Even though I already thoroughly despised trump at the time I first heard of them, well over a year ago, I thought that the portions of the Steele dossier that dealt with him having sex workers come to his hotel room in Moscow to urinate into the bed for his viewing pleasure were far too outlandish to be possibly real.
But several things that have come to light since then, including this Stormy Daniels story here, make it now far more likely than not that EVEN THAT part of the dossier is actually true!
What a freakishly disgusting creature president* trump is.
The nation is now in a race against time for its own survival.
Will he be removed from the office he usurped, or will the US succumb to the structural damage his presence in the White House is causing to every layer of fabric of this country.
51
"'The asset here is this incredibly valuable agreement with Stormy,” Eisen told me. “Imagine what she could get if she has texts or images. Imagine the millions she could command!'"
A payoff might have come from Larry Flynt, who posted a $1M bounty for a Trump sex tape months ago. Has Ms. Clifford collected? Not publicly, and my gut says she will not. She has other aims...such as stirring up massive trouble for a cretin who has boasted that he sexually assaults women and they do nothing because he's a celebrity.
Go get him, Ms. Clifford. Time's up for Trump.
37
The best thing about this is that if a right wing Christian says anything at all about morality, we are all free to laugh loudly directly in their sanctimonious faces. Forever, and ever. Amen.
96
Ha ha I am laughing and thinkIng 2018 will be a Trump mandate and a republican mandate. Good job report, lovely tax cuts, unscathed NRA, evangelicals okaying to sex scandals and fake Putin stories. And by the way don’t even hear any Democrats names out their. Oh they are fighting their own wars before thinking about the country. Trump is already doing your job.
6
First it was "just boy talk." Then there was boy adultery. And, always, there was boy lying and boy hush money to protect boy cowardice. Now, we have either boy campaign finance crime or, most likely, boy tax fraud for an undeclared personal gift of $130,000 from his lawyer. Oh, boy!
42
And yet, the Christian Coalition remain as silent as church mice. Perhaps a cat has got their collective tongues?
25
For two years, we've seen Teflon Don reflect back on every nasty comment, every scandalous action. But this one might take, simply because the public loves nothing more than a good, juicy sex scandal.
14
I’m glad I don’t need a legal agreement and a$130,000 pay off to someone who wants to take me for a financial ride,and this for Trump is an asset!
What about Baron his son? how does this horror of a father affect him?If
Women still support Trump,I pity them and their lack of respect for other women.The children he had have already been warped by this behavior.Is he going to make all his children victims of his corrupt business deals and his corrupt personal life?What about Baron??Does any one care?if Malania
Cared she’d find a nice calm place to live with her son and get him away from this filth.
24
Mike Pence? Mike Pence? What say you, about the man you serve? “I’m deeply humbled, as your vice president, to be able to...serve you. You’ve restored American credibility on the world stage.” Ahhh, Mike, you make Jesus proud.
62
Why would a Trump NDA for an affair with a porn star forbid Daniels to discuss Trump's "alleged children" or "paternity information"? There's something else going on here.
21
I fail to see how Trump's affair with a porn actress is anyone's business but his wife's. America's greatest president, Franklin Roosevelt, died while visiting his long-term mistress, Lucy Mercer. In France, presidents and premiers have official mistresses to go with their wives. Is this right or moral? Not in my book, but it's also none of my business.
4
so why did al Franken resign again?
34
Meet the new Teflon Don, folks. Nothing matters with this guy.
6
For those of you who are surprised, even shocked, that power hungry and oppressive evangelicals would support trump...THWAP!
11
Evangelicals back tRump, there is no "Do not commit hypocrisy," commandment I guess.
15
"'The asset here is this incredibly valuable agreement with Stormy,” Eisen told me. “Imagine what she could get if she has texts or images. Imagine the millions she could command!'"
The first payoff could have come from Larry Flynt, who posted a $1M bounty for a Trump sex tape months ago.
Has Ms. Daniels collected? Not publicly, and my gut says she will not. She has other aims...such as stirring massive trouble for a man who has boasted that he sexually assaults women and they do nothing because he's a celebrity. Imagine what he thinks he can do as president!
Go get him, Ms. Daniels. Time's up for President Trump.
5
Oh Stormy, as the Classics IV song goes, "you were the sunshine, baby, whenever you smiled, but I call you Stormy today".
Because, "all of a sudden, that rain is fallin' down, it's cloudy and gray".
Please "Oh Stormy", sign my lawyer Cohen's letter, take the money and run, and "bring back that sunny day".
