Every day Donald Trump is engaged in criminal conspiracies.
Every day Donald Trump is engaged in treasonous intrigues with foreign agents.
The president of the United States is a stupid, mentally impaired criminal and traitor - and there is not one single American who is prepared to do anything about it.
If you are American and you don't do anything today to remove Donald Trump from power, you are even worse than he is - because you are a worthless coward.
8
This entire "episode" was to be "non-disclosed" by both parties according to the NDA. If Cohen is now admitting he made a $130,000 payment to Daniels, he just broke the terms of the agreement. It would seem his "confession" would be grounds for Daniels to sue Cohen (I'd love to see him squirm in a deposition explaining just what the $130K is for), or otherwise free Daniels up to sing like a bird.
14
I suspect that Trump's original 'relationship' with Stormy Daniels was for paid sex. Trump has a track record of not paying contracted workers. Daniels tried to get compensation in the best way she could--eg the 2011 magazine articles--but only with the election looming did the 'john' finally pay up. The rather odd fee of $130,000 sounds like a sum derived from significant accrued interest in addition to the principal.
16
Why pay up if there were nothing there? And it wouldn't have mattered evidently if Ms Davis has shouted from the roof tops. There were plenty of reports of Mr. Trump's proclivities and he still got elected. Sad.
9
I hope he paid the gift tax!
6
Trump probably deducted the $130k on his tax return as a business expense. I would bet a paycheck on the fact that his attorney was reimbursed either through the lawyer's billing or some other vehicle.
20
Bill Clinton was crucified by Republicans for his affair with Lewinsky and then denying it.
Will the same thing happen to Trump? Will there be an investigation? A special prosecutor? An impeachment because of this?
Doubt it.
15
Who pays $130,000 to someone as payment for something they said never happened?
I know the world is upside down since this president had been elected, but come on!
Then again this is the same person who denied any wrong doing with racial discrimination over rental units and yet paid well over $900,000,000 in fines!
But nothing happened!
8
Not campaign money, eh? Bet Congress does NOT investigate this - at least not the GOP Congress. Wait until November, however. All you-know-what will break loose in Washington, and probably just in time.
7
Different crooks, same advice: Follow the money.
6
Somebody has to pay taxes on that sum of monies, now that the world
knows. Somewhere there is a paper trail.....
5
By paying Stormy Daniels for her services or whatever, it leaves the impression that Michael Cohen procures women for Trump. There is a less polite term for that.
20
Yeah, as an attorney I often wake up in the morning and decide--for no particular reason--to seek out and pay thousands of dollars of my own money to spare a friend some possible (remember--no affair was had!) unpleasantness. The level of prevarication in this administration and its enablers like Cohen literally defies belief. That Kool Aid drinkers gobble it up is a very sad commentary on the American electorate. SAD!
11
Strange sentence in this article, that Cohen often told reporters during the presidential campaign that "even false information about Mr. Trump could be damaging if printed." He assumes "false" information is negative. But here is some blatantly false information: Trump is an honest, decent, ethical person. How bad would Trump be damaged if that was printed?
Rather it's truth he wanted to suppress.
2
This assertion validates the fact of the Trump-Stormy relationship. No doubt Trump has denied "all of this fake news" to Trump's wife..who now knows while she was leaving the hospital with her son...her husband was chasing Stormy around the hotel room in his ..as she stated.."his whities".
Trump is truly a pathetic individual. I and perhaps millions of other American are amazed people (assuming it is called Trump's base) remain loyal to a con man, liar, and all the rest of minimal character metrics. The sooner Trump is deplaced..the better.
13
Has anyone asked Melania if she thinks Stormy Daniels is telling the truth?
10
What a Saint !!!!
I wish my law firm would pay for all of my naughty friends to be quiet, whenever I run for president.
7
Happy Valentines Day, Melania.
15
Hey, the guy is Trump’s lawyer. Wonder what Trump pays him?? $130K is small change. Come to think of it, Stormy kinda undervalued her various services, eh?
5
Shorter Michael D. Cohen: "Trump stiffed me, so it's all good."
Only in Trumpworld would this represent anything resembling plausibility.
1
Kelly Anne Conway is looking better and better.
1
Isn't prostitution illegal in most states? Why hasn't Donald been arrested for engaging in illegal activities?
10
If this was President Obama the Judiciary Committee would be drafting the articles of impeachment already. With Trump his ministers pat him on the back and thank him for saving the unborn.
10
We all know how Trump thinks, how he talks, and what he does. By now, we all know what Stormy what's-her-name does too. Put the two of them together in a motel room...What could go wrong?
1
Well this does amount to an admission that an adulterous affair took place. What does Sarah Sanders say now?
8
Sounds to me that whatever lawyer licensing entities regulate Mr. Cohen's privilege of practicing law each needs to open a disciplinary investigation.....yesterday. A lawyer personally paying off someone with a claim against the lawyer's client smells unethical. No, makes that stinks to high heaven.
7
Michael Cohen reminds me of Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad or Tom Hagen in The Godfather -- always corruptly figuring out ways to make his client's problems go away. Like Hagen, he only works for one client, the head of a disorganized crime family.
5
I'm not a DT fan by any means, but if he paid with his own money to keep (one of) his fling(s) quiet, not sure how that is any better or worse than Bill Clinton.
I don't think Trump has ever said he was a prude. I don't think it is hypocrisy if he stays out of people's bedrooms.
The fact that he has Pence as a running mate though, I wonder what Pence thinks (jealous much?).
I do wish both liberals and conservatives should stop saying "totally untrue" if they really don't know about the event. And if she says "totally untrue" and "no knowledge of a payment", then she should be fired if she is found out to be a liar.
What a wonderful lawyer- and an unusual one too. This is unprecedented magnanimity. That is the quality of Mr Trump's associates. Anyway Donald denies the affair. He denies it. Don't forget HE denies it. Admittedly he seems to be denying something perpetually but he denies it. Did I mention already that the President denies it? Its a nothing burger. It didn't happen and the 130 grand was because it was a nothing burger. A very expensive burger especially when there is nothing in it. You would think there would at least be some salad in it for $130000 of someone else's money. Just to reiterate one more time- he denies it.
7
If he's Trump's lawyer, then Trump pays him. Duh.
4
Obviously fake news. No lawyer pays for a client, it's always been the other way around.
4
And to think! I held off on being a stripper when I was young in the event I ever wanted to run for political office!
2
lawyer Cohen's generosity brings tears to my eyes. i do hope he remembers to deduct that $130,000 from his Form 1040 as a charitable deduction to, if it exists, the Trump Charitable Fund for indigent real estate Moguls.or perhaps to Mr. Trum[p himself.. .
4
I would *LOVE* for the next congress to subpoena this guy and see if he's willing to say the same thing under oath...and then subpoena his financial records too to see just what he was and wasn't given by Trump in exchange...
And of course don't hold him in contempt of congress until Trump is out of office so Trump can't start throwing pardons around to cover his mistakes
5
As a Trump supporter, I don't see how stories like these help us build the country we all deserve. As an American, I can't help but feel that we all deserve a little better. As a Baptist deacon and Sunday School teacher, I stand firmly committed to supporting my president AND my fellow Americans.
I too did not have any intimate relations with Mr. Trump. Cohen, send me my check for $130,000.
3
Let's give Stormy some credit; she is making that type of money off one encounter. it very empowering for young women to see her use her asset for such profitable gain.
3
Payment was pure professional courtesy.
1
I can't believe Ms. Haberman dropped the ball on this.
The actual statement should have been printed in full.
So let's see the legalese Mr. Cohen used.
"In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford. 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."
So how can Ms. Haberman miss the point of Mr. Cohen using his own personal funds to FACILITATE a payment. Meaning, he was acting on another persons behalf, and his paying might have only applied to setting up the Delaware LLC to funnel the money through, not to pony up the whole sum. He (Cohen) also went out of his way to name Trump Org & Trump campaign, but not Mr. Trump himself. That was telling.
And lets look at the timing of said payment. just before the 2016 election, when Mr. Trump would NOT want his porn star fetish to get out and upset the evangelicals that seem to fawn on him so much.
If this isn't hush money paid by a political fixer on behalf of a SAD excuse for a man, then I'm Santa Clause.
Perhaps Ms. Haberman would like to go back and have another try at really reporting on this because she is usually a much more proficient reporter. Paul Waldman writing for the Plum Line at the Washington Post did a much better job.
6
The wording of his statement is unusual. He says:
"In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford. 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."
Note that he used doesn't say he used his personal funds to fund the payment, only to facilitate it. He doesn't make any statement as to the actual source of the $130,000, other than saying he was not reimbursed for it.
So what if Mr. Trump personally gave him $130,000 and Mr. Cohen spent his own money to create the shell company in Delaware (facilitating the payment), and then used that company to give the money to Ms. Clifford? His statement does not cover such a scenario, and he is not denying it.
Hmmm....
6
Trump's tax returns which must be subpoenaed would clarify the true source of this money. Trump is such a chiseler that he probably claimed a payment to Cohen of $260,000 on his itemized deductions.
3
it wouldn't be an allowed deduction
Financial transaction? Ha! What transaction? Bottom line - Stephanie Clifford was not lying. Trump was. Trump is not the guy who'll pay for nothing. He even stiffs the people who have worked him for and left them in financial ruin. Can he now be impeached?
6
atr least infrastructure week is going well
2
No Lawyer has ever paid money out of there own pocket for a client in the history of the universe. It is against their DNA.
5
Smells like an open can of month old tuna; providing money to silence someone, on behalf of a client, out of your own pocket- hello state bar ethics investigation.
3
Wouldn't speaking about the payment then nullify the confidentiality agreement?
1
This piece of obfuscation, like everything else that comes from Trump world, will please the base because it upsets the rest of us. Trumpists are always fine with these things. Here's hoping that enough moderates will turn on him to deny a second term.
2
Honestly, in any parliamentary democracy THAT payment would disqualify the current leader from his/her office, AND it would bring them down
The US political system is inadequate when it comes to dethroning a president. Seriously, seriously, seriously people this is why the PARLIAMENTARY system has been adopted the world over and the US model has not.
Furthermore, does the American system seriously tolerate a technicality where because it was not Trumps personal finances who paid off Stormy Daniels, somehow it does not reflect on him?
Really?
5
Allrighty then! (Sarcasm alert for those still lost without a clue)
12
Why in the world would this guy pay 130k to “The Donald's” prostitute? I almost feel slimed reading about it.
23
Why not have Stormy Daniels as White House press secretary?
33
Can anyone out there imagine what Congress would have done had our beloved 44th President done something like this, paid off a prostitute? Of course we can imagine it: they'd have begun the process to impeach him. I keep thinking that Trump's behaviors can't go any further into the sewer. But they do. A few weeks ago The New Yorker had the perfect over: Trump's head only is emerging through a sewer hole in the city. I say perfect. But on the other hand Trump has hardly emerged from the sewer in which his behaviors exist.
27
What lovely people.
18
Since this guy talked, Stormy is free to give us the details on whether Trump's hands match his other appendage. I'm guessing it's a bit smaller than his pinky.
12
Predicted near-future headline "Michael D. Cohen faces disbarment hearing."
22
A "president" who pays off a porn star in a "settlement"?
And resorts to chicanery, essentially laundered money, and double-talking to do so?
How many more indignities can Trump heap upon our nation and the office of US President?
31
My compliments to your press agent, Stormy, and Happy Valentine's Day! Sorry I missed you the other week at the Adult Video Association convention at Hard Rock Hotel on Paradise Road here in Sin City, but I couldn't afford the cover charge. UPDATED WEATHER FORECAST: "Stormy weather" STILL ahead for The White House now that President Trump has returned from the annual Illuminati Club convention in Davos and back into the loving arms of wife Melania.....and you thought it was icy and frigid in Switzerland, Mr. President? Might be a good idea to keep eating your favorite untouched-by-human hands, poison-free fast food like McDonald's and avoid "home cookin'" for awhile....
15
When a picture of Gary Hart with a young girl sitting on his lap became public his presidential aspirations and political career came to a screeching halt. It was a scandal. The Trump Clown Car administration, however, rolls on. Because, apparently this POTUS can cheat on his wife, bang porn stars and have his lawyer pay for her silence. Is this progress? It sure doesn't seem like it. Donald Trump will be the standard by which poor POTUS are measured for as long as their is a United States. As in; yeah, .. turns out Nixon was a crook after all and was hip deep in the Watergate cover up. But he wasn't nearly as bad a Trump.
19
If true, he's a chump for Trump.
9
This is so odd.
My lawyer never buys me prostitutes.
I am really going to give her a talking to.
28
Cohen can say what he's said here and still be legally safe if he got reimbursed in some other way.
What a tawdry bunch Trump hangs with. But they're his (and he's their) kind of people. "Tower trash", for want of a better term.
13
Is there a container into which all this goes which when overflowing will sweep Trump out of the White House? Or is this the future???
6
Does this mean the sacred confidentiality agreement honored so sincerely by Miss Daniels has been violated by Trump's cleaning service....I mean.... "lawyer"?
17
Very simple. Does not matter who paid the porn star. No evangelical Christian should be tolerant of a married man who is sleeping with porn stars. So they need to withdraw all support and get behind efforts to impeach or admit that they are the biggest hypocrites on the planet. Regardless of who paid, what would the right wingers say if a democratic president or president elect slept with a porn star while his wife was home either pregnant or with a baby,
16
I love it! Trump won't reimburse his attorney so Cohen exposes the whole sordid affair. I feel sorry for Melania who seems to be too nice to put up with her narcissistic egomaniac boor of a husband. But money talks...
8
Both Cohen and Stormy got stiffed by Trump.
Sorry it was too easy!
4
Mr. Cohen, you can't pay your client's settlements----it violates Model Rule 1.8. The NY Bar may sanction you for this conduct.
29
Can only hope and pray Stormy is right -- that this violates terms of NDA, and she is now free to tell her story.
(I do feel for Melania ... what a nightmare for her and their young son.)
10
Perhaps we are to believe that it was Cohen who slept with Stormy Daniels rather than Trump?
He should be disbarred.
10
If a Democrat was President, Republicans would take a break from screaming about how the deficits were destroying our country and the future of our children to begin impeachment proceedings.
With Trump, its just another Wednesday, and Republicans are only concerned about how they will defend him when it turns out that there is irrefutable evidence that he laundered money for the Russians.
17
Smoke and mirrors - that is all Donald Trump is about. Lie, lie, lie. I'm sure his attorney worded his statement so as to "mislead and misinform" his true actions and those actions of Donald Trump.
The really said part of Donald Trump, is that he is so transparent. Every lie he tells, he gets caught in. For being such a "genus" (Trumps description of his intelligence level), he's sure stupid.
The attorney, Michael Cohen should be held accountable for providing misleading information to investigators and he should loose his license to practice law.
Maybe Trump and Cohen can share a jail cell together when the Russia investigation is completed.
8
Nothing illegal here, let's move on. No point in saying the obvious. Whether negative or positive news, the President benefits in some way. End lf story.
1
Campaign contribution! It isn't a legal one!
1
There's someone who is leaning on me for some hush money around an incident of several years ago. I'm wondering if Mr. Cohen could facilitate payment and get this off my back.
