Michael Cohen's Porn Star Payment Just Left Trump Open to Criminal Charges

[DonViejo]

by Ronn Blitzer | 8:43 am, February 14th, 2018

President Donald Trump‘s personal attorney Michael Cohen addressed the payment of $130,000 that went to former pornographic film star Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) in 2016. Cohen said that the payment to Clifford, who had claimed she had an affair with Trump soon after his wife Melania Trump gave birth to their son, came directly from him. In an apparent effort to show that the payment was legal, he made it clear that Trump’s campaign was not involved in the transaction. Ironically, however, Cohen’s very explanation could land Trump in serious trouble, and possibly vulnerable to criminal charges.

“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford,” Cohen told the New York Times, “and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.” Cohen would not say what the payment was for, but other outlets have reported it was to prevent Clifford from speaking publicly about the alleged affair.

While Cohen was probably trying to put Trump in the clear by saying he had nothing to do with it, his very explanation paints a picture very similar to that of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

Edwards faced charges after it was alleged that he accepted and tried to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars that came from outside sources that were then used to cover up an affair he was having. Edwards was running for president at the time of the payments, and federal prosecutors claimed that the money should have been reported as campaign contributions. Such contributions also would have been in excess of the maximum amount allowed by individual donors, in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

more
https://lawandcrime.com/trump/michael-cohens-porn-star-payment-may-have-just-left-trump-open-to-criminal-charges/

[NewJeffCT]

1. This "personal lawyer" of Trump

seems to be in over his head.

[BSdetect]

2. But, but, but this is drumphland now.

[Calista241]

3. It depends on what accounts were used to make the payment.

And how Trump paid Cohen. If Trump can show an ongoing business relationship with Cohen, and these payments were in line with previous payments, then he’s in the clear.

If Trump made a special payment from campaign accounts derived from campaign contributions, and that payment can be tied to this settlement (and not a campaign related duty), then Trumps in trouble.

[tblue37]

18. Trump would not have used his own money. He's a grifter. He takes money from his

"charitable" foundation (which is donated by others, never by Trump himsef) for personal purposes. He has the RNC and his own campaign funds pay for his and his son's legal expenses (at least he did before they got caught at it).

I bet that money was from the campaign.

[Major Nikon]

22. Cohen is Trump's personal lawyer and made a payment that was in Trump's interest

Ultimately the money came from Trump and no bullshit story is going to cover them. It's not as if anyone is going to believe Cohen acted purely on his own accord while specifically funneling the money through a shadow entity specifically created for the purpose.

Money laundering, RICO, and campaign finance laws are all going to fuck them.

[Calista241]

23. The devil is in the details in a case like this.

RICO will not apply here; as a single, otherwise above board, legal settlement is not an ongoing criminal enterprise.

My impression of the statement is that Cohen is implying that he had the affair, and paid Daniels out of his “salary” - regular payments from Trump, his client.

And we don’t want to wait for a RICO prosecution. Those investigations can take up to a decade to bring to court.

It’s also clear Trump is not being investigated for money laundering. The IRS does not have accurate enough records to make such a determination. Mueller would have to deploy a dozen or more investigators to the Trump Organization offices on a more or less permanent basis to get access to bills, valuation documents, payment records, justifying legal opinions, etc. That kind of investigation would be impossible to hide from Trump Org employees, and they would tell us / the press about it. So yes, Mueller has a few lawyers with this specialty on his staff, but that does not mean they’re seriously, actively investigating him for this.

I think campaign finance violations are our best shot to get at Trump.

I question whether Mueller will prosecute Trump for obstruction if he can’t prove an underlying conspiracy case. Nixon orchestrated a robbery, which was the underlying crime, even though they were looking at obstruction charges.

[Major Nikon]

29. Not sure how you can make any of those claims

If you order an employee to commit a crime, you have formed a criminal enterprise, not to mention that if Cohen is corrupt enough to do something like this, it's likely he's also involved in other crimes ordered by Trump. Neither is it clear that Trump "is not being investigated for money laundering". It's almost certain that he is. Bannon even said that's what the Mueller investigation is going to boil down to.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. IOKIYAR. nt

[ChoppinBroccoli]

5. His Lawyer Just Admitted To An Ethics Violation That Could Cause Him To Lose His License

What does that say to you? Why would this guy voluntarily put HIMSELF in hot water? First of all, he's in on the cover-up. Second, he's probably getting a hefty payout from the person he's protecting (i.e. enough to survive the ruination of his professional career). And all that adds up to only one possible conclusion: they are actively engaging in OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE. And as a little additional spice, you can throw in a little CONSPIRACY to commit obstruction, if it can be shown that he's being paid to do this.

On a lighter note, it also shows that Moron won't ever pay ANY of his debts, as the lawyer probably had to pay out of his own pocket because Asshole was planning on stiffing her on the bill just like he did with all his other "contractors."

[forgotmylogin]

11. Right?

Since he's involved doesn't he to recuse himself as 45's lawyer...or whatever the correct legal term is?