And please, Stormy, don't tell Melania. It'll ruin her day.
Oh Stormy, look what you've done. You've rained on everyone.
DD
Manhattan
11
You know what? I don’t care what Trump does with his private parts, or with whom. If it doesn’t distract from his job a POTUS, we really shouldn’t care. I didn’t care when Bill Clinton was being serviced by an intern or some other consenting adult.
However, when you need to perjure yourself, have payouts and NDAs about paternity, pictures, texts, etc., then you’ve compromised your position as POTUS and the U.S.’s position as a global actor and then I do care - greatly.
The cover-up is always worse...
24
Melania's Amex Black Card is smokin' at Tiffany & Co. as we speak.
13
The one thing people would have thought the Trump organization was competent with was covering up his infedelities. Something they have actual experience at.
15
I'm trying to figure out what the story is here. Nobody is saying this wasn't consensual. So what's the big deal? I miss the JFK days.
3
Does anybody really care about this? If only there was this interest on illegal immigration reform or improving the infrastructure!
7
The religious right giving a “mulligan”? And here I was thinking that only God could forgive sin. I guess we know who the real Pharisees and Sadducees are.
12
Hey Michelle, how desperate are you? Sanders campaign KNOWINGLY ACCEPTED contribution from Australian Labor Party and its volunteers flew to USA on tickets paid for by ALP to campaign for Sanders. What is the penalty: a slap on the wrist and a fine of $14,500.
If Cohen's payment to Clifford is a violation of finance laws disclosure, all that Cohen has to do is to file an amended disclosure and problem solved.
Trump is not going anywhere. At this rate, desperate Liberals better get used to calling Trump "Mr. President" for SEVEN MORE YEARS.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/376373-sanders-campaign-pays-145k-f...
4
It's even more serious than a bedroom issue. I'm no fan of Kim Un, but he'd be a laughable fool to trust anything Trump could give him in exchange for his nukes. How can anyone agree on anything with someone who cannot even be trusted by a -let's say- entertainer? As to the generals, forget them; Trump proudly boasted he's the only one that counts in that White House. Being irremediably unpredictable, and addicted to late night sensations, Trump could press the wrong lever nearby all the while thinking he's just flushing.
5
Given the choice of coordinating with the Russians, money laundering, violating the emoluments clause, using public office to profit from personal business, selling influence for investments, and all the other truly terrible things he has said and done, it would be amazing to see the president brought down by a sex scandal that turned into a campaign finance law violation due, in part, to the stupidity of his attorney using a trumporganization.com email address to facilitate the payment to an adult film performer. America - What a country!
13
People believe what they want to believe. But when a married man pays big money to his mistress, it’s usually because she is blackmailing him.
2
Really? Every minute you spend on Stormy, every line you write is a nail in the coffin of your credibility and the same is true for all others who focus on this sideshow. Even the evangelicals have long since stopped worrying about the sexual escapades, infidelities and cavorting's of public figures, whether they be preachers or Presidents. The most unsophisticated yahoo can see through your carefully constructed arguments about campaign financing acts and the law to the essence of the argument: We hate the fact this troglodyte is President and we are grasping for any straw to undo the election by a large minority of our fellow citizens. Get over it. Move on. Time's up for this sort of wishful, effete thinking.
2
this isn't about sex, no matter the salacious the details.
guess what? it's 2018. nobody outside the President's own family cares about that. and perhaps not even them.
this is about a cooked up, distracting "scandal" that will take the focus off the real blackmail potential: years of money laundering and other nefarious money dealings Trump had with Russians, mobsters, and perhaps others who now own him.
kompromat, indeed!
4
Better call Saul.
3
In terms of Trump’s re-election prospects, L’affaire Stormy is a non-starter. Many Americans — more than you think — love this stuff and will gladly support the President BECAUSE he plays around like a feral house cat.
Don’t let your justifiable moral outrage cloud your political judgement. This scandal is a winner for Don Juan.
6
I wish Melania well...and that she may enjoy the Absence.of His Presence.
6
Trump frequently boast that he has a "very good brain. However, with the Story Daniels story and others stories of "libido gone wild" that have surfaced over the years, have to wonder what part of his body that brain resides.
5
Despite Goldberg and her leftist cronies attempts to make Stormy Daniels an issue, they will fail. No one cares. The economy is booming, jobs are plentiful, Isis is on the run and now NK is talking about a potential denuclearization. Until the winds blow the other way, Trump wins.