4
Some committee of congress should hire one good forensic accountant and one good PI and the truth will out. The trump administration is so delusional that no one even lies carefully. But it requires the will of the people to want to know what happened and to care about what it means.
10
this is a matter for NY's grievance committee to investigate. Attorneys are forbidden to do these acts on behalf of clients, accepting(?) that is was a "gift"
It also is probably a criminal act, as he set up an LLC with fake names to transfer the money. And he did not get paif off..by trump, Jr. Erik, Ivanka, Jared??? Are Trump knew nothing about it. It is wholly unethical to do such act for a client.
This stinks and warrants disbarment.
Amd recall, Bannon said there were 100's of these women during the campaign. How and by whom were they paid off.
And as to Russia involvement, what a nice story for blackmail.
6
If true, Mr. Cohen's statements would likely be an unethical breach of confidentiality. Speaking to the press about a matter like this is simply not permissible. But more likely, Cohen is lying on Trump's behalf. After all, he is saying that the payment was his idea, there was no reimbursement, and there was no affair. Nobody in his right mind believes that. It appears that Cohen has attempted to bamboozle the Times, and it seems like the Times has been bamboozled. Why are they printing lies and not noting that the statements totally lack credibility?
2
Like Jessie said on Breaking Bad when advising Walt to hire Saul: "You don't want a criminal lawyer, you want a CRIMINAL lawyer."
12
What's funny here is that Cohen and Trump see this absurd ploy as exonerating, rather than being blatantly revealing, as it is, of the Mafia-oid pledge of omerta, deference to il capo sewer-system that is Trump World's code of anti-ethics.
One of the creepier and more revealing moments of Trump's presidency. Anybody still doubt a thoroughly corrupt bargain with Vladimir Putin?
2
To the editors -- learn how to read your own news stories. Your front page online says "Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, said he was not reimbursed for the 2016 payment to Stephanie Clifford ..." That's not what he said. Your own story shows that he said he wasn't reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign. It doesn't say he wasn't reimbursed by Trump personally, or by "friends of Trump" or by somebody else in the family. His statement doesn't even rule out the possibility that they took the money from a Trump "charity." Why would Cohen say he "facilitated" a payment if it was made with his own money? That's when people say "I paid $130K," not "I facilitated the payment of $130K." This is just like being hoodwinked by Trump's misleading press release last year about Donald Jr.'s meeting at Trump Tower to discuss Russian "adoptions." Pay attention!
5
Yep, no doubt about it, one could easily say that was a contribution to the Trump Campaign. Assuming there was a confidentiality agreement in place so Stormy wouldn't spill her guts, now that Cohen seemingly has broken that agreement, I guess Stormy is now free to create another "Trump Hurricaine".
3
Mr. Cohen,
I did not have an affair with Mr. Trump but I'll tell the "fake news" that I did, unless you agree to donate $130,000 to my very deserving charity. Bank-wiring instructions to follow and, oh yes, thank you.
2
I copied and pasted this analysis from Vanity Fair:
"If the purpose of the payment to Clifford was to keep her quiet about the alleged affair during the final stretch of Trump's presidential bid, the $130,000 would be classified as a donation by Cohen to the Trump campaign. But because Cohen did not disclose the sum to the F.E.C., which also far exceeds the $2,700 individual contribution limit, he would be in violation of campaign finance laws. Still, whether the F.E.C. has a strong case against Cohen and the Trump campaign may be moot. Even Ryan conceded that the organization was unlikely to open an investigation into the Clifford payment."
The article also discussed the federal case for campaign violations
brought against John Edwards in 2008 for payments made by his campaign donors to his ex-mistress. The feds failed because the prosecutors were NOT able to prove the payments were for the purpose of keeping her quiet about the affair. The defense said the payments were made to protect the ailing
wife of John Edwards.
In this case, Cohen plainly acted to protect the Trump campaign by paying
Stormy Daniels hush money. But will likely not be prosecuted for not reporting his donation in violation of the campaign finance law.
3
Actually, as I read it, he did not say that he paid the money. As others have pointed out, he did not say he was not reimbursed. He said only that he was not reimbursed from the Trump Organization or campaign. But the more relevant point is that he did not say he had paid from his own funds. He said that, from his own funds, he "facilitated" the payment. That could mean as little as having paid for the wire transfer fee from his own funds. He is a lawyer and "facilitated" is a weasel word. He could have said he paid from his own funds if that is what he meant. But he didn't.
4
How can I contact Attorney Michael D. Cohen?
I want him represent me in case anyone, for any reason, tries to collect money from me.
An attorney paying the client's obligation out of the attorney's own funds?
Wow! Sure beats contingency!
3
There are two things odd with Mr. Cohen's admission:
1. If he is just giving Ms. Daniels the $130K out of the goodness of his heart, he must file a gift tax return and should he owe any, he either has to pay the tax now or it reduces his estate tax Credit down the road. The credit has been basically cut in half with the new tax bill, but their would still be a deduction. His heirs or spouse may not be too happy with any of this and should make for some interesting family dinners.
2. However I'm betting this was probably not just done out of the goodness of
his heart (or for services rendered??) and he only gave her the money so she wouldn't spill her guts just before the election. There was a legal contract apparently so it is a "legal bribe", but ethically still a pay-off. Did someone say swamp?
5
I often retain legal counsel who graciously make six figure payments for no reason than out of the goodness of their heart to random people I may or may not have had an affair with.
9
If it was a payment to her, did she declare it and pay taxes. And what did she declare it as? If it was a gift that large did he declare it and either pay taxes or have it deducted from his allowed lifetime gifts. Either way someone had to declare it, and there should be a record of it.
5
When has a lawyer ever paid anything out of their own pocket? Ask any bartender or service worker.
5
Even if Cohen paid Daniels, recouping the cost from legal bills for other services is money laundering, which otherwise lands (accountable) people in prison.
4
Can you say ethics violation without a written agreement between lawyer and client?
For once, a bar organization should do something valuable and step-up here.
3
It says he paid to facilitate the payment. Does that mean he actually paid it?
It doesn't involve the Trump campaign or Trump Organization. But does it involve Trump?
Those are two questions I asked myself this morning when I read the statement. It seems too carefully crafted. Usually that's meant to mislead.
I'd like answers to those two questions before I pass judgment.
2
the best part about this latest gaff is his breach of the NDA which now allows Ms. Clifford to tell all : )
4
All the people hired by Trump seem to be lacking the ethical decency gene. Bottom line, dt is about lining his own pockets, satisfying his own desires, above everybody and all else. Does anyone really believe Cohen took it upon himself to pay Stormi off without Trump telling him what to do.
2
If Trump treats him like everyone else, likely Mr. Cohen loses a little something every time Trump speaks to him. His personal account balances of self-worth, honor and dignity are no doubt heavily in the red by now, but maybe he makes it up in volume.
1
A lawyer who would pay his client's settlement? This is beyond man bites dog
1
Disney wouldn't touch a story like this because no one would believe it.
4
Disney wouldn't touch this because it deals with an adult film star.
2
This is rich!
6
So refreshing yesterday to see a " real " President and First Lady on the first page of the New York Times as the Obamas unveiled their official portraits.
Porn star payment, Russian collusion, FBI trashing, press bashing, LIES....
Corruption and incompetence running rampant in Trump's White House.
Will the sleaze never cease?
40
Does "attorney" Cohen's conduct, to wit: setting up a strawman corp to facilitate and conceal the paying off hush money to a porn star for an alleged sexual encounter (prostitution in lay terms) with $130k "out of his own pocket violate any of the New York State Unified Court System's Rules of Professional Conduct?
Additionally, would such a "gift" constitute a political contribution?
13
Cohen said he facilitated payment. That means he didn’t make the payment himself. He only helped pay for it. Hmmmm - I wonder who actually paid for it.
6
Good Lord, is there a single person connected to Trump who is not a slimy, craven, morally bankrupt, failed human being? Even one?
49
I feel gross. Why do I need to be exposed to these smarmy people. Oh wait, we elected one of them ...
18
Cohen actually said he "facilitated" the $130,000 payment to Daniels. What does that mean?
13
If you believe Michael Cohen, he has apparently breached Rule 1.8 of the NY State Disciplinary Rules. If, that is, you believe him that he gave money out of his own pocket to silence someone - and that the money actually did not come from his client. Lawyers are prohibited fronting money to their client, other than expenses - and a settlement is not a legitimate expense.
21
What would the average American family be able to do with $130,000?
Mr. Trump is the physical embodiment of the worst of America. Maybe if he had used his advantages in life for something other than self gratification, he would have learned something about what it means to help his fellow man. Maybe then he would have learned humility, how to listen, or compassion. sadly, it is too late for this POTUS. President Trump and his cabinet are our collective national disgrace.
21
Couldn't agree more. Let's make sure we do all we can to get more of us (a) informed with Real Facts and (b) out to the polls in 2018 and in 2020. Throw. the. bums. out.
1
Such a lovely man, I want this attorney too, he will pay my bills for me. How long will this Flim-Flam artist be in our White House???
12
not credible. warrants more investigation.
All these Trump people can't help putting their big feet in their mouths and their heads in the noose.
What lawyer clouds the professional "arm's length" relationship with a client by paying off his... erm... assignations?
10
Read that carefully worded statement again. If Trump personally paid Daniels directly, and Cohen "facilitated" this payment, the statement is still technically true. Right?
9
Funny, because my lawyer never charges me for anythin either.
9
Still again, you can't make this stuff up!
6
It's like this: I was in Jakarta on business. It rained hugely. I bought a $16 umbrella. On returning to NY I filed my expense account. The umbrella item was disallowed. Next month I filed my expense account with a personal note to the clerk: "Find the umbrella."
1
"I never settle, never" well Trump is right. His lawyer did without his consent, knowledge and money.
5
$23 million for his bogus university. His whole life is a fraud.
2
Does anyone know how to report violations of the ABA Model Rules? I am specifically referring to Rule 1.8(e): “A lawyer shall not provide financial assistance to a client in connection with pending or contemplated litigation, except that: (1) a lawyer may advance court costs and expenses of litigation, the repayment of which may be contingent on the outcome of the matter; and (2) a lawyer representing an indigent client may pay court costs and expenses of litigation on behalf of the client.”
15
which "pending or contemplated litigation"?
So easy to just include it in the billing Fees for services. I doubt if his fee is $500.00 an hour.
The average today for a high powered lawyer is between $1,000 and 2,000 . So pad 80 odd-hours over a year or two ? Bills get paid.
10
The statement by Hope Hicks that the Trump campaign had
"no knowledge" of any payment to Stormy Daniels (actually
the payment was probably made to her attorney) is obviously
false.
I am sure the attorney representing Stormy Daniels first contacted
Donald Trump, who then assigned Cohen to handle the matter of
paying her money to keep her quiet.
I cannot believe her attorney went directly to Cohen and Cohen
agreed to pay $130K without Trump's knowledge or consent.
10
I have worked for lawyers since 1985 as a billing coordinator. None of them have ever foot the bill for their clients. If Cohen did pay this woman he will add this amount to his fee. When Trump gets the bill from Cohen this amount will appear on the bill. It's called an "out of pocket disbursement" in "legal speak."
14
Anyone believe this convenient revelation. Transparent it is and surely doesn’t pass the smell test. Another liar, bought and paid for by Trump. They defy all common sense every day
13
Just another shiny shiny object folks, and a terminal case of the whatabouts.
3
Not a distraction if determined to be an illegal campaign contribution...
I wonder if he got a receipt and wrote it off as the cost of business on his tax returns? Or did Trump slip him the money and that's why he doesn't want us to see HIS returns? There'd be a line for sexual frivolity in there somewhere.
9
Isn't it Trump that said we would be sick of winning? He was right, I am sick of seeing Trump win the prize once again for being the biggest loser the country has ever seen - and in every category at that..
21
When is something going to be called, illegal, when it comes to the Trump administration. Cohen was reimbursed somehow, the questions should have been, "How were you reimbursed? Where did Cohen get the money from?"
The thing that Trump and his cohorts are good at is obfuscatng the money trail. What account did Cohen take the money to pay Daniels from. Where did the money come from from the account that was used? Was Cohen reimbursed somehow for this money? How many other women has Trump paid off?
Can we call the dealings of Trump illegal, have him impeached or encouraged to resign? Trump is dirty, Cohen is dirty, they are all totally corrupt people.
22
So, is Cohen admitting to being trump's procurer?
30
Whatever "His Own Pocket" means for him... It probably came from some of his creditors... Isn't that's what con artists do?
6
Ever since Trump took over, we have been doing nothing but lose. I'm sick of losing - when can we get this loser out of the WH so we can start winning again. I now understand what the slogan "Make America Great Again" really means. I miss President Obama.
12
It's just so easy to think Russia was behind the payment. You can't make this stuff up.
6
Someone please explain to me why the evangelical Christians support, vote for, and fund this disgusting creature named Trump?
Aren't his disgusting comments about women - recorded for posterity - his repeated adultries to all of us wives - hiring porn stars - groping and gawking at beauty pagent women, and so much more, enough to cause these rightous people to denounce him?
What will it take? Or perhaps Trump's bragging comment that he could shoot someone on Main street and get away with it the truth with these Republican hypocrites?
All of these are so much worse than President Clinton's one-time sexual mistake, yet he is still hounded. Can you imagine what the Republicans would have done if President Obama did 1/10 of this disgusting behavior?
Why? I cannot think of anything other than hypocracy by the Republicans.
20
If you can find a more hypocritical group than "Christian Evangelicals" you're a better man than me.
11
They support him for one reason: Supreme Court appointments. Policing the personal lives of other adults takes precedence over personal responsibility and autonomy always for hard core hypocrites.
2
Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky, stormy weather!
No need for the Bar Association to look into this. Cohen was just "taking care of that thing."
6
My side stood steadfast by Bill Clinton's side in the 1990s. We can't use this and we don't need it. Trump's infamy is bottomless, and the "christian right" doesn't care anyway. Focus. people!
7
As I recall Bill Clinton got impeached; he was not convicted but his presidency was seriously impeded. That was a very substantial punishment.
1
How low have we sunk as a country when we let someone like this take us along with him. Protect us? What a cruel joke that is. Just wait until November. They will see what we are really made of when they all go down with him.
19
Well at least Trump isn't a blackmail risk. I dont think it's possible to shame him.
20
This story seems very misleading. According to the Washington Post, Cohen's statement says: "In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford [Daniels's real name]. 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." The words "to facilitate" are crucial, since he apparently made the payment only as an intermediary. He added that the funds came neither from the "Trump Organization" nor "the Trump Campaign," which carefully does not rule out that the funds came from Trump in his personal capacity. I think a re-write is in order.
13
No, don't rewrite the article. What we need is for someone to come clean about what the payment to Stormy was for. Was it for Stormy servicing Trump? The lawyer? Putin? Any one of these suggestions is accurate, I'll bet. We need to get rid of Lyin' Donald and his whole crew. I am so looking forward to November!
2
The headline is not what he said. He said he used his own personal funds to facilitate payment, not to make the payment. Two different things and the language probably matters since it was written by a lawyer.
