paying the 50 cent charge on a money order, thereby "facilitating" a payment. It does not read, to me, that he used his own $130,000.

Anyway, why in the powdered sugar f**k would he?

[PoliticAverse]

9. Good analysis. The key word is indeed "facilitate". n/t

[bitterross]

17. I noticed that weasel wording too.

He never said he paid for it. Just that he made it happen.

[brush]

18. This is to get trump off this particular hook of the several he's on.

We're supposed to believe that trump didn't ask him to, as a reporter has apparently re-opened this story to find the source of the 130k.

Wink, wink.

[sharedvalues]

4. Bullsh*t. Money came from campaign or charities somehow

The president is defined by grift. That money came from campaign or donor or Russian oligarch somehow.

If Cohen paid it himself, the money was originally launder to him somehow (T Tower real estate sales to Russians, for example)

[Grassy Knoll]

5. And Fox Trump TV Will Say...

..Look How Transparent, Most Transparent, Cons Are Being..
Nothing To Hide, Nudge Nudge, Know What I Mean?

[phleshdef]

6. Yea and I'm sure Trump has given more than 130k of his own money to Cohen for... reasons.

This is comically desperate.

[dalton99a]

7. Pure unadulterated bullshit

[Grassy Knoll]

11. "Pure unadulterated bullshit"....

....A Term My Grandpa Used To Explain Nixon To The Family,

[Rhiannon12866]

8. Brian Williams is talking about this right now

Jill Wine Banks said it would have been illegal if it came out of campaign funds. My thought is: So? Could it really get any worse??

[struggle4progress]

10. "Buy my book!"

TRUMP LAWYER PITCHES BOOK ABOUT STORMY DANIELS, RUSSIA AND OTHER ‘BIG,’ ‘STICKY,’ ‘ODDBALL’ ISSUES
BY JESSICA KWONG ON 2/13/18 AT 11:22 AM
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-lawyer-pitching-book-about-stormy-daniels-russia-and-big-sticky-oddball-805245

[struggle4progress]

12. "Kremlin? What's that? Look over there! A porn star!"

Trump's lawyer emailed Kremlin about real estate project during campaign according to evidence given to Congress
Julian Borger in Washington
Mon 28 Aug 2017 16.22 EDT

Donald Trump’s lawyer emailed Vladimir Putin’s spokesman during the US presidential campaign asking for help with a Trump real estate project in Moscow, according to email evidence presented to Congress.

Michael Cohen, who was vice-president of the Trump Organization at the time as well as being Trump’s attorney, sent an email to Dmitry Peskov, a top Kremlin official, according to the Washington Post ...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/28/trumps-lawyer-emailed-kremlin-about-real-estate-project-during-campaign

[sarcasmo]

13. Who wants to bet the money came from Eric Trump's charity.

[gopiscrap]

14. wouldn't that be an unreported campaign contribution

[tableturner]

15. Was for the benefit of the campaign....was a campaign contribution...period!

And, as stated above, unreported.

Edited to add: It does not matter if the money came out of campaign funds, because the payment, if made by Cohen, was for the benefit of the Trump campaign. Jill Wine-Banks is correct, however, and because of that, regardless of the two scenarios, a crime was committed.

[Leghorn21]

16. Oh noes:

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Marcuse]

19. So the quo was $130K. What was the quid?

[chelsea0011]

20. So, if he is admitting to the payoff, does this mean Stormy Daniels can speak freely now?

[malaise]

21. Yeh right

I call BULLSHIT!!