2
Trump has lowered the moral standards that we expect from a president. Going forward the party of family values will have zero credibility when they lecture the rest of us about morality. Who cares about consenting adults in this day and age.
Sadly Trump is providing cover for the dismantling of our government agencies. Rather than focusing on his latest sex scandal or ridiculous tweet our journalists should be telling us what's happening with our government. Quit taking the bait and focus on things that will impact us like the proposed pipeline under the Klamath river here in Oregon that could be deadly to our salmon habits. This story got barely a blip while we've been hearing about Stormy Daniels for days. Enough already.
5
I love the irony that emails on this scandal might bring down the whole house of cards and the man and his lawyer could be deposed. Oh, the irony is delicious.
Simply yummy.
8
Why Essential Consultants LLC? Why did Cohen set up a corporation in Delaware for the NDA? Trump and Cohen could both be deposed under oath if Stormy's lawsuit goes forward. My best guess is that she has something (video, photo, emails, "Kompromat") on Trump. Even if California court dismissed Stormy's lawsuit, Robert Mueller is now aware of L'affaire Stormy. Were there other women who were paid off?
4
Where does Trump find these people, his "legal" experts? How did they pass the Bar?
4
It's a little hard to understand why Trump & Co. don't just let this all go and allow Stormy to get this story, ahem, off her chest. They were consenting adults, Trump has won the election, it seems like the best way to get past this is simply to let this minor ripple in the lake crash and disperse.
Because the horizon has a tidal wave on it.
Maybe he wants to talk to N Korea to arrange asylum and a couple of hotels for Jared. What a disaster for our country. I had an interesting talk with an evangelical friend the other day who said that among many of her friends Trump's support in the evangelical base has been manipulated by crass and corrupt preachers and 'professional fundamentalists' Anybody ever hear of Franklin Graham, Tony Perkins and Jerry Falwell? When we get to the end of the Stormy money trail these people may be among the first to turn.
2
The Roman Senate never disciplined an emperor either. Does this mean we are in decline?
2
19+ women accuse Trump of sexual assault/harassment: Trump just denies it and waits for a change in the headlines spurred on by one of his tweets.
But with "Stormy" it's different. Different because she has the "goods": pictures, texts, information relating to "paternity" (is there a child??), etc. that none of the other women have.
Trump can be blackmailed. If this much trouble and incompetence was taken to shut up Stormy, what would Trump and his fixer do about financial misdeeds and "salacious" materials in the hands of Putin or powerful others, when a coerced non-disclosure agreement (see s. 2.3 of Stormy's NDA for evidence of coercion) isn't even a possibility.
4
It does not matter who did what with Stormy Daniels. Trumps's only true statement was that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his base would not care.
A nation gets the government it deserves and the United States as we Knew it no longer exists.
8
You wrote:
Finally, the Daniels story is germane to the overriding scandal of the Trump administration, the one involving Trump’s relationship with Russia.
Wrong. the overriding scandal of the Trump administration is the one involving Trump's relationship with the truth. It's all about character, lying, hypocrisy. When history is written, Trumps failure to be honest and forthright will come shining through. Pity is we need to wait so long.
5
If she had pictures or texts worth millions, then surely she was a bad negotiator in only getting 130K. Not surprising, I guess, considering Trump bills himself as the master negotiator. The real question is what does this say about the gender wage gap?
Ms. Goldberg, you make a salient point about the value of the agreement. More pointedly, one who reads the agreement understands Trump was delivered various media, film, photos and the like. Not only was he delivered possession of the items, but the copyright to these items. Consequently, if the agreement is upheld in court, Ms. Daniels cannot profit from the sale of such films or photographs.
I would bet if these videos were sold, over a million copies could be sold. Thus, the potential value of these videos could exceed $20 million.
Although Trump does not want them published, the value of the media is high.
You also allude to Trump's susceptibility to blackmail. On the moral plane, a politician can become the president easier than a police applicant can become a police officer. Applicants to most large, modern police departments fill out extensive questionnaires that address potential sexual misconduct or prurient misconduct; then the candidates are polygraphed on whether they answered the questionnaire truthfully. If the polygraph examiner opines the candidate exhibited deception or employed counter-measures, he or she is permanently disqualified from becoming an officer.
In the future, we should add to disclosure of tax returns, disclosure of non-disclosure agreements about sexual misconduct.
3
This isn't just about an affair, it is about a campaign pay-off and Trump being open to blackmail.
The Mueller team needs to interview all parties involved and determine if any laws were broken.