13
What a rare case of altruism from a lawyer. Of course he did ...
4
I think it goes without saying that in order to represent a person like Trump, you would need to have a very flimsy relationship with the truth and morality.
14
This article, especially the headline, is quite misleading. Cohen said: "I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford." He did not say he paid the money himself (just "facilitated" payment), nor did he say that he was not reimbursed by anyone at all -- just not by the Trump Organization or campaign.
6
Apparently he footed the $5 wire fee.
It would be more than amusing if some of that $ 130K linked back to the contributions by the Mercers, Murdochs or Kochs.
Irony can be as delicious as a Valentine's truffle.
11
I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Mrs. Cohen learned of this plan.
10
“In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford,” does not mean he paid, it means he helped her get paid. I am a little disappointed in you for inferring that he coughed up the $130,000. My take would be that he financed the setup of the LLC that was used.
4
Cohen is saying this because it would be an illegal violation of campaign laws for dRumpf to have made the payment from his campaign without disclosing the expenditure. If you check Cohen's finances, you'll likely see a 'gift' from dRumpf for about $150k or more shortly before or near this $130k expenditure. And they'll claim that's just coincidental. These are MOBSTER WANNABES.
``FACILITATE:
verb
to make (an action or process) easy or easier.``
Could just mean that he cut the check immediately from his own funds on the same day dRumpf paid him a personal check. Doing so would allow them to pay Stormy on the same day without needing to wait for dRumpf's check to clear -- which can be a considerable wait in the case of checks.
``Cohen stated:
“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.``
Note how he excludes two NON-PERSONAL entities -- the Trump Organization and the Trump Campaign. He didn't exclude dRumpf himself acting as a sole agent.
5
The respect Trump has for his wife, even after the birth of their son, couldn't be seen with an electron microscope. Yet his supporters believes he respects the average Joe. Based on?
17
We're talking here as if $130,000 was all the money in the world when it doesn't really seem that much anymore. If someone had given Trump a car I doubt if anyone would really care other than criticizing it for being a cheap car.
It's nearly 50 times the individual campaign contribution limit. That's why we're talking. Why are you?
7
I just read his statement. He said that he used his personal funds “to facilitate” the payment. Taken literally this does not mean, at least not necessarily, that he paid the $130,000 out of his own pocket. Perhaps he facilitated the payment by paying the money to organize the LLC, but the $130,000 came from someone else.
I think he chose his words very carefully.
34
Not Fair! I had to pay may tax attorney to prepare and file my returns this year! The nerve of him charging me! Well, I never!
6
Cohen says he did it to protect the President. From what? From negative publicity just before the election? Then the payment to Ms. Clifford was very much a campaign contribution.
15
I hate to say it, but this story doesn't matter. The evangelicals have been holding their nose and making peace with this kind of stuff. MAGA folks feed on outrage and will just respond with "But Bill Clinton!". Moderate conservatives really just want tax cuts, and try not to get too involved in morality politics to begin with. This is completely consistent with everything we know about Trump's behavior. At this point, everyone should have enough evidence to loath the man, or have made peace with his behavior. If this is the straw that broke the camel's back, I'm glad to hear you've woken up from your coma. And frankly, a world where Trump having an affair even registers on the Trump Outrage-O-Meter sounds like a blissful wonderland to me.
12
Much as I like Maggie Haberman, I believe she is inaccurate in saying that Cohen paid $130,000 "out of his own pocket." What he said is that he facilitated the payment. That could mean that he was a middle-man of some sort, rather than making the payment with his own funds. Also, when Cohen denies that either the Trump Org. or the Trump campaign reimbursed him, he neglects to say whether (or not) Donald Trump personally reimbursed him. These distinctions are important, and pointed out in the Washington Post's online edition today. -- Nevertheless, I am still a huge fan of Maggie Haberman!
8
The Post is reporting that the statement says he "facilitated" a payment, which could mean that all he paid for was setting up the LLC that made the payment the cost of which is about $100 or so. I didn't see where the statement says he funded the payment.
3
Oh sure, Mr. Trump's lawyer forked out $130,000 and then failed to bill (or was unable to collect from) his client. More likely is that he was reimbursed from Trump's personal funds, or that he is lying.
7
So, what happened to the rest of Gloria Allred's accusers? Interesting how they suddenly disappear after the election never to be seen or heard from until...the next election cycle.
1
I believe the lawsuit is still in progress. They haven't disappeared.
3
Most likely they were also paid off. The usual argument against confidentiality agreements doesn't seem to apply, since everyone knows they were telling the truth, and that there is no sexual sliminess that Trump would be embarrassed about.
What a great guy. Thanks, Michael. Next one is on me. Literally!
2
Whether Mr. Cohen was or was not reimbursed, directly or indirectly, for the payment to Ms. Daniels seems besides the point. What Mr. Cohen has done is to acknowledge that, in fact, a payment was made to Ms. Daniels, which hardly fits in with various denials that have previously been made by the President or his administration. Mr. Cohen was careful, of course, not to reveal the purpose for the payment, but "Because I'm a nice guy who likes to help others" was probably not on the list of likely reasons. I frankly don't care whether or not Mr. Trump had an affair with Ms. Daniels long before he became President, but I do care about being lied to - yet again. Trump supporters may be satisfied by Mr. Cohen's explanation, but I doubt whether Melania will be.
11
The saddest thing is that there have been so many scandals involving Trump and his minions that this will be forgotten when the next one comes up. With any other president, this would have been a big deal, possibly ending his presidency. With Trump, it's normalized to the point that it has no real effect. Sad.
6
Quibble with the headllne. Cohen did NOT say he paid the 130K out of his own pocket. Maggie inferred that without checking. Cohen said he used his own funds to "facilitate payment." Which could mean the money it cost him to set up the LLC and the wire transfer fee for a third-party check. Then Cohen would be correct. Not his check. He didn't have to know whose check it was - Trump's, the campaign, or anyone else's. You're jumping the gun here, Maggie.
4
Can you imagine what the GOP would be shouting and how "talk radio" would be going on endlessly about this if it was President Obama?
9
Oh, this is totally credible. I and many others lawyers pay off our clients accusers without telling them.
9
Gary Hart ran for presidential nomination about three decades too soon. Now his transgressions wouldn't have even been noticed by the family values, morality preaching evangelicals let alone common folk!!
14
I hope Cohen has paid the Gift Tax on this then, cause that's the way he seems to be presenting it. And I assume she must declare it as income, so I hope she hasn't spent it all.
If it was an extortion payment, then law enforcement should be looking at Ms. Daniels. If she wasn't willing to "clam up" willingly, then the payment was a bribe.
Either way he only paid her the money for the benefit of Trump.
9
No wonder this administration doesn't accomplish much.
It has to spend most of every day confronting ethics violations.
6
This episode has really revealed to me my own biases. I always thought it was just liberal lawyers who did pro bono work. How wrong I was. Who knew right wing lawyers were so generous with their time and money when they have a needy "billionaire" for a client? It's all so very touching.
I wish Cohen was my lawyer. I could use $130,000 spent on my behalf.
12
That's one deep pocket. Can I have some money too Mr Cohen? Since there is no reason required, no harm in asking. That would pay off my house and put on a new roof.
6
This likely means Stormy Daniels is no longer constrained by the non disclosure agreement. I'm sure Cohen just gave her $130,000 because he liked her film work. Trump's base doesn't care. The evangelicals have given him a 71 year mulligan (how is that for hypocrisy). The one person who does care and is now sleeping in a separate bedroom is Melania Trump. Wait until she hears the details from Stormy. It will get stormy then.
8
Trump and company take Americans as gullible or stupid. A lawyer nice enough to give 130 K for nothing in return in any form isn't born yet. Even nice guys don't do it, let alone the attorney who has helped Trump lie and cheat for decades.
If you believe this conman's story, I have have a train ticket to Mars to sell you.
8
Dear America,
Allow me to share the 2013 story of Canadian Nigel Wright, former Prime Minister Harper's Chief of Staff who, after the PM was being accused of paying off a certain member of his party to stay quiet, said it was in fact he who paid the Senator with his own money.
Where Mr Wright is today? I assure you not where he wants to be.
Good luck,
A Concerned Canadian
11
I guess my question is, why did he bring this up? was thid to get ahead of some bigger disclosure?
4
After his minions get to him and he realizes that he owes fealty to them...wonder what his comment will be about the latest school shooting and that at the NSA? But of course guns in courthouses by all means.
Why hasn't he paid the other dozen of women that have accused Trump of harassment?
2
I wish I had a lawyer as generous.
3
Not exactly illegal? Thanks! No worries -- time to move on.
1
We already went through this with Monica Lewinsky: there is nothing wrong about covering up or lying about irrelevant consensual sexual liaisons. It is acceptable if not required, to lie, pay hush money, and dilly dally because it’s not obstructing anything.
Move on to the real news.
A lawyer who pays for a client’s expense out of his own pocket? My years long personal experiences with attorneys have been upended. Perhaps this profession of law benders, finaglers, do what needs to be done to win jurists can be turned around after all.
4
Why did Cohen wait a month to say this?
Because he was researching and carefully crafting his cover-up story.
Follow the money.
8
Hey, Mr. Cohen.
I need a $130 parking ticket taken care of. Please use the reply function to post the address where I can send you the ticket number and details.
6
all perfectly normal...nothing to see here
3
Did Stormy get a 1099 from Mr. Cohen?
7
There is an interesting Freudian side to this story. Knowing Trump spent blissful hours with a gorgeous porn star makes the Trumpist white rabble happy and excited as they fantasize what it would be like to have sex with a beautiful porn star. One of the reasons why Trumpists worship Trump is precisely because he gives them a vicarious experience of a lifestyle until now they couldn`t even dream of.
Trump and his porn star are, in way, like huge mansions Amway volunteers used to admire at a distance - if we join Amway, so went their fantasy, we will live like that. And this is also the reason why the white rabble would stand up in arms if the FBI threatened their Prophet because of a porn star affair - psychologically, to the average Trumpist Joe, it would feel like his own prosty affair is being taken away from him.
11
No man hath a greater love than he would do a stretch in Leavenworth for his master.
4
He thinks we are as idiotic as he is. Is he being investigated?
If he wasn’t reimbursed by DT or another stooge, welcome to the club of people stiffed by them. Only in his case, he deserves it.
2
I ,like Stormy Daniels, demand my $130,00 from Cohen because I never had sex with Donald Trump.
13
We have to find you a good lawyer; you have a great case!
3
So Michael D. Cohen, Esq, raids his own piggy bank to protect his client for something his client denies doing. What a guy! What a lawyer! What a farce!
13
Perhaps it’s time to shoot The Godfather Part IV?
An empty speakeasy in a dark alley in DC:
Mike Cohen, the consigliere of a rival Sicilian clan is abducted by Michael Corleone and Tom Hagen and they try to get some dirt on Don Donald:
Cohen: ‘The Don didn’t know about my secret pay-off mission. That was between Stormy and me. I swear on my mothers honor. Sarah H, the White House Press team and I never lie.”
Michael Corleone: “Don’t tell me you are innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.”
6
Now, that we know Donald Trump did lie and had a sexual liaison with Stormy Daniels, while his wife Melania was home with child.
What is really creepy is that in the past Donald Trump used to brag about Ivanka's looks and that if she weren't his daughter he would be going after her, he told Stormy Daniels she looks a lot like Ivanka as he was going to be with her.
8
Esteemed counsels' explanation fails every sensory test:
It fails the sniff test;
It fails the laugh test.
Fortunately,
this keeps Horn Dog Donnie's coverup in the news.
this keeps Stormy Melania contemplating her faithless husband.
this keeps the focus on the payoff
this should be enough to release Ms. Daniels from any non-disclosure.
This White House attitude towards women?
Beat em
or
Cheat on em.
Cherishing women like no other.
6
Karen McGougal, former Playboy model, was reportedly paid off for her story of her sexual tryst with Don Juan.
Did Cohn dip in here, too?
Hicks says the affair with McDougal was "totally untrue." There is "no knowledge" of payments to Ms, McDougal.
This is the same Hope Hicks who said the Trump Tower emails about the Russian meeting would never see the light of day.
This is the same Hope Hicks that drafted a statement defending alleged wife-beater Porter.
Sloppy lawyering, sloppy White House communications director, sloppy Chief of Staff.
Just another episode for Mr. Mueller to review.
7
Well, you don´t see this kind of generosity every day, what a nice and kindful lawyer...jajaj
4
I wonder how Pence explained this to his mommy ?
11
Imagine if Obama had done this...
9
Sleaze, sleaze, and more sleaze. It has been reported that the non-disclosure agreement uses “pseudonyms“... if the document states that “Peggy Peterson“ can‘t talk about her sleazy one-night stand with “David Dennison“, how can that possibly apply to Stephanie Clifford? (a.k.a. “Stormy”)
3
In this regard President Trump is not any different from Bill Clinton, except that he is not married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who would come to his defense and trash and threaten the women. Thank you.
1
I can see the resemblance in the story. Have you noticed the rise of Hope Hicks, former assistant to Ivanka? And now that Rob Porter is out, Trump can have Hope/Monica all to himself. The difference is that Melania can't do anything about it.
Why? Why would Michael Cohen give someone $140,000 out of his own pocket? Is this supposed to be the plausible answer?
3
Trump the liar in chief naturally attracts and supports people who are also adverse to the truth.His chief of staff.His media spokespersons.And his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen.They will take a bullet for Trump.The y will lie for Trump.Their personal loyalty to POTUS trumps their loyalty to their country.And that explains the decline of America today.Trump has not made America great again. Quite the opposite.
3
Brooklyn Bridge for sale again?
1
Stormy Daniels really got the shaft with the measly $130,000 she got paid to stay silent. Geez, Bill O'Reilly paid $30 Million and he isn't even the President!
You would think some entertainment outlet would pay the $130,000 to release Stormy Daniels from her Non Disclosure Agreement so that Stormy can talk. She's obviously dying to as she hits all the talk shows and just smiles coyly to the questions she is prohibited from answering.
Only one conclusion: Stormy must be getting paid even more money by Trump's friends to stay silent.
5
Another non story created by the fake news media. Businesses often settle because it's less expensive than trial. Same thing here. Cohen simple eliminated a disraction from his friend's presidential run. As usual the left is trying to create fake news where none exists.
"Same thing here"? Nope. What "trial" would there have been? None.This is hardly the same thing. People do have a right to know who they are voting for. Someone who is hiding something they are willing to pay hundreds of thousands to keep secret is vulnerable to blackmail (obviously he was, he paid it!) Apparently the job of President is the only White House job that shockingly does not require a security clearance, and with the accusations against him, he would not be able to get one. I hope that requirement changes.
3
The look on Mr. Cohens face makes clear, to me anyway, that he is making one big fat joke.
2
Anyone in Las Vegas giving odds on when Melania files for divorce?
3
Exhaustipating, to quote my high school cronies.
2
Get too close to the Trump fire and eventually you are going to get badly burned.
1
and pigs can fly, right Counselor? Does ANYONE believe this story? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
2
The emperor's entire empire just gets sleazier every day.
3
Gee, Mikee, can I ask for something out of "friendship"? I only want 10k.