[wishstar]

6. Trump's campaign seems to have paid Michael Cohen's legal fees of $214,467 in 2017

"The firm representing Trump’s former private attorney Michael Cohen, who was also a top surrogate during the campaign, was paid $214,467 by the campaign in the final months of 2017. But it was not immediately clear whether the payments were related to the firm’s representation of Cohen.

While the Republican National Committee, which has footed some of the president’s legal bills, draws on a walled-off legal fund to pay for its legal expenses, the Trump campaign draws its legal funding from its general campaign coffers — leaving both small and large donors to foot the bill."
http://ktla.com/2018/01/31/trump-re-election-campaign-spent-nearly-2-of-every-10-on-legal-fees-in-2017/

So Michael Cohen has incurred legal fees in connection to defending himself in Trump/Russia probe and Trump campaign funds have apparently paid Cohen's legal fees.

[beachbum bob]

7. numbers from trump's campaign finances line up with a $130,000 +/- payment at that time

you can't fudge FEC statements and this may be fraud at least and reinforces the image of trump corruption

[Progressive dog]

8. Cohen laundered the money

from the RNC and was paid $84,000 ($214 thousand from RNC to Cohen's lawyers-$130 thousand to buy Stormy's silence). The RNC probably got the money from "joint fundraising" with the Trump campaign.
Trump and his corrupt team lie and steal for fun, they know that as ling as the orange psychopath stays in office, they will never be held accountable.

[Gothmog]

9. Someone broke the law here

[Orsino]

10. Notice how he doesn't include Trump himself in his denial?

He laundered this money, betting for some reason that Daniels' story already in the public record wouldn't be dug up again.

If that ain't proof that Trump never planned to win the election, I don't know what is.

[heaven05]

12. I am just amazed

at how many ameriKKKans were hateful and stupid enough to vote for this trump POS

[FreeStateDemocrat]

13. PINO is above the law of mere mortal man, dontcha know!

[marble falls]

14. I have a sister and a brother that are attorneys and another brother who's a legal assistant....

my attorney is a friend of mine from high school who's righteously saved me from myself a couple of times as has my sister. Everybody got paid for services rendered. That's my family and best friend. None of the four of them would ever cover my porn star "relationship" to the tune of $130,000 for "old time's sake, just a gift." And they really seem to love me. There'd be a paper trail.

That lawyer did something for someone, for some sort of consideration. Bet he regrets it now.

How will Cheetolini spin this one away from himself?

[azureblue]

31. by blaming

Obama. or Hillary..

[marble falls]

33. How could I have forgotten that??

[zentrum]

15. No, but see---

…it only matters when Dems do it.

Same with deficits.

Repugs can cheat, lie and steal and it just doesn't matter.

It's Alt-Law.

When, oh when, will Democrats get this?

[flibbitygiblets]

16. Who paid off all the others?

You know there are many, many more women whose silence was bought.

Did Cohen pay all of them too?

[flibbitygiblets]

17. Also, if a person has sex and then

demands payment not to tell anyone, is that extortion, or prostitution? If the answer is B, doesn't that make trump a John?

Are we all really so naive to believe this is the only such "sex hush money" story in trumps long miserable misogynistic life?

[azureblue]

32. and why

would Stormy say that she didn't charge and Trump just volunteered to give her the money. This does not reflect on her at all, but the cover story is absolute BS.

[Juliusseizure]

19. At least come up w/a decent lie

So as Trump's lawyer, he just voluntarily decides to pay some porn star 8 years after the infidelity $130,000 from his $215,000 annual earnings, just as his boss is campaigning. It has nothing to do with the campaign?

Trump and his goons mock the justice dept. and get away with everything.

This should an easy case of follow the money. Trump has to be involved. How would Cohen even know about her? There have to be back and forth correspondences.

This lawyer is no Mueller. He's like Nunes with a law degree. He went to Thomas Cooley Law School. Its the worst ranked law school in the country. That's quite a distinction.

Lawyers earn money from clients. No lawyer in the history of mankind has shelled out close to a year's salary for their alleged billionaire client.

[Hekate]

20. Is this a State of New York crime? Please?

[ehrnst]

26. Unfortunately, Cohen based the "llc" in Delaware.(nt)

[bucolic_frolic]

21. A Delaware LLC just to buy silence?

Why go through the process and cost of an LLC to make payment?

And then says he personally paid her off?

Something's missing

[SummerSnow]

24. What about Hilary emails?

[ehrnst]

25. Yeah, I'd like to see him to go down for treason, but done is better than perfect. (nt)

[unblock]

27. Sounds to me like hes setting up a malpractice defense for Donnie lol

[Doodley]

28. Why would a lawyer personally pay to help a client who claims he is worth over ten billion dollars?

Obviously not out of charity for a client who was in hardship. The only possible explanation is that he sought to provide cover for his client.

[azureblue]

30. Read his answer

“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford,” Cohen told the New York Times,---"

What does he not say? Don Trump. He tells a half truth and hopes that people will read this as "Don didn't pay me."

Nope.. Don did, he just used Cohen as a smoke screen go between. It's just word parsing...