At this juncture, it is hard to imagine just how many indictments Mueller could come up with under how many areas of law were transgressed.
6
The worry about blackmail in the Stormy Daniels case seems unlikely. Trump brags about his exploits and isn’t going to take evasive action.
So was the $130,000 hush money? Or was it about photos and recordings? Those might stick in voters minds in a visceral way, depending upon just what was up or went down.
3
Sympathy is difficult considering the nation may well not be in its current predicament if Miss Daniels had told the truth, shared her story, and not sold her fellow country men and women out for a paltry $130,000.
Then again, maybe the country had it coming for prioritizing profits over people.
3
Has there been a rallying cry from women of voting age, or women's organizations, or social media movements, demanding the full truth and transparency on this issue? If not, why not? Does Stormy Daniels' profession not merit that kind of support?
It's a mystery that women have seemed unwilling, as a group, to find common ground to call out the sexual misconduct of Donald Trump. In the meantime, a shadowy group of lawyers, men, are working overtime to protect him. Sound familiar?
2
His base will love him more than ever. Of course they are forgetting that famous Dr. Phil line, "if they do it with you, they'll do it to you!" Yes, and that includes you too, voters.
3
While the DNC pushes for an immigration policy that didn't get their candidate elected in 2016, they simultaneously show that they can be as petty and spiteful as the Republicans were when Bill Clinton was in office. To the voters who supported Trump in 2016 (many of whom previously voted for both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama), this isn't going to matter a bit in 2020.
1
As long as the Stock Market is up and unemployment is down, it will make no difference.
2
The irony is that Trump couldn't and wouldn't have passed a background check for any Federal appointment.
6
It is very interesting that the drafter of the NDA inserted a signature line for David Dennison (which was later revealed to be Donald Trump) and THEN Donald Trump never signed it. To me, that strengthens the argument that his not signing it makes it a non-agreement. It would be hard to argue that his lawyers FORGOT to have him sign it.
3
At the end of the day I hope the Stormy Daniel Republicans will acknowledge that Trump, if he were a US military officer, would be subject to court martial, one year imprisonment, dishonorable discharge and loss of pension.
5
The "non-mainstream" media is printing the claims (with some backup) that the Trump campaign was the source of the money, but it was laundered through Trump hotels.
Tempest in a D (or E?) cup.
For as long as Trump appoints conservative judges and signs what ever the Republican congress sends him, he will remain golden.
And even if Trump were to go, the Republican congress would still have a signature machine in Pence.
Six of one, half dozen of the other, varying only in style.
8
I miss Obama...
41
We don't. Every step Obama took was focused on changing our society for the worse. Who cares about who goes in what bathroom? Our healthcare cost increased by 30%. We lost massive prestige overseas indicated by world leaders not meeting him at their airports. They did not respect him. I could go on but I am getting ill just thinking about the Obama years!
2
How is it legal for a person to accept $130,000 when the contract upon which the payment is predicated has not yet been signed by both parties? Are the funds still in escrow somewhere?
10
if the other party wants to give up the cash without a completed contract all the onus falls upon them to complete the deal.
as I understand it.
there is no reason a person can not accept money unless criminal activity is involved
2
Our tawdry President will probably continue to get multiple 'mulligans' for this scandal. If a Democratic President had been in the middle of this, the Republicans and their Evangelical enablers would have been in a frothing meltdown for months. And the so called main stream media would have been covering it day after day to show that they aren't 'liberal'.
Ms. Daniels seems to have belatedly realized that she sold out too cheap, and now any tokens of Donald's affections she might have are worth millions, not the $130K she sold out for. If she can sell them on the open market because Trump was too lazy to sign the agreement, then the Capitalist in me says; good for her. Trump deserves no mercy, since he gives none.
68
Manchurian Candidate. Also enjoy how incompetent Trump's lawyers always are with the only thing in common being they have big mouths and bully people who don't know better or can't afford competent representation. Only the worst for the kakistocracy.
27
A radio commentator yesterday marveled at the "ho-hum" public reaction to the Clifford/Trump story, given what a huge reaction there would have been to any other president's behaving this way. It is true that the so-called Christian Right will excuse any sort of venery in Trump as long as he fails not to give them what they want politically, but then they are incapable of embarrassment over their own cynicism and hypocrisy. But one should not confuse lack of shock with indifference. It's true that nothing Trump does or says is shocking any more, and that fewer onlookers say, "Oh, my God -- do you believe he did THAT?" Yeah, they sure do believe it. But that does not mean that they find his behavior excusable or tolerable. The country has not changed so much that people (other than the phony Christians) think it's OK for a man who would be president to have sex with a porn performer (please, let's stop calling her a star or an actress) while his fairly new wife is at home with his four-month-old son, then pay the woman a quarter-million bucks in hush money. They just have not had the chance to express their revulsion in a practical way. But their chance will come.