2
Now that's loyalty. I wonder what else he's done for Trump and if it was legal.
1
Enough of this; why not a breaking news headline over the VA Secretary's $122,000.00 trip for a fake award from the Danish Government and the thousands spent on his wife's airfare: Draining the swamp and replacing it with Crooks & Liars. Sounds like a board-game but the only ones getting "played" are tax payers.
5
So Trump admits that the payoff happened even if the words were spoken through his mouth piece. How encouraging it is that the tax payer did not have to pick up the charges for Trump's dalliance with prostitutes. He sets such a good example for our children and our moral majority Evangelists will still vote for their play boy in chief forsaking every moral principle that they claimed to possess.
3
What a classy president the USA has, just pure class. His fan base must be so proud. This administration is a joke, a sitcom, a farce, a scam...an we're all paying the price.
4
What did he pay her for? Trump said the sexual encounter never happened. This man should be disbarred and possibly charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and money laundering.
2
Wonder how Fox is covering this story. Hey Trump supporters! What do you know? More fake news? Sure is starting to look pretty real. But, hey, why should you care about the man's private life? Not like you're claiming the moral high ground. Plus there's the extra $1.50 a week!
4
That's putting a good spin on Trump stiffing another contractor.
1
How chivalrous of him, and generous too! Maybe Cohen gets a vicarious thrill by stealth-paying for Trump's philandering? However, he gave the game away when BuzzFeed interviewed him on the mysterious, altruistic transaction: "I will always protect Mr. Trump," said Cohen. What next, a Trump Retirement Fund for Senile Porn Stars? The BAR should look into Cohen's "alternative ethics!"
2
Hey Mr. Cohen - I hope you are reading this. I had a brief affair with Mr Trump a few years ago - of course I can't provide proof but I know you'll take my word for it. I await your check which you can send care of this newspaper. The failing NYT has my address on file: and they will, I am sure, appreciate the 10% handling fee I will allow them to retain.
4
This is about as plausible as Dowd's statement that he wrote the tweet about firing Flynn because he lied to the FBI.
Do 45, Cohen and Dowd actually think people believe them? It's laughable.
2
Claimed?
She said she could describe his junk in great detail. Get that in writing and challenge him, a la Porkys Revenge or whatever that movie was, to prove her wrong.
Our president is being run like big time wrestling, get down in the mud guys. That's what it will take to beat this clown.
2
i just find this hilarious.
She got more out of it than Monica did from Bill. And did Monica ever get the dress back? Was it dry cleaned first?
Andy Borowitz put this is perfect perspective: "Millions of Americans Demand $130,000 for Not Having Sex with Trump"
6
What does it take to get Trump and his sleazy compatriots out of the White House? His personal lawyer thought he was slick stating he paid the prostitute Stormy Daniels out of his own pocket. Oh, come on. Really? And no tacked on "billable hours" masquerading for the "payoff" of services rendered? Just stop it. It insults the intelligence of the American public and moves to utter disbelief.
While we wait for disclosure of Donald's taxes, how about his attorney Michael D. Cohen's taxes for disclosure of this "charitable contribution?" Were the proper tax forms filed for that?
4
I wonder if Evangelical Christians are now going to market Stormy Daniels DVD's since they approve of Donald Trump and his lifestyle.
2
$130k and is that the end? I suspect she'll ask for more "hush money". And if she is not careful, she may go the way of Marilyn Monroe.
Lies and more lies = a thoroughly corrupt person and his people who cover for him. So much for Make America Great Again.
Did he say why he paid her?
Cohen must really appreciate Ms. Daniel's "Art".
Donald 'Humpty Dumpty' Trump: All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.
Amazing what this gang in the White House will expect us to believe! This is a lawyer remember - no lawyer would let go of $130K without a quid pro quo worth a lot more
FEC? Last time I checked prostitution was illegal. $130K in exchange for sex? Involving the election commission seems like barking up the wrong tree.
I feel better now. Seems like the crimes is less criminal if we pay with personal money. Glad we got past that little hole in the world.
Gee, that was nice of Cohen. Maybe if I ask him politely, he will give me $130K for nothing too! Of course there was no quid pro quo here.
1
Probably the most obvious lie in the history of politics.
I believe Cohen, as much as I believe anyone in this despicable administration.
As with anything that the “president” and his merry band of courtiers may say, no words, or tweets, they may speak or tweet, can be believed and those words have a direct relationship of what is found on a horse stable floor.
But, the winning and greatness that was promised is bigly.
There obviously is no limit to the insult to intelligence the Republican contingent in Washington will take from the most blatant con artist in North America. They may not even have enough intelligence to feel the insult.
1
Phew, for a second I was worried 45 had been involved in something shady... He had nothing to do with that immoral payoff!
Let the Democrats take the House and possibly Senate next November. Everything will will come out BLACK & WHITE.
How boring will my newsfeed be if not for Trump.
The swamp of lies is endless and bottomless. I wonder if everyone around Trump only speak lies, never a truthful moment or sentence, or even utter anything however inconsequential that is truthful Bet if you ask any of them a simple question like...if it is 11:00 am now, what time is it? They would tell you it's 4:00 pm. Or how many months in a year, they would tell you 15. They are just born liars, no nothing else but lies. It's like they live in an opposite universe where lies are the truth and the truth are lies. When does this bizarre circus come to an end? Don't expect the GOP Congress to right the ship here, they consume gallons of lie serum every day served by their puppet master Trump.
This must be Trump's and Cohen's idea of
"pro bono".
2
Considering what we know about Trump's personal behavior when it does to the allure of women according to his own admission to Billy Bush, are we supposed to be so gullible to accept his lawyer's story regarding Stormy. As the leader of the free world explained, when someone is famous he is irresistible to women, so that must include porn stars. However, when the woman is also famous the chances are that the encounter will cost money, especially when the man in question is seventy-plus years old and no Adonis.
The zigging and zagging and jinking required by these Trump people to try to sound even remotely legal is becoming hilarious.
1
There must be something wrong with my dictionary. It definitely does not define hush money as a private transaction.
What value exactly did Mr Cohen receive from Stormy?
1
We are truly “Lost in the Stars.”
All this proves is, once again, what an outstanding and fantastic deal maker and judge of character President Trump is.
A) This shows that Trump is excellent at hiring people. How many employees/lawyers would risk so much to cover up their boss having unprotected sex with a porn star? And Mr. Cohen went even further above and beyond his call of duty to not even bother Trump with what was going on so that he can remain focused on running his campaign and country. What a fantastic hire! Only Trump could have seen his potential given that he graduated from one of the worst law schools in the Country.
B) WHAT A DEAL MAKER PEOPLE! He doesn't even need to ask and his lawyer just burns his own cash to pay off this lady? I bet if you think about it really fast and then never again, Trump probably made money off this deal maybe. Most shady lawyers would like totally never give away their own money due to the reckless actions of a client. Just think about how much money Mr. Cohen has probably lost over the years running around behind the scenes with a squeegee and black light paying off people without reimbursement or even a thank you (since Trump did not know any of this was occurring how could he even know to be thankful?)
I guess what I'm trying to say is I bet you cannot name even one (other?) person in history where their lawyer paid $130k out of his own pocket and goodness of heart to cover up an affair with a porn star without seeking reimbursement.
3
After all the women that JFK, Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton went through, the NYT is now trying to turn back the clock to the 1800-'s early 1900's to when it was scandalous for women to show their ankle.
Whatever happened (or didn't happen) with Stormy, it was well before Trump took office. As did the Hollywood Access tape. These stories were published before the election. The people have spoken. And voted. I'd venture that very few would let those issues change their mind in 2020.
Had Hillary won, there's no way the #MeToo movement would have ever gotten off the ground. Bill would have been in every fashion magazine with the latest in men's designer clothes, and the Left would have been eating it up.
The Left constantly tells us not to re-litigate Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, as they were both consenting adults, but they sure do love Stormy.
I wonder if Al Franken or Weinstein ever made her feel uncomfortable.
And now Michael Cohen should be brought up in front of the ethics board and stripped of his JD. Lets assume this did happen and she got paid and she and Trump both signed a NDA....he violated attorney/client privilege by spilling this as it wasn't under court-order. So either he's lying or he's telling the truth and he violated ethics and should never work again in a legal capacity.
1
Dear IRS: Did Cohen issue a 1099 for that "payment?"
5
There's cunning behind the Mr. Cohen's comments on the President and Stormy Daniels. Today's actual news is that the intelligence community agrees that the Russians are already hacking this fall's election (to the GOP's benefit). The President dismisses the claim, which means that the collusion continues.
The headlines ought to read, "Trump and Putin Conspire to Elect GOP Candidates." The headlines instead discuss and portray a porn actress.
Sure, this president is a moral leper--we knew that already. In the long run, however, what he did with Ms. Daniels and how he paid her doesn't matter. Ms. Daniels is a trivia question and answer in the making, like Fanne Fox forty-four years ago. What really matters is that, two years after electing the U.S. President, Vladimir Putin is electing the U.S. Congress.
Donald Trump took an oath: "I...will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." His act of perjury is grounds for impeachment.
4
We are all dead inside and will ultimately refuse to do anything about this.
3
And now for pure comic relief, we turn to Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for whatever they have to say to cover for this train wreck of a president.
6
For the last 13 months, I just can't help but wonder "what if Obama did this?" over and over...
Trump is the ultimate manifestation of white privilege in modern times.
7
Wow. A hundred thirty grand right out of Cohen's pocket and directly into Stormy's hands.
I wonder if it was as good for him as it was for her.
5
I find the headline references to Stephanie Clifford as a "Porn Star" a kind of shaming. While she does preform in adult themed movies, increasingly her repertoire has expanded to include a more "mainstream" function as a political cog in a complex machine. "Porn Star" is reductive and intentionally pejorative. Ms. Clifford deserves more, much more. What does the NYT Style Manual have to say about this?
3
Great reader comments. Words matter. A real slippery dude lawyer statement by Cohen, whom I am sure has had a lot of practice wording such statements since becoming Donald J. Trump's long-time personal lawyer.
I wonder what his hourly fee is for getting Mr. Trump out of trouble, and how many billable hours Mr. Cohen provides for Mr. Trump each year of service?
I liked the comment that no lawyer pays out of his own pocket without being reimbursed. So how about pinning Mr. Cohen down in a follow-up story to clarify--rather than obfuscate--how this $130,000 transaction actually took place.
Imagine if Obama had been accused of this and his lawyer had gotten away with the explanation Mr. Cohen gave.
2
So we can assume that Trump has Cohen’s complete ‘loyalty ‘?
Anyone associated with this administration or the campaign to elect him must need medication to sleep at night. Or they have no conscience at all just like 45.
4
Does the New York bar care whether its members are engaged in conduct unbecoming an attorney? On the face of it, this transaction appears to be an attempt to circumvent federal elections laws. As Trump's lawyer, it would be an easy for Cohen to bill jis client $130,000 for some sort of service, thereby laundering his client's hush money. The Trump organization has layers of ties with various crime organizations, and Trump learned much at the feet of Roy Cohn, the mob lawyer. Trump and his gang could have gone along scamming the world had they not decided to do it from the White House.
6
Remember that Cohen was the conduit for a lot of Russian investment in Trump properties. Josh Marshall is very good on this: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/who-will-rid-me-of-this-meddlesome-...
3
Please publish his exact statement word for word. The Post says that Cohen said that he “facilitated” the payment, not that he made the payment.
3
NYTimes reporters and readers are being played. This admittance by MDC is meant to distract the media and readers of the NYT from two other stories--1) Rob Porter/John Kelly and 2) IC Directors testimony yesterday that we are under cyber attack by Russia.
Meanwhile, over at the WallStreetJournal comment section, where the original story about Ms. McDougal was printed on Nov. 4, 2016, the top comment (374 likes) is: "Am I reading the WSJ or the National Enquirer?"
But another comment pretty much sums up this country's dilemma (59 likes):
"Who Donald sleeps with is not important in the larger scheme of things. At least, he has not violated the law like Hillary Clinton has. She is corrupt to the bone, and will bring great harm to the Country, if elected."
Remember, James Comey had re-opened the investigation into HC's emails only days before this story was printed in the WSJ.
In other words, about 30-45% of the country:
did not care, cannot be made to care about Donald Trump's infidelity, or his potential to be blackmailed by Russia or any foreign government;
refuse to believe that anything Donald Trump does could be as bad as using a private email server and sending a few classified documents over that server. Nothing.
This is the real story, people. This is the divide that Russians are exploiting to bring our democracy to its knees. Trump and Cohen are in this with the Russians. The Russians are winning this war with their help.
3
Well, maybe this guy just handed somebody a can opener, and we'll see how many worms are in the can. It's for sure that somebody will be taking a close look at his finances, and when they do all sorts of things might pop out, things that cheeze snack in chief might have completely forgotten....
2
If this was Obama, impeachment proceedings would be in full bloom. There is no bottom limit to the moral depravity of Mr. Trump. He cannot and will not take any responsibility for any of his actions, and his supporters are either uneducated, ignorant or complicit. The only solution is for the Democrats to win the House in the Midterm elections.
4
I think Ms Daniels should speak out! What's the president going to do, sue her? That would be interesting!!!!
1
Just as I have always believed: Lawyers take a mandatory class before they can graduate: It is the Mother Theresa modal system of compassion, generosity and morality which you see displayed in the conduct of attorneys such as Mr. Cohen. I doubt that the Mother Theresa course includes a section on paying off hookers, but I may be wrong.
Can I hire you to help with my taxes Mr. Cohen?
This is going to be a problem. Trump's lawyer indicating that he paid off the porn star is going to be a major problem for both the lawyer and Trump. This is going to be investigated and going to reveal more stuff than they want out. Trump's supporters will have no problem with this but the officials at the IRS might have a problem with this admission.
4
I hope he at least got a happy ending for 130,000 dollars.
2
If if you believe lawyers do anything for free, I have a time share for sale at Trump's Florida property! Hurry, get in before the bankruptcy court steps in.
2
Who could possibly honestly believe this statement taken at face value? What kind of lawyer would pay $130K OF HIS OWN MONEY to someone with a potentially damaging story involving one of his clients?? What kind of fools do they think we are??
2
This is basically Trump paying, but trying to create an obfuscatory paper trail. Cohen would not have paid this money without the client's knowledge, and without being reimbursed by someone other than Trump or by just padding his invoices for legal work. Let Cohen deny under oath that Trump had no knowledge of the payment.
1
I had to read this article twice, as I could swear I must have read it incorrectly the first time.
So his attorney willingly paid $130K without ANY reimbursement? C'mon...the lying has now reached a surreal zone. I've looked at legal bills for years, and seen charges for every bit of postage and filing fee incurred for the most inconsequential of matters. But a $130K payment on behalf of a client, gratis??? I don't think so. Even Fox News can't defend this one...
3
He is just going to add billable hours. Impossible to check.
What he means is his law firm did out of the client trust fund and then billed Trump for...time or something.