27
“Any halfway competent lawyer could have drafted the contract so that he didn’t need to sign it,” Super said of Cohen and Trump. “But they didn’t do it that way.”
This is what happens when the client is known for not paying his bills.
41
Stormy Daniels is my nominee for Time Magazine's person of the year. She has revealed a side of the President we don't often get to see- one fearful of exposure , both literally and figuratively.
34
Good Grief, this is absurd.
Look, I detest dt as much as the next reader of this paper, but come on.
Who cares if he cheated on his wife ten years ago? That's between the two of them.
It was amusing for ten minutes, but doesn't have anything to do with his office now.
As far as blackmail goes, how can you blackmail a guy who has absolutely no shame of any kind and has always admitted to being a playboy?
I didn't care when Bill Clinton was fooling around, and I don't care that dt did either.
11
You can't blame someone for something they admit to. For some reason, Trump went to great lengths to conceal this particular affair.
I suspect his evangelical base will have a breaking point if this turns out to be one of many payoffs.
She did successfully blackmail him. That's the news here And as Michelle Goldberg says, those of us who discounted the idea that the Russians could have blackmailed him, now have to reconsider
2
If you’re willing to pay someone to keep quiet about something you’ve done, you can be blackmailed.
2
I'm never going to stop laughing if *this* is the scandal that brings down Trump.
32
Me too!
1
Anybody note the irony of the Trump pseudomyn Dennison is pronounced the same as "Denizen"- "one who frequents a place or a resident alien." Often it is an unflattering term for some one who hangs around too much Truely Trump is a denizen of the Presidency and the White House.
Donald the Denizen... nice ring to it.
22
Coupled with rumored salacious details in the Michael Steele dossier, the Stormy Daniels affair presents us with evidence that Mr. Trump, in addition to his other faults, is a pornographic exhibitionist.
17
Don't you mean Christopher Steele? Michael Steele is the former head of the Republican National Committee...
1
Where does one put blackmail income on one's 1040? Stormy Daniels is a blackmailer. She took "hush money" which is a form of blackmail. I assume that she was amply paid for her vaginal services 10 years ago in Reno and that should have been the end of Trump's financial obligations to a porn star stripper. The $130K is blackmail which I think is illegal (charging it -not having to pay it out).
3
She simply took the best offer on the table. If Trump didn't pay her she was more than happy to go to the papers and then monetize tbe notoriety somehow. Thats not blackmail. What the Russians are doing to Trump is blackmail.
27
Ms. Clifford was trying to sell her story when Trump’s lawyer intervened and offered cash for silence -- as has been Trump’s pattern with about 20 others accusing him of sexual misconduct and hundreds, if not thousands, who have sued him for cheating them out of goods, services, payments, and wages. That is not blackmail, that is a serial fraudster and sexual assailant covering his dirty tracks.
30
And yet another scandal involving Trump, the latest punch that never seems to land. My biggest fear is that this stockpiling of evidence, none of which seems to phase either the GOP or the White House, will be met with a giant shrug. No one will lift a finger to make Trump pay for his indescretions and what looks more and more like criminal activity on the Russian front. No calls for impeachment, for which there should be dozens of reasons to do so, no calls for Trump's resignation, and not a peep from Congressional Republicans on Trump's repeated transgressions. Even if Mueller finally presents an airtight case against Trump and his campaign, will anyone do anything about it?
25
Why should Daniels and her attorney have to abide by a restraining order if the NDA that requires they submit to an arbiter is itself invalid and nonbinding in the first place? Can somebody please explain that part of it? Also, does it not seem that the arbiter's impartiality (or competency) is compromised by this action? She is attempting to restrain Clifford's speech, despite the fact that Cohen, who initiated the motion, is not entitled to do so on his own behalf, based on the way it was written. How is that supposed to work. I guess if Cohen loses his job over this, he can always get a job as a cartoon lawyer on the Simpsons.
8
Let's wipe away all the lawyer talk and so called clever manipulations on everyones part as they juggle for position to try and gain the most positive light.
The fact is that we have a lowest of low president that most people believe shouldn't be in office.