1
Lawyers, past and present representing Donald Trump will not change many minds about the dishonorable, if not downright seedy reputation of many lawyers in this country. Flouting ethics and the law are Donald Trump's strengths, in addition to his honed specialty in abandoning morality and civility. You are the legal team you choose to represent you, Donald. Keep wearing that proverbial body cast in public to remind your base about that malevolent FBI and mainstream media Russia hit and run (investigation). Wear them down, sow seeds of doubt about their respective motivations and never admit your guilt. Misrepresenting American Greatness Again.
1
Add Cohen to the long line of Trump employees who Trump has stiffed.
Even the most gullible person would be offended by these assertions.
No one ponies up $130k without good reason. But I know of some good swampland in Mar a Lago...
1
I wonder if the Russians aren't wondering if the "dirt" they allegedly have on him doesn't have an expiration date: it's only the majority of Americans who still love their country who are continually outraged and want an end to this cess pool; Republican voters and Republican Congress still love their KGB sock puppet no matter what.
3
So.. that was gift. Did Mr Trump pay the gift tax ?
2
When will Republicans get embarrassed by their leader? Are they still capable of embarrassment?
4
THe fact that so many fundamentalists are willing to back the guy says a lot about fundamentalism.
4
So he's admitting the event with Trump did occur. Can a lawyer LEGALLY do that? Without consultation with his client? Oh wait that would mean Trump has been lying about the event not taking place. Gosh.
3
Well, guess who's gonna be my first call when I need a quick $130K shut-up money with no strings attached and no reimbursement needed or asked for. What a decent, caring, generous, honest, above-board lawyer Michael D. Cohen is in going the extra mile for his client like that. Cohen is the Trump attorney who characterized the withdrawal of Trump's lawsuit against comedian/satirist Bill Maher (who asked for proof that Donald Trump was not sired by an orangutan) with: "...the lawsuit was temporarily withdrawn to be amended and refiled at a later date.” That was 2013 and we're still waiting. BTW, the collective noun for orangutans is 'buffoonery' which, if Maher's suspicions are correct, would be a description befitting the Family Trump. 'A buffoonery of Trumps.' No wonder he sued.
2
$130K is a pittance compared to what Melania will eventually extract from him irrespective of any prenup she may have signed.
3
Poor Melania. I know she expected a rough ride, but nothing like this. I don't blame her for going into hiding. She must be mortally embarrassed.
For the Trump supporters this story means nothing. Which is just another example of their hypocrisy, especially for the so-called evangelical voters. These are some of the same people who lectured us about Bill Clinton, and called Barack Obama a Kenyan born Muslim who doesn't share America's values. I guess by values they meant a philanderer who constantly tells the most blatant of lies, and is using the highest office in the land to enrich himself. I guess those are values they like. I'm astounded at what we are witnessing, but even more astounded by his supporters and the republican party.
6
I should have such a lawyer. Pro bono, and beyond!
1
Donald and Cohen insist that Donald didn’t have sex with Stormy.
Many of us did not and would not have sex with Donald. How can we reach Michael Cohen to collect our payment of $130,000 for not having sex with Donald? That’s what’s happening, if I follow the story correctly.
5
Poor Mrs. Trump. I mean, no, she's not poor as in shortage of cash, but in shortage of dignity. What a way to live the one life we get.
4
I can't understand how anyone can still support Trump.
5
It's reprehensible that Haberman did not include the following sentence from Cohen's statement in her article: "I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford." The key word here is "facilitate" -- that means he did this on someone else's behalf. If he would have done it entirely on his own he would have said "...my own personal funds to make a payment..." or simply "...my own personal funds to pay..." He obviously included "facilitate" as a weasal word intented to obfuscate and provide him with "plausible deniablity" when we find out later that he was reimbursed for the payment Trump himself, a family member, the RNC, a Russian oligarch, the Inaugaration Fund, or some other person or organization. Terrible reporting by Haberman -- she's supposed to be a savvy journalist, but it sounds like she's been duped by Cohen like so many other people.
Mr Cohen claims he personally paid 130,000. He says the Trump organization and the Trump campaign did not repay him. I guess it was XYZ company, set up for the purpose of insulating the payment's origin. A fellow, lets call him Donald, puts money into a company, called XYZ and then XYZ pays Cohen 130,000. Cohen can truthfully say the Trump Organization and the Trump campaign did not pay him but that is not the full story. Where is Republican outrage, I doubt there will be government hearings about this matter in the Republican Congress.
1
According to Steve Bannon from 'Fire and Fury', there were hundreds of similar payments. Did Cohen pay the National Enquirer to quash the Karen McDougal story too? I think we need to look at Cohen's tax return or at minimum his bank accounts and all the accounts of all his LLC's to see where this money is coming from.
1
Two different metrics entirely: Obama would not survive this.
1
This sounds a lot like the time Nigel Wright, Canadian PM Stephen Harper's Chief of Staff, wrote a cheque to keep Mike Duffy, a Harper appointee to the Senate and big bucks fundraiser, out of the glue during the expenses scandal. In the end, Harper dumped Wright, the Senate dumped Duffy and Harper was tossed out in the next election. Hope springs eternal!
Wow! The more the press keeps digging the more we find that the Trump team keeps bending the truth. It sure looks like this was done to cover Trump as a presidential candidate. But given all the free passes that the Republicans in congress have given Trump we can expect them to do nothing. We need to remember all of this when we go to cast ballots in November. Anyone who votes for a Republican has got to have his/her head xrayed.
1
I once knew someone from Howard Beach who, let’s say, knew a thing or two about the workings of organized crime. For a big money transaction like this, it’s all done through the lawyers, he would say.
2
RE: Admission by Donald J. Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, that he paid $130,000 (or even more in reality) -- before the 2016 election -- to a porn star, who allegedly had a stormy (pun intended) affair with then-presidential aspirant Trump. The U.S. Congress should now make a full-blown investigation of this development, as previous intelligence reports said that Mr. Trump allegedly had similar interaction with Russian prostitutes (and probably Russian porn stars) during the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013. And as a British intelligence agent claimed, the Russians took allegedly incriminating videos about Mr. Trump's adventures with the Russian women of the night and the videos could be used as "blackmail material" now against President Trump. Pls read: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/politics/stormy-daniels-michael-co... Perhaps this would explain why President Trump is going soft on Russia and he is probably singing the tune "From Love With Love" ... And he keeps on denying that Russians interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
1
This article falsely reports that Michael Cohen claims he was not reimbursed for the payment to Stormy Daniels. That is not what Mr. Cohen claims. He merely lists a number of groups or people who didn't reimburse him. He doesn't ever say that no one else reimbursed him. Whoever reimbursed him likely made either an independent expenditure, or a campaign contribution.
Where do I get such a lawyer? In my case I pay the lawyer and all such 'extraneous' costs?
So when will Trey Gowdy launch another one of his $7M investigations? What has become of the party of righteousness?
While he's at it perhaps the other members of the GOP on the panel can get to the real heart of the issue: Did the Don get his money's worth and should Stormy be prosecuted?
2
I think it's important to understand that Michael D. Cohen is not what one normally thinks of as a "personal lawyer." He is a very wealthy man who shares financial interests with President Trump. He could certainly pay this amount of money while expecting any repayment to come in indirect ways. Josh Marshall gives some excellent background and his article is highly recommended: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/who-will-rid-me-of-this-meddlesome-...
3
The NY Rules of Professional Conduct state, "While representing a client in connection with contemplated or pending litigation, a lawyer shall not advance or guarantee financial assistance to the client," with a few exceptions that don't apply here (Rule 1.8(e)). Mr. Cohen is admitted in New York. Therefore, if no one reimbursed Mr. Cohen, he may have violated the rules of ethics for NY lawyers.
6
I understand now why lawyers charge such exorbitant legal fees if this is how they use their loose change! Is this the expected behavior after one signs the Pledge of Allegiance to Donald Trump? No wonder James Comey declined.
3
While it's true that none of us has a right to know of others' sex lives, we are all interested since at least king Solomon. But there's a few things were have a right to through custom. One is the president's tax return (a right he acknowledged when he promised it as soon as "the audit" was finished). The other is more important : briefs or boxers, which is it? Or does this go into (uh oh, get ready, pun alert) Mueller's brief?
2
After seeing the photo of Stormy, I can absolutely understand why she would stiff Trump and that Donald would, in turn, stiff his lawyers.
3
If it was a gift, did he file the required gift tax return with IRS? If it was compensation, did he file the required Form 1099?
4
Does the money paid to Miss Daniels have to be declared as income, on which she would pay taxes. I wonder how vigorously this issue will be investigated by the IRS.
2
Aren't this woman and her lawyer guilty of extortion?
This may be beside the point as most people see it, and I'm no supporter of Trump (though his sex life is of no interest to me), but how does this $130K payoff differ from out and out blackmail?
3
Because it’s in and out blackmail.
2
Smoke and mirrors. Mr. Cohen’s income is from Mr. Trump. Exclusively.
1
You might find a money trail leading from Trump to Evangelicals to Cohen and to Stormy in the form of a charitable contribution. You don't think the art of the deal Trump would miss this whale of a tax deduction. After all he's the master of the tax code. Nobody knows it better.
2
1) Evangelical leader Franklin Graham says Trump is a 'changed person'.
2) Conservative evangelical leader: Trump gets a 'mulligan' on his behavior - Tony Perkins of Family Research Council.
Even I know that asking a 71 year old guy to change is a pipe dream.
2
Getting hypocritical Evangelicals to change is also a pipe dream. In the good old U.S. of A. It’s all about money. As everywhere else in this world, money washes everything clean.
1
Glad to have the payment terms clarified. It addresses my fiftieth concern about this whole thing.
1
Now that's what I call a full-service attorney.
6
So the billionaire stiffs his attorney for the out of pocket expense. Such a huge flaw in his character, but consistent with everything else we know about him.
2
It seems it would be prudent for us all to treat the credibility of Trump's lawyers with the same suspicion we would treat lawyers representing Mob bosses.
1
I would be interested to hear Mrs. Cohen's opinion of this. Hopefully she would have the decency to walk out on him unless there is a really good explanation.
2
I think it's fair to say at this point that where Trump's alleged misconduct and other foibles are concerned, some people eat it up, because they're hoping (likely in vain) that maybe this will be what brings him down, some people will back him no matter what, and a lot of people in between have developed Trump scandal fatigue, and don't pay much attention anymore. It's going to be a long two and a half years of this.
1
I don't see what the big deal is. My attorney pays for my personal indiscretions out of his own pocket all the time and expects absolutely nothing in return. I'm pretty sure they learn that in law school.
4
Where and when does the disgraceful behavior of Trump end? It comes so fast and with such regularity no one seems to care any more. It wouldn't matter if he was just pursuing his con job real estate deals but he's president of the U.S. That the nation is not in a rage speaks volumes about the state of the union.
2
Mr Cohen did not bill a billionaire and forged a client's signature: what sort of an example is this for debt-ridden law students?
He should be disbarred.
3
Reimburse: v. to repay a sum of money that has been spent or lost. So, if I pay 130k and you gave me that same amount the next day, I was "reimbursed." But if you give me 130k, and I pay that amount the next day, I was "not reimbursed."
1
Trump’s Longtime Lawyer, Says He Paid Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket
And that makes Trump's conduct better how, exactly?
Also, Cohen's 'statement to The NYTimes', I presume, was not under oath.
Besides, money is fungible. He could be 'repaid' by Trump in many ways, starting with the value of this publicity to his career. Any lawyer who will take a fall as part of protecting his client is valued by the guilty.
3
ABA Rule 1.8 governing the ethical conduct of attorneys in re: billing and financial matters, says that a lawyer shall not advance money on the client's behalf except:
(e) A lawyer shall not provide financial assistance to a client in connection with pending or contemplated litigation, except that:
(1) a lawyer may advance court costs and expenses of litigation, the repayment of which may be contingent on the outcome of the matter; and
(2) a lawyer representing an indigent client may pay court costs and expenses of litigation on behalf of the client.
So... when did Donald Trump become indigent? And how is a 130K settlement a court cost or an expense? Or is a settlement now an expense like staples, or a copy center bill, or a private investigator fee?
Disbar him and let him go into the casino business instead.
1
$130,000 thousand dollars payout, for doing nothing, from a lawyer? Something is wrong! Doesn't the Federal Election Commission examine things like this? When did Michael Pay? Sure beats the $13 dollars I got on my Tax return.
3
What I really like is the juxtaposition of this article with the below article from last week. Turns out that when Trump's "Front Door" is open, then there is apparently a story behind the story which often requires a payoff for silence.
Evangelicals, Having Backed Trump, Find White House ‘Front Door Is Open’
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/us/politics/trump-evangelicals-nation...
1
Does it really matter who paid whom and whether who was reimbursed? The whole incident bespeaks of a profound corruption of morals and values that stems directly from Donald Trump. Even the ancients understood that the fish rots from the head down.
2
It all makes sense now. Especially Melania swatting away Trump's hand.
5
Someone of legal standing needs to follow the money on this one. Just as with the Watergate burglars, who were found with real cash in their pockets, le affaire Stormy says much about the Trump campaign and how money was used to keep people quiet. If you dig hard enough, you will find a cesspool of criminal or near-criminal behavior.
Mafia dons are not usually this sloppy in paying off people. As a consigliere, this guy Cohen does not make the grade. Meanwhile, the clown circus continues........
5
Good Lord, they really do think we're all rubes out here.
Is there no one in Trump's orbit who isn't bent?
5
No sane person will work for anyone like Trump. The man is just an infantile flake.
America (liberals and conservative), you based your culture, ethics, and success on money. So don't be surprised that you've gotten what you paid for with Trump.
5
Where is the country of Staten Island?
Cohen also claimed that Trump did Stormy with Cohen's dik.
5
Dang, where do you find a lawyer who pays you? Or who pays your "playmates" on your behalf, anyway.
7
Viagra has MUCH to answer for. Just saying.
3
Now that it's out in broad daylight, more hand-swatting from Melania then?
2
While warnings abound about the real threat of nuclear devastation, and nations across the world are embroiled in violent turmoil, and every day another rubber boat sinks with scores of immigrants fleeing that violence, we Americans are all wrapped up in who paid for our president's tryst with a porn star.
I'd say more, but I have to go work on my taxes. To. Pay. For. This.
3
What does a lawyer get when given a little blue pill?
Taller.
1
"Let me clean this mess up for you" says Cohen.
4
Is there ANYTHING that’s wicked, evil, immoral or unethical that Donald Trump has not done? Well, murder, as far as we know, but what else???
4
He's definitely starting to push into Clinton territory...
Careful there. Don't forget he told his lemmings during campaigning he could step right outside and shoot somebody in the face on 5th Avenue and they'd still vote for him. Don't encourage him.
1
Why is Trump still in office?
21
Has anybody asked Karen Pence what she thinks about this? I'm just curious. Maybe Cohen's payment was to Stormy who gave it to Karen who gave it to her church to feed starving people in Africa.
20
As long as Trump is pro-life--he and his entire administration can fornicate with whomever they want to--marital vows be damned: "His heart is in the right place."
Argh.
5
Hmm unless you are some seriously high-flying lawyer most lawyers make a decent living but nothing more than that. They certain don't have 130k just lying around to pay some porn star.
Seriously, what a drop. I assume Mr. Cohen like most law students went to law school with big dreams. From big dreams to paying off a porn star that your client "did not have sexual relations with" hahaha.
11
Certainly sounds like Trump's Lawyer is making a clean breast of it.....
7
Pardon me while I fall on my sword!
6
Cohen: "Don, did you have an affair with Stormy Daniels?"
Trump: "Absolutely 100% no! Never, Ever happened!"
Cohen: "Got it. I'll cut her a check for $130k tonight."
17
This affair should send in awe any faithful Evangelical
5
Don't know why
There's no sun up in the sky
Stormy Daniels
8
I'm so glad Obama didn't do this, because that would have been cause for his impeachment. Since it's a Republican named Trump, we should all stand and salute him on this, or be considered treasonous traitors.
6
OK, so we have 3 cagey folks at work here. I suppose untying this Gordian knot is beyond the ken of anyone who puts in an honest day's work everyday. The slimy cunningness of all this makes me sick to my stomach. I agreed with the Obama's practice of when they go low, just go higher. That is a mark of how a good leader leads. But when the leader is, at best, a con-man stooping to crawl in the gutter, perhaps the best approach is to fight fire with fire.
Start by disbarring Mr. Cohen, esq. He has surely breached a code of professional conduct here—if only bald-faced lying. Of this we can be almost 100% sure. The attorneys I know would never pay-off a call-girl for a client, unbidden and unpaid. If he did, he must provide undeniable proof of having done so. Does he think we believe this show of "altruism"?
Next put Ms Clifford into jail until she answers some questions under oath and can provide proof of her answers. Call her crime whatever you want. Say a judge made a preemptive ruling of contempt of court and/or perjury. If we can't jail her for that, then jail her for not paying income tax on her windfall. If she were poor and black they'd have no trouble at all coming up with a charge.
Next begin calling our leader: Promiscuous Prez Trump. He seems to like calling people names. In truth, this is a better nickname than he deserves; in his eyes it may even be a compliment.
Who is going to see the date for the March on Washington? It's about time. Maybe May?
1
March on Washington - I'm in but let's make it for the 4th of July, at least for the symbolism.
2
If soe state AG decided to look into this, perhaps a grand jury would get the need documents and we can then find out the truth. The best ave would be state and federal tax evasion by wither Stormy or Cohen for not claiming a gift to her. disbarment should be the first step though. and, if he paid off "hush money": then there may be a potential "blackmail"charge involved" since that is illegal.
OK NYT, start digging here. Lots of roads to follow.
How about DONALD DUMP? A) Any place he touches becomes a festering dump, B) he dumps his wives when they reach a certain age, & will almost certainly be dumped by Melania when she decides she no longer wants to shill for her serially philandering, cheating-on-her husband, C) the uncanny resemblance to the cartoon character (but no more cartoonish) Donald Duck (physique, personality, overbite, prominent yellow-orange protuberance, etc.)
How, by the way, are women in Slovenia raised to treat husbands that threat them thus? Quietly, meekly put up with it and shill for them? Or do they stand up for themselves and divorce the jerk? This story reflects not only on Melania personally, but the country she hails from.
My vote is for "Donald Dump" (never on election day though).
2
Yeah, right. I’ll bet he also bought the Brooklyn Bridge with his own money
2
Please correct the statement in the article that Mr. Cohen "said he was not reimbursed for the payment." He listed two organizations that he said did not reimburse him. He did NOT say he was not reimbursed. He did NOT say Trump himself personally did not reimburse him. Don't fall for his carefully worded statement and read more into it than it said.
6
These people's answers treat us like we are all idiots. Who in their right mind pays $130,000 on someone else's behalf and doesn't get compensated for it? My five year old wouldn't believe that. "Yes, I felt so sorry for my friend that this malicious porn star was going to smear his reputation, that I decided to give her $130,000 of my own money to stay quiet." If this is their way of excusing their corruption, all they are succeeding to do is make themselves less credible.
10
I don't want to hear a word about Bill Clinton from Republicans ever again. Can you imagine the level of hypocritical GOP outrage if Bill Clinton had his lawyer pay $130,000 to a porn star? They would have burned Washington to the ground over that. Yet, here we are, and there is nothing but crickets from the Trumpublican party. These people are living in a moral and political sewer.
12
According to reports, Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former top strategist, alleged in journalist Michael Wolff's tell-all book about the Trump White House that the president's longtime attorney, Marc Kasowitz, "took care" of 100 women during the presidential campaign. Will the Times be looking into those other 99 payoffs?
5
Someone paid for sex. Isn't that against the law?
5
ONLY if you get caught.
1
Trump has been very good at covering his tracks. Paying someone to keep their mouths shut should be illegal for public officials or those who want to become public officials. If these affairs didn't happen Trump has a stadium full of lawyers to defend him in court just as he has them defend him against any and all financial accusations. As with big corporations he just keeps on appealing till the aggrieved party either dies or runs out of money. Trump is a disgusting person and a shame to America.
3
My oh my! Talk about a gift of quiet love.
Really makes you wonder if Cohen had any 'skin' in the game.
I mean, come on, $130k....that's a sizeable gift for 'no gab'.
Before this is all said and done, gotta believe Melania's pay-off will resonate somewhere in the multi-million$$$.
But, and there's always a 'but' with Trump. None of that will be money from his pocket. Trump continues to hoodwink, schlep, bamboozle, and sleazily find a way of using OPM....that infamous Trump Sucker Policy....other people's money !!
And, I must add, he's at it again, with his proposed so-called $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan......$1.3 Trillion of which will be paid for by....who else...we other people.
He can't be gone soon enough.
As for Cohen.....he needs to go pronto.
4
Hasn't Trump been caught in the past MISusing his Foundation money to pay some previous legal fees?
I bet Mueller knows.
the 130K may have been to "better" an offer by the original publication that wanted to publish the story. They will give my 100K to publish, how much will you give me to keep quiet?
In the Fire and Fury book I remember a Steve Bannon interview explaining that the presidents other lawyer Kasowitz paid about 100 other women to keep quiet, and this was just around the election time. Imagine befofre eletion how many more there may be! Besides noting the possibly ironic use of campaign funds, imagine the possible tax and criminal consequences, ethical implications, and, sorry Melania, sexually transmitted diseases, infidelity and maritial consequences. Maybe this is just the tip of the porn-berg?
6
Did he at least get to keep the video?
7
Is anybody going to grieve this guy? Is the NY Bar going to grieve him? Rule 1.8(e).
4
Very clever. He must be making a killing on his lawyer fees to Trump to be willing to pay a porn star for him (did he file a W2?) and then he probably bills Trump the 130k in various inflated miscellaneous expenses impossible to quantify (I’ve unfortunately had lawyer bills like that) billed to Trump over the next year or two.
2
Did Melania think the days of sharing johns was over just because she married one?
4
HA! How stupid does this shelter think we are? See: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/millions-of-americans-de...
Remember, after you stop laughing, that EVERYONE in the Cult of Trump LIES!
5
Really? So I guess pigs really CAN fly?
2
Leonard D Long Island New York Pending Approval
Hmm - So considering the 100's of people in Trump's orbit who "could have supplied the funds to quiet the porn-star - - -
Cohen announces that 2 of these possible payees; "The Trump Organization" or "The Trump Campaign" - are to be removed from the list !
So, at the top of the list of "who reimbursed Cohen" - MUST BE:
Mr. Trump a.k.a "Private Citizen"
Other than the FOX Zombies . . . are we to consider that this hush money was NOT directly sourced from Trump himself - and to be dispersed by Cohen . . . I think NOT !
By The Way . . . WHO was responsible for authorizing Trump's security clearance - - - - really - no red flags ? - no FBI look-see into Russian Bank-Deals . . . . Hmm.
4
No mention of this on Fox, Breitbart or Drudge.
4
This tale has as much credibility as the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and “But I didn’t inhale” all rolled into one.
6
WHAT ???? Why, oh why, would Cohen pay Ms. Clifford ANYTHING if there weren't some lies to cover up ? The Trump Administration is nothing but a bunch of lies, and here is another big fat one.
I hope Melania punches The Donald's lights out.
3
Quote from NY Times April 28, 2016: "J. Dennis Hastert, once among the nation’s most powerful politicians, was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse"
Money Laundering here? Go NYT, Go Maggie Haberman - there just might be more to report.
8
From the casual way Cohen handled it, we can be sure it wasn't the first time he paid off a hooker. Which makes more plausible the hotly denied escapade in Moscow. We have a XXX president. What a great country.
3
Wow. I want this guy to be MY lawyer.
5
$130,000? That must have been one heck of a roll in the hay for Mr. Cohen.
3
I would have given Stormy $140,000 to bring down this joker of a president. She was low balled just like a real estate swindler would do.
4
Apparently she was, indeed, balled.
High, low, or otherwise? No thanks, I don’t want the visual!
1
Just wondering Michael D.Cohen's corruptible price for sheltering sexual predator Trump's fall into criminal terrain? And no disbarment from his profession? Machiavellian graft at it's 'best'. Scruples nowhere to be found, classic fare for 'our' ugly American in-chief, the same one who declared that, if he were to shoot somebody on 5th Avenue in plain daylight, nothing would happen.
2
Let the record show that the market rate for having sex with Trump is $130,000 per night. I bet Melania is counting how many times she has had to "clean that toilet bowl" herself to figure out what he owes her. Must be humiliating to pretend to be so successful and yet have to pay so much for sex. It only confirms what his own mother taught him as a boy - he is unlovable.
3
A lawyer paying somebody $130,000. A LAWYER. PAYING. Ha ha ha. Hilarious. "Lawyer pays woman for no good reason." Ha ha ha. That's a good one.
5
Impeachment NOW!! for cause.
2
It continues to amaze me how gullible Trump must think the American people are... who does he expect is going to believe that his personal lawyer, all on his own, paid off the porn actress out of his own pocket? Who is going to believe that the money is all his own, that it never came from Trump one way or another. Its like Trump thinks he can just make up anything, no matter how farfetched, and people will believe it. Trump may convince his hard-core base 30% of Republicans, but I doubt any thinking person is fooled. Trump has been lying too long, and his personal lawyer has been selling out himself too long - they both believe their own lies. I don't.
1
What I want to know is, why are they always porn 'stars'? What are the criteria? Can't you just be a working porn actor? I mean, not everyone in Hollywood is a movie 'star.' Some are just actors. Who decides?
2
I wonder how they arrived at that number,. Is there a formula like wealth x wife x positions used divided by age. It still adds up to a sleaze ball criminal President.
2
Edwin Edwards famously said, "The only way I can lose an election is if I'm caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
Mr. President, you're not going to let Governor Edwards one-up you, are you?
4
Let's see:
married 3x, cheated on wife #1 with #2
affair with and payoff to a porn star
affair with playboy bunny
19 accusations of sexual assault and harassment
a tape where he talks about sexually assaulting women (grab them by their ...)
says himself that he goes into beauty pageant dressing rooms to oogle teenage contestants
calls a teenaged beauty pageant winner a fat pig
ex-wife claimed rape, assault
father arrested at KKK event
still fighting suit about racial discrimination with apartments
won't release tax returns
6 corporate bankruptcies, far more than the average for businesses of his type, each one is him not paying what he owes
lawsuits where he tries to get out of paying what he owes
draft dodger
Trump University scam
wife worked in US illegally and chain-immigrated her parents while he assails both practices
wife posed naked in soft porn shots
national security advisor met with Russians and lied, something Trump knew for at least 3 weeks before firing him, and now advisor has pled guilty
second advisor pled guilty
hires and covers up for 2 wife beaters
son-in-law tried to establish secret back channel to Russia
son eagerly met with Russians to get "dirt" on Clinton, substantiated in the fool's own emails
Trump led the lie about the above
hires family
run businesses as president
fired FBI director for not being loyal to him
Out of room, not scandals.
Any one of most of these would have sunk any other president, Republican or Democrat. Why not this one?
9
Excellent summary.
You forgot one thing...
Ignores all Intelligence and hands the WH keys to Putin.
But Trump supporters "forgive" him.
And the cowardly GOP Congress thwart all attempts to challenge Trump's lies. They instead are complicit in covering up and distorting the truth for him.
Another disgusting aspect of this affair is that Melania is still with him.
4
Flimsy stories always fail the sniff test.
And here we are: the president paying off a porn star. No big story, really.
Not at this point.
1
Bwahahahaha! I need to hire this lawyer. What a generous guy!
2
Gosh, for a guy who routinely throws people under the bus, that is staggering and inexplicable act of friendship -- to have paid $130,000, never reimbursed!
Can you even imagine the outcry if Obama had slept with a porn star -- unprotected no less -- after his wife just gave birth to their child? Can you imagine what they'd call Obama and his morals? Such Republican hypocrisy! The party of morals, my eye.
7
THE ONION had it right. They reported that Stormy Daniels paid Trump $130,000.00 to Trump to keep his mouth shut.
3
Dear Maggie:
You left local city politics to cover big-time national politics (we miss you in NYC).
Would you ever have predicted you be covering porn stars on the national level after you covered city council races with strippers so many years ago? I should have run for higher office, lol.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/naked-ambition-wash-heights-rac...
1
Just try to imagine if a Democratic President did this. That is, pay a prostitute $130,000 to be quiet and then lied about it.
Hypocrites. They did Clinton in for a dirty blue dress and a cigar. If this is fir a penny imagine what they would do for a dollar.
Sure! And I'm the tooth fairy!! And he had to set up a company in Delaware to do so??? FISHY!!!
3
Last night, I was watching some You Tube video's of President Obama and Michelle and Joe Biden (receiving the Medal of Freedom). I was reminded of a time the Office of the President and Vice President was occupied by honesty, integrity, respect for the Office and the American People. This fool who promised to "drain the swamp", brought his own cesspool--filled with liars, wife-beaters, cheaters, and a pathological liar in the Toxic Trump himself. John Kelly is another liar--let's be sure to get this toxic cesspool bunch out of office!
7
Anyone who believes this story could believe that Trump the liar, fornicator, corrupt businessman actually could get elected President.
Oh wait, that happened! :(
4
I wonder what Fox and Friends had to say about this?
2
Hmm - So considering the 100's of people in Trump's orbit who "could have supplied the funds to quiet the porn-star - - -
Cohen announces that 2 of these possible payees; "The Trump Organization" or "The Trump Campaign" - are to be removed from the list !
So, at the top of the list of "who reimbursed Cohen" - MUST BE:
Mr. Trump a.k.a "Private Citizen"
Other than the FOX Zombies . . . are we to consider that this hush money was directly sourced from Trump himself - and to be dispersed by Cohen . . . I think NOT !
By The Way . . . WHO was responsible for authorizing Trump's security clearance - - - - really - no red flags ? - no FBI look-see into Russian Bank-Deals . . . . Hmm.
1
This payment is an admission of guilt.Trump haf the affair. Now, let’s follow up this article with an interview with Melania and ask her if she plans to “stand by her man”. The NYT and the rest of the man marram media bombarded Hillary Clinton with the same questions. Americans have a right know.
2
What's stunning about this article and all the comments is that no one seems to care that Trump cheated on his wife with a porn star, shortly after she gave birth to their son. Are we giving him a pass? Is this the new normal?
1
Maybe I'm too picky, but I can't imagine having sex with someone like Trump for any amount of money. Guess that's why I'll never be rich...
4
Are you kidding me? Trump knows everything.
2
These people are laughable clowns.
4
I'd like to read the full statement. Why doesn't this article link to it?
1
Note that Traitor Trump's lawyers went to third-rate law schools, where the focus is on passing a bar exam, and nothing else.
Credible, well trained attorneys, and there are some around, don't want to touch this guy with a ten foot pole
3
Or, in this case, a 3 inch pole.
Follow the money
2
I cannot and do not respect anyone who can support this horribly criminal and corrupt regime. They literally think they can say and do anything they want with no consequences. This is one of the saddest hours our nation has ever faced. Trump and the GOP are a cancer on us all.
3
So He paid Stormy Daniels the money.. just for the fun of it?
Ok so I assume he pays Stormy and then Trump pays him for his "Services" + interest. Isn't that pimping?
3
This means that it never happened. Or that it doesn't matter. Or that it was Hillary's fault. Or that, "Look at those tax cuts the middle class just got". Or that their was no collusion. Or that Trump is a macho he-man. Or that the Democrats are just jealous. Or that illegals are rapists.
Take your pick.
The one thing it doesn't mean is that Trump covered up the fact that he slept with a hooker right before the election.
2
It strikes me as a little bit funny that we feel no qualms about prying into the sex lives of Hope Hicks and so-called Stormy McDaniels, much like we did Monica Lewinsky. We say that slut-shaming is wrong. In reality, we dislike it only when it doesn't suit our political narrative. The fact that Trump visited a prostitute, with both parties intending to be discreet about it, is neither here nor there. People who believe in empowered women would have no issue with this. But this is about the Democrats immaculate standards for marriage, I suppose.
1
Sorry trumpkin (or is it comrade?) but the issue here is the hypocrisy of the republican party and the religious right as well as the possible use of campaign funds to pay for someone's silence. It's really that simple.
2
This speaks to the type of people governing this country: disingenuous, ethical nihilists mascarading as Republicans. There is no sense of morality, duty, and integrity, which translates to the types of policies emanating from this administration: banal, brutal, regressive, and damaging. This isn’t about $130k paid to a porn star. It’s a look into the rarified, post-truth world of Donald J Trump, a world filled with lies, corruption, and greed.
378
not "mascarading" as Republicans; registered Republicans.
4
Mascarading? These ARE Republicans.
4
Sorry, they are not masquerading as Republicans, they ARE Republicans.
Guess it's time to change parties.
3
I wonder if the scandal is:
a) extramarital affair
b) with a porn star
c) who got paid to keep mum
d) but didn't speak up (she could have been a hero and prevented Trump!)
7
She's ready to talk now, since Cohen has invalidated the nondisclosure agreement.
Thank you, Maggie for your incisive investigative journalistic efforts on this story. Once again you take shorthand for the Trump Administration by making a front-page column out of Michael Cohen's personal statement and nothing more.
The payment was made around the time of the Access Hollywood tape story, which sucked up all the oxygen from the media, so Cohen could create his LLC and make his payment to Ms. Stormy under the radar. After all, the only womanizing issue the media, including the New York Times, was interested in was how Trump treated Hillary Clinton. As such they were complicit in helping him spread his misogyny far and wide, assaulting and assailing Ms. Clinton with lies, innuendo, and negative characterizations. Pussy grabbing comments and payments to porn stars were just distractions in Trump's and the MSM's battle to take down a strong woman who was reviled in the press, and throughout patriarchal institutions like Congress, Print and Broadcast Media, and the Trump Organization. A woman who also received 3 Million MORE votes than the Deplorable Donald. But it is all OK now due in part to his Personal Procurer Attorney, and his sycophantic stenographer Ms. Haberman. Choen was just paying 130 Million dollars of his "own money" to keep a false story from the public eye because even falsehoods can hurt. Now that is rich!
1
Let he who has not enjoyed recreational sex, with no strings attached cast the first stone. Are we all Prigs here in the USA? I hope not.
2
What would you think if your spouse had unprotected sex with a porn actor?
2
Republicans don't have recreational sex. They think it is bad and Jesus doesn't like it either. Mike Pence is a walking talking prig.
Of course... we all now know Republicans are total hypocrites about simply everything.
No strings attached?? This shows the contempt that Republicans have for the institution of marriage when it suits them, and how a culture of “denial in the face of obvious facts” clashes directly with their professed “family values”. Pathetic.
Who do they think is stupid enough to believe this?
Oh, yeah. Trump voters.
Lawyers don't pay their own bills, nevermind anyone else's.
16
As always, it comes back to the hair.
If you'll fall for the hair, you'll fall for anything.
Who else would even float a b.s. story like this?
Trump plays by rules that only true criminals play by: every day not locked up in jail is a victory.
So, if this story, as nakedly false as it is, technically keeps the payment from being a campaign expenditure - it has served its purpose.
At Trump & Co, they don't care if anyone "believes" them. There is no pretense of "legitimacy," or "morality," or "decency." There is only what they can get away with.
It's that way with taxes. It's that way with policy. It's that way with the law.
As Trump himself said, "If I didn't pay taxes, that means I'm smart."
That's Trump world: the more they can get away with, the smarter they are.
Donald Trump presents a visage to the world that is so absurd, with that sundae of swirling hair he keeps stacked on his head - like a man with a chip on his shoulder, he is daring you to knock it off. If you don't - if you accept his version of reality - he's got you. You've already left reality behind and are operating in a world where unicorns exist.
Michael Cohen is standing up in front of the whole world, in his business suit and his striped tie, looking us square in the eye - and trying to sell us a unicorn.
That's what the Trumps do.
And as long as we put up with them, and don't firmly lock them in jail, they will have gotten away with it.
16
So the NYT runs front-page news of a rumor that the FBI might consider re-opening an investigation into Hilary's email a few days before the election...but the fact that Trump's lawyer paid off a porn star that Trump was humping right after his wife gave birth is a byline.
8
To be fair, New Yorkers have had to hear about Donalds women for decades and I am sure it all blurs after a while.
Oh please. Not reimbursed? We know how lawyers bill their clients. He just added a few more billable hours to some other legal tangles he was wrangling for his pathologically litigious client. Do these idiots think the American people are really that stupid? And why isn’t the party of family values raising hell about this? The hypocrisy of the GOP is breathtaking ... what a cesspool.
10
Stinks to high heaven!
1
Like the neo nazis he says his guys are nnocent because they say it? And he pays off stripper in middle of 3rd marriage and we are supposed to believe him? Follow him? Let him run our country? Yeah, just have Kochs, Mercer, Putin and anybody else that's fine and upstanding citizens lead us. What does his 1st, 2nd and current wife think of him? They sure know how to pick em. Just like the republicans. What do the religious leaders think of this fornicater?They stood side by side with him when he degraded women with his words and actions. Even when caught , he lies, even when evidence given he lies. He lies
6
Jesus died for Trump's sins, and that is all that matters to Evangelicals, who are also running a world class scam.
1
I can't put my finger on why but I just can't seem to believe the Liar in Chief's probably lying lawyer.
4
Pssst. Wanna know a really big secret?
One of Trump's many attorneys---he needs dozens if not more---
he does a lot of stuff lawyers need to review---one of Trump's attorneys---
very well paid attorneys I might add---is taking the heat and trying
to cover his client's butt. Not doing a real good job other than that
there's not much else he can do because his boss is up to his bad
orange hairdo in dog doodo.
2
Cohen lies.
3
I wasn’t at all surprised by this news. My lawyer always pays off porn stars when I cheat on my wife. And I’m not a public official. Keep digging trump and associates. It appears that you haven’t reached rock bottom yet.
5
All this reminds me of the time when Obama's lawyer paid off a porn star for not having sex with him. And when he hired wife beaters to run his office with no security clearance and lied about it. And when he appointed grifters to destroy agencies & globe hop with their families on the taxpayers dime. And when the GOP sat idly by & just accepted all of it as normal behavior for a president. Yeah ... I remember that.
The front page of the Times is starting to look like the Enquirer.
1
The legal profession! This administration is and will be the mother lode for them and their ever so ethical profession.
C'mon, who else pays a porn star $130,000 of his "own money" for something they both agree didn't happen? I do it all the time! Heck, make it $150,000!
What a pal ol' Mike is! Bet Stormy has him on speed dial. And, uh, that other guy who only paid her for "personal appearances". I do that, too! Nothing adds more to a classy brand like "Trump" than a surgically enhanced porn star and stripper dropping by to endorse it.
Right, Melania? Melania....?
3
This preposterous story has Trump's ham-fisted hands all over it. It seems these people will tell any lie to suck up to their boss. The presidency gets cheapened more very day this disgraceful man is in office.
5
Domestic abuse takes many forms. Sorry Melania, you deserve more.
3
Fun facts about Michael Cohen:
1.He has a Russo-Ukrainian wife and spent part of his life living in and running a family ethanol business in the part of Ukraine currently occupied by Vladimir Putin.
2. Before working for Trump, he worked for Russian mobster/oligarch Viktor Topolov.
3. He admitted to the NYT bringing a Russo-Ukrainian politician to visit Michael Flynn in the White House carrying a "peace offer" that would have meant US acquiescence in Russia's annexation of Crimea. That politician, Andrii Artemenko, has since been charged with treason in Ukraine. See the NYT story "A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates" Feb 19, 2017.
4
Just out of the goodness of his li'l ole heart.
Uh huh.
1
He also now admits that HE beat up Rob Porter's wife.
7
Ya, the lawyer for the guy who made a career of breaking contracts and is infamously known for not "listening or paying" is the very guy who is going to pay hush money to a porn star.
Check the inauguration party slush fund. I'm sure there's a clue there.
1
Is there anybody dumb enough to believe this?
6
Trump voters and supporters?
2
Lawyers do not make payments on behalf of their clients and don't inform them about it and ask for reimbursement. Lawyers are all about the money. First this slimey lawyer, I do know some good ones, lies to friends saying that the whole business is "Fake News", the Trumpian euphamism for news they don't agree with. Then he says he did make the payment, but it was all on his own, out of the goodness of his heart and without Trumpy's knowledge. What moron would believe this junk?
4
Let me get this straight so there is no connection what so ever between Trump, the 130K and Ms Daniels so she must be free to speak at length- deposition or otherwise about her dalliance with the misogynist in chief ??? Cohen wouldn't make a very good mafia attorney either. Is it too much to expect Gloria Allred will be representing Ms. Daniel's soon??
Does Cohen always set up shell corporations to make payments? Gee, can't imagine what he goes through to pay his utility bills, much less make payoffs to porn stars.
2
Any self respecting attorney worth his salt will gladly pay for his client's expensive hookers.
Why all the fuss?
4
We all know that Cohen added this amount to an invoice based on some fictitious bill based on an hourly rate. The Trumpsters only have to tell a lie good enough to fool the base or a moron.
1
I guess this means it was actually Michael Cohen who was sleeping with the porn star?
4
"Michael D. Cohen, Trump’s Longtime Lawyer, Says He Paid Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket"
HA! heheehehee...(cough), guffaw
2
I guess Cohen had the most expensive lap dance ever.
2
Is there ANYONE in the Republican Party that thinks that this headline is ghastly?
Our country has sunk so low that we are reading headlines about how the president of this country paid his hooker (sorry, porn star).
Goodness knows this country has historically had a myriad of faults. And we certainly are not the last word on morality.
but I have always believed that despite our issues we do try to rise above them. And learn from them.
We have truly passed a marker of some sort. I don’t see how anyone can have respect for us.
Despite their protests and anger, the electorate that put this administration in place has no respect for themselves nor for this country.
They scream “Make America great again” but people it already WAS great - you just couldn’t and wouldn’t handle that some people don’t look like you.
Do you really think that reading about trump and his porno makes America great?
You got the president you deserved. The rest of us deserve better.
3
The Republicans' heads would be exploding onto great balls of flames if this had been a Democratic president's lapses of morality and judgement.
The hypocrisy of the Republicans is simply overwhelming.
2
The poor guy! I mean, here he probably thought that he was doing the right thing in order to protect his boss, and he gets stiffed for it! On the other hand, he was dealing with Trump, so he had to have known the considerable risks. And can you imagine what he told his own wife. "Yes, honey. $130,000 is missing from our joint account because I had to pay it as hush-money to a porn star in order to cover the considerable buttocks of my client who, so far, hasn't even had the class to reimburse me, much less show me appreciation!"
1
I guess Cohen had the most expensive lap dance in history.
2
Why is this front page news? About who paid her? She was paid to not speak. Period.
Good Lord! Out of the goodness of his heart he paid out $130,000 to a porn queen. Michael D. Cohen´s is a naïf whose problem is that he doesn´t know what public money is for.
1
What kind of lawyer pays off a porn star (as I see it , it was a case of prositution)? The porn star wasn't in a film, DT and Cohen weren't part of the production and filming. She isn't being called an actress in this case, or a member of the actors/actress union. Wish DT was just a plain old "john" on the street.
1
I am sorry, but this does not pass the sniff test. Why would any lawyer pay off a porn star this amount of money for anything without getting something in return?
I think this should be investigated, especially by the New York Bar Association.
1
Can the Trump voters who cast their ballots for this buffoon and regret it, please step up? Take a look in the mirror and honestly ask yourself if you would brook this inept vileness from Hillary Clinton as POTUS. Of course you wouldn't; who would?
If you feel you voted in error, please take the advice of Howard Beale, the anchor from the movie Network. "I want you to get up now up, I want all of you to get up out of your chairs, I want you to get up right now, and go to the window, open it and stick your head out and shout, I'm mad as hell and Im not going to take this any more!"
1
Definitively Mr. Michael D. Cohen has a Hearth of gold.......
You know, in this age of bitter greed and ugly accusations, and vicious tweets and acrimony, how heartwarming that Trump's personal lawyer, acting wholly from the kindness of his heart, writes a check for 130K from his own funds to Ms. Clifford. and good for him to remain silent as to why he wrote this check from his personal fund to a porn star who said she had an affair with Donald Trump within a month of so of his 3rd wife giving birth to his son Baron. Of course there is no connection, and only cynics and haters of this country would suggest there is, NDA be damned.
This selfless act, from a man who does this of his own volition, undirected by Trump, and with no expectation or need to ever be reimbursed, is EXACTLY why America is becoming great again. Mr. Cohen's shining example has inspired me to write yet another check to the ACLU from my own pocket, not directed by them, and with no hope of reimbursement. Perhaps admirable altruist Cohen will so inspire other fellow citizens as well.
2
If not paying his taxes makes Donald Trump "really smart," what does paying $130,000 to a porn star make him? A great deal-maker?
3
If you have ever been a parent and your child lies to you, you instantly know it’s a lie due to their words, tone and body language. When as an adult you are lied to by another adult the same lie sensing applies overlaid with experience and reason. By any standard Cohen is such a liar. He has chosen to fall on his sword for the most incompetent president we have ever had. It will be of no avail to either of them.
2
Well, I guess Traitor Trump's gun toting consigliere had sex with her as well.
1
Time for the GOP to launch ANOTHER Benghazi investigation.
I'm sure this is all a plot to topple the republic hatched by Hillary when she's not trafficking child sex slaves in the basement of some pizzaria
1
Everybody knows that lawyer's use their OWN money ALL the time for blackmail and ransom. What bothers me is that they have muddied the name of the star of "Good Will Humping."
1
Where is Eliot Ness when we need him?
6
Unfortunately, he's dead.
Trump’s attorney paid Stormy Daniels. Out of his own pocket. Yea, right.
6
He’s gonna get back that money in spades from Trump in his exorbitant miscellaneous lawyer fees. Unless Trump decides to fire him.
Why Mr. Cohen gave such big amount of money (well for me it is!) to Ms. Stormy Daniels? This question it's not answered by the article! Forget to have an answer from anybody working in the present administration, but I insist, why?
4
Lets give him the benefit of the doubt, after examining his and Trumps tax returns.
7
I'd be happy to report that Trump has had his filthy way with me (I mean, who among us feels any differently?) as long as it doesn't have to be true and I get $130,000 from the metaphor.
Alas, we all know that Ms. Daniels had to endure far more ignominy for her $130,000.
6
The timing of the payment and the secrecy clearly show that this was a campaign contribution, paid to help elect Trump. Asserting it wasn't isn't exculpatory. And Cohen hasn't yet said he wasn't reimbursed by someone; his denial of reimbursement by the Trump campaign or the Trump organization (is that a legal thing?) is oddly tailored worded. Maybe he can deny a contribution because he was reimbursed by someone else, who was making a contribution.
1
He admits the money went to Stormy and she does not deny it. How is that a campaign contribution?
Glad Cohen thinks he came up with a 'reasonable' explanation. What we need now is a reasonable explanation as to 'why.'
How much did Trump pay him to say something so obviously untrue.
2
Michael Cohen’s thought bubble:
“Hmmm. What should I do today? Let’s see... I feel like paying this lovely lady $130K! After I have my coffee, I think I will send her a check! That will feel sooooo good and she should be very happy! Oh, and I think I will also throw in a lifetime supply of Duct Tape! That’s in case she has an urge to visit with anyone about it!”
Song playing in the background: Stormy Weather ...
5
Michael Cohen: "Trump didn't inhale; I inhaled for him."
11
I keep asking this question and it seems no one has an answer. "How did Trump get security clearance to be President, given all these issues that were known before he even ran?"
So let's put the record straight about what really happened.
I have to put this blame squarely on the FBI and Obama Administration. As much as I agreed on Obama's policies and the way he ran the WH, he failed us in the end. He tripped at the finish line and did not out Trump and taken away his clearances. He did not do his job which was to protect us from foreign influence and traitors like Trump and his gangsters. It is not an excuse that they thought Trump was not going to win, therefore say nothing.
It seems too late now, that all is in the open, because no one has the guts to remove Trump and his family's and associates security clearances. The democrats are mum on this. The media is mum on this. And guess what? Putin has the final say in 2018. There is no way, now that he has the ultimate, "blackmailable", insider in the WH, that he will not continue weakening our country. All because Obama did not do his job by outing him when he could.
1
The president does not need security clearance since he can declassify any information. Only Congress through impeachment can deal with any pre-election issues as they arise during the pres' term.
The vote is sacred and supreme. To add the potential of security clearance to the process of choosing a leader adds a big risk of politicizing the FBI to the point where the institution could become a tool of the political process.
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And the Republicans in mass would have howled that Obama’s investigations were bogus and threw the election, that Clinton shouldn’t have won and from day one would have been trying to impeach her. The appalling fact really is the Republicans appear to be winning at everything having to do with taking the country back to the Eisenhower era or perhaps back even further to the Woodrow Wilson era as a few have complained about woman being able to vote.
Be funnier still if they both defrauded the IRS and double deducted this “business expense”. They put Jimmy Hoffa away for tax evasion. They would have a field day with Trump. Unless he promises the IRS a new $2 billion headquarters, as was just offered to the FBI.
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So Mr. Cohen paid $130K of his own money to Ms. Clifford even though, according to him, she did NOT have an affair with Donald Trump? Yes, that's certainly believable. Cohen is just another of the many liars in the Trump pantheon of dishonesty. Imagine if an attorney for President Obama, President Clinton or Hillary Clinton did something like this -- Sean Hannity would be bloviating all day!
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Trump is the anti-Lannister: he never pays his debts.
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Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of those "100 hushed-up girls" came forth and told their stories. Oh....would they have to give back the money??
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Were his lips moving when he said it?
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check the bogus trump foundation[now shutdown for fraud] it was still open then.
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I'd love to know how the LLC set up by Cohen to handle the $130,000 payment is accounting on its books for it. Tax-deductible business expenditure? That would be my bet.
Some are saying (note the Trumpspeak) the payment should be reported and taxed as a gift, if it's not a campaign contribution.
Regular corporations aren't subject to gift tax; only individuals are. But LLC revenues and expenses are reflected on the personal income tax of the owner, I understand.
So, if the payment is treated as a deductible business expense, will it reduce any taxable profit or result in an operating loss to offset profits from other sources?
Or, if it's a gift, won't Cpjem meed to report it and the recipient pay taxes on it? Who is the recipient anyway? Trump? The Trum Organization? The campaign....no, can't be, that would be a reportable campaign contribution.
I hope the NYT's tax accounting experts can provide answers instead of just questions like mine!
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Cohen changed his story to the Wall Street Journal the 2nd time around. Obviously he's lying. Isn't there a breach of legal ethics here? He should be investigated by the ABA for conduct unbefitting. And then perhaps trump would be exposed for his lies as well.
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Can't the Bar Association Ethics Committee look into this mess?
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Mr. Cohen said it was an in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign. Now isn't that so sweet and kind of Mr. Cohen. I'll bet the will collect far more in return for his generous donation.
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Day after day we learn of new instances of Mr. Trump's morally bankrupt behavior. It is not only his personal behavior but his choice in advisors, mainly men, who refuse to submit to a full security clearance. What are they hiding? Wife beating? Financial entanglements with cohorts of our enemies? Advisors and aides, on behalf of Mr. Trump, shamelessly utter lie after lie constructing pathetic cover-ups. Mr. Trump call facts fake and his foul mouth derogation of broad categories of people, countries and continents diminishes the presidency and dramatically lowers our image abroad. Yet, through all of this, Mr. Trump has accomplished a major goal in his id driven agenda. We no longer look to the Oval Office for moral leadership. We no longer expect this administration to have a moral compass. And, therefore, he feels free to do whatever he wants whenever it wants.
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The biggest question really is what comes after Trump? Does the presidency right itself after Trump or not? Also what kind of country will we have left by 2020?
I need a new lawyer. ANY lawyer I have ever worked with in my life would have charged me a million dollars to write a hundred and thirty thousand dollar check. And we all know this:)
Here it is Valentines Day and I have already seen the super romantic tweets from Michelle to Barack including her favorite playlist. The article showed ALL kinds of super romantic pics of them through the years. Meanwhile, back at the White House, we wonder if Melania has gotten her daily rations. And if she sent Donald a box of chocolates, I am sure he would have someone taste them first for poison:) The man would rather climb into bed with a cheeseburger than Melania Knauss? So sad, so very very sad.
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I saw some news reports a week or two ago that Melania was sometimes staying in a hotel at night, not the WH. Doubt if Donny gave her anything - or she’d want anything from him at this point other than a divorce. But, of course, it would cost taxpayers more money in secret service and other security arrangements if she is not always living at the WH but independent of Trump - just look at what NYC had to pay last year when Melania and Barron continued to live at Trump Tower. You have to wonder what kind of rock solid pre-nup Trump has to keep her too scared to come out now, denounce him, and publicly ask for a divorce while he’s president and would not be able to bully her. If there is anything remotely squishy about her immigration papers Trump might be holding that over her or threatening to cut her off without a penny, or maybe she’s afraid some of his business “friends” might come after her? Some very clever lawyer willing to work pro bono (she many not have much money of her own) ought to find a way to help her, let her know that there would be no better time for her to get out from under Trump than now while he’s still in the WH and in the spotlight and before he’s taken down by Mueller or the FBI, or NSA, or the NY Attorney General.
Does he get to deduct it from his taxes?
Did he file a gift tax return?
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Pssst....buddy, could you spare $130k? I'm a little short on cash at the moment.
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Right, and he a bridge to sell you. There is no boundary for those willing to lie to cover for the Liar in Chief. This is to distract from the incompetence in security issues in the WH and the testimony at the Senate yesterday on this administration ignoring Russian interference and not behind cyber policing. This is a quiet kind of treason.
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It seems to me that Mr. Cohen has found a new way to earn money when he can longer work as a lawyer. At $130k/hour that is not to much of a loss in income.
She's a lucky gal.
I love it - not only was she paid off but Trump stiffed his own lawyer who did so! Where (or when) does this end.......
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if memory serves, it was mr. cohen who said: "i'd take a bullet for mr. trump".
looks like he's doing just that.
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So in January, Cohen said, " “This is not breaking news. It’s old news that wasn’t true then and not true now.” So now, is he admitting a lie? If not, why did he pay her? If so, lying to represent a client is grounds for bar discipline. Which is it Cohen? What a farce that Trump was attacking Clinton for being a "liar" at the very moment he was bribing his porn star mistress into silence. Our President is so massively unfit for office, and he lied to all those who voted for him. And he and his people are lying right now.
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Another day, another twist to one of the myriad scandals.
USA! USA! USA!
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Thus spaketh Oliver North the 2nd. In was only a matter of time before the republicans started taking the bullet for trump. I wonder how many more are willing to take a fall for him?
Now this is dedication, loyalty - a lawyer who spends "his money" to cover a client's sex life! Hope he opens his own firm - people will be standing in line to become his clients! A lawyer who really "stands out" and sets a new "high" in his profession!
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Cohen has probably spent most of the last month erasing all evidence of "his" payments to Ms. Clifford / Daniels / Peterson -- and to every other woman the Trump campaign hurried to hush in the second half of 2016. It seems "Essential Consultants LLC" no longer points to him, but to a cut out. I wonder how many other Delaware LLCs he had to redirect in the last few weeks?
And Ms. Daniels has talked to her attorney. When Cohen confirmed the payment, he seems to have violated the NDA, which would invalidate the agreement. Smart woman. She gets the money, and she gets to tell her story. For more money, natch.
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In 1998, Trump was quoted as saying, "Can you imagine how controversial I'd be? You think about him with the women. How about me with the women? Can you imagine?"
Well, I'm sure we could have imagined back then. What we couldn't have imagined is that the entire Republican Party would ignore, cover up, or lie through their teeth to defend this egregious behavior that exposes the lie that this is the party of 'family values.'
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It’s nice to have an extra 130000 in throw around money.
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I get nervous....all of these Trump shenanigans - every day - are, I'm sure, a smoke screen for things going on that the administration does not want us to know about. "Knock yourselves out on this now....etc." while coverups are being crafted behind our backs.
What's really surprising is that Mr. Cohen was able to pay all that much money without his foot being pulled off the pedal controlling the tape recorder!
Michael D Cohen, a true patriot, is a concerned and loyal personal counsel to POTUS. He simply made a “lawful payment” as part of a “private transaction”.
Nothing to see here, folks!
Whatever Christian religious denomination Trump belongs to, sigh me up.
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So, let me get this straight....Cohen pays out $130K from his own pocket for something that never happened and the next day, the president's approval rating - according to Nate Silver - ticks ever upward to 41.4%.
Yeah....this makes a difference
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The payment had everything to do with the campaign. Had Trump not been running for president at the time this resurfaced, there would have been no impetus to pay Daniels off. After all, he didn't do so when her reports first came to light. As for any theory that he'd want to conceal it from Melania, she has to know how he operates, because he had operated on her. And had he not been running, Trump would have been positively delighted for the press and public to learn of the affair. He's the one who used to call the tabloids about previous dalliances, as proof of his manhood. Sex with a chesty blond celebrity -- it's proof positive of his virility, not his perfidy.
Sure, I mean what lawyer doesn't pay 6 figures out of their own pocket to cover their client's mistake, with no compensation given in return. (LOL)
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Ever since Trump too over, we have been doing nothing but lose. I'm sick of losing - when can we get this loser out of the WH so we can start winning again. I now understand what the slogan "Make America Great Again" really means.
Did he pay taxes?
This adds a new meaning to "picking up the check." I wonder if Mr. Cohen plans to deduct the $130,000 from his corporate income tax as a client entertainment expense.
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And we as a nation are supposed to buy this? Well I guess there are 35% or so that will but the rest of us are just going to enjoy another good laugh. What a complete joke.
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Do Trump and Cohen really expect us to believe this? Maybe Cohen would give me $130,000 if I asked him. Not going to happen.
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So does that make him a less bad person because he personally paid? Does it prove the truth of the allegation or not? No one knows?
I do wonder though if this "payoff" was an allowable tax deduction for such a famous personality? We may never know that either since only the tax return could say.
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You're asking if it proves the allegation? So you actually believe attorneys pay people $130,000 for FALSE stories?
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It is horrifying to think that this administration is so corrupt that a scandal like this - which would have ruined the careers of other polticians - is merely a blip on the radar tracking the spectrum of legal violations perpetrated by the Trump regime.
I purposely call it a regime, because Trump's appointees have instituted a process of breaking down our legal system so that members of the Trump regime are safe from prosecution of any kind. They are creating a two-tiered legal system in which they are above the law and everyone is subject to it.
In all of my 58 years, this is the most frightening and upsetting development I have ever seen in this country.
If Trump and his people cannot be prosecuted, they will continue to violate the law and the Constitution, and the Russians will have accomplished what they set out to do: undermine the United States government.
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Stormi doesn't have to honor the non-disclosure agreement, since anything Trump or his lawyers do to stop her would be an admittance of guilt.
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No,you’re right, she doesn’t, but she better have declared the $130k from Trump’s lawyer on her tax returns.
Regardless of who reimbursed Mr. Cohen, the question is who asked Mr. Cohen to make this payment?
If it was Ms Daniels, trying to monetize her knowledge of this embarrassing information, then she committed a extortion, a felony punishable by imprisonment for two, three, or four years.
If it was Trump, or anyone close to Trump, who knew this intimate story, that asked Mr. Cohen to provide hush money, then Mr. Cohen committed a felonious violation of the electoral law, whether he was reimbursed or not.
Prosecutors need to investigate and bring charges one way or the other.
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Man, I need one of those lawyers who just pay all my bills for me. Mine keeps billing me.
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Exactly.
The full Cohen statement said he said "I used my own personal funds to FACILITATE a payment of $130,000...". He didn't say stink about actually MAKING the payment out of his own pocket.
Good Lord people. Facilitate means:
verb (used with object), facilitated, facilitating.
1. to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.):
Careful planning facilitates any kind of work.
2. to assist the progress of (a person).
Ms. Daniels included the $130k on her 2016 US and State income returns and Mr. Cohen included on his 2016 US income tax as a Schedule C business expense? Did the LLC that received and disbursed $130K file federal or state returns? Who was the managing member of the LLC?
He paid "out of his own pocket" to avoid the charge that the payment was made from campaign funds.
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