Why can't we take some of that well earned reputation we have as a can do country and find a way to remove him from office. The electoral college allowed someone who lost by three million votes to win anyway.
Isn't that absurd enough to get us into action and find a better president?
31
we haven't been thought of as "can do" for a long time
2
You would hope, right?
Sadly, I don't think the various folks who drafted the US Constitution envisioned the creation of the two party system nor did they figure anyone so loathsome would be seriously considered as President. So the country and system is not really well prepared for this eventuality, and really, the system is somewhat broken. As a "minority" President he should have been on a short leash, but instead he is just (to continue with the dog analogy) running free to bite whom he pleases.
2
Well, gosh .... let's see a raising-of-hands Vote here;
How many Americans think Trump cheated on his Wife?
How many Americans are TRULY insulted that he cheated on his Wife?
How many Americans are fully disgusted with Trump's attitude towards Women, as if they were nothing more than sex toys for him to play with?
Should the "President of the United States" be held to a higher moral standard than the "average" Citizen?
Should Trump be forced to testify, under Deposition, about the Truth of this matter?
Alright. Thanks for your Vote.
21
About half of the presidents at least in my in my lifetime, which ranges from FDR to DJT, have cheated on their wives. The violations of the law, perjury, campaign law violations, that have occurred while attempting to cover up the cheating are newsworthy. The state of the marriages is none of anybody's business.
1
It will be the ultimate Presidential reality show irony- if a porn star turns out to be the one to upend Trump and give the Special Counsel grounds to recommend impeachment. This would hugely entertaining if Trump and his tenure weren't pathetic. He makes Bill Clinton look like just your regular guy-next-door philanderer.
16
Trump could have sex with a porn star in the middle of Broadway and he would not lose a single vote.
35
But we would all lose our lunch.
5
Trump's got Russian Kompromat, American Kompromat, UAE Kompromat, Saudi Arabia Kompromat, Javanka Kompromat----export/import it doesn't matter, Trump's got it. The Neo Benedict Arnold of the ages now apparently needs the Secret Service to guard him while he's inside his private bedroom. Almost justice but only a drop.;)
12
This is what I can't get past: who would have sex with him? I know I couldn't get that drunk. Even if he paid me millions of dollars. Even if my brain told me to do it for the money, how does one control the gag reflex? The man is so disgusting in every way. There is no way I could "close my eyes and think of money!"
65
O Michelle! Deliver me from your muck-rake.
4
muckraker was a positive term. people who exposed the filth. and filth is what we have
3
When we find out what President "David Dennison" did during his year with the lovely Ms. Daniels, it will make the dossier in Moscow look like a child's birthday party. I can't wait for all the sordid details to come out at the same time that Russia is blackmailing Trump for many similar compromising situations which Mueller undoubtedly knows about. And I love the fact that the daughter of the Very Reverend Mike Huckabee had to be the one to spill the beans on the "Dennison Dossier"...settled in Trump's favor, she helpfully pointed out!
36
Stormy Daniels is a serious actress, and considers her film work to be an art form. That being said, Donald trump is just an actor in a stormy Daniels movie. He is also, an amazing performance artist.
16
When will the "Christian" Right reach a high water mark? Surely, soon - isn't this all many bridges too far?
Using religion - let alone "morality" as bludgeons has served the so-called Christian Right well for decades now. But it's become pretty obvious that they are worse than hollow at the core - they want power, period, and their agenda is also clear: enslave women, victimize the LGBTQ communities; force their religious beliefs down other peoples' throats then use the religious freedom argument as another means of enforcing THEIR ideology regardless of First Amendment protections against people just like them, in other words, tyrants.
At some point the rest of the country has to rise up in opposition to this all-too-powerful bloc and say enough. The country was founded to get away from them.
36
Nobody cares about what two consenting adults do. But whether sex tapes constitute valuable assets that need to be disclosed per campaign finance laws should make an interesting ruling. Wish Ms. Goldberg has explained further why the contract was poorly written and how it could have been written so that it didn't require David Dennison's signature.
60
So it's no longer a Mr. Johnson, in the twenty-first century it's a David Dennison.
Please someone ,Music is needed
7
I expect that the contract was poorly written because, despite the President's claims, he does not get the best people. As with most things this administration does, this affair was handled incompetently.
8
Trump is triumphing by turning the presidency into a reality show that updates with a new plot line every day, instead of once a week. We're all obsessive viewers - at times horror-struck, but we can't unglue our eyes for what's taking place. The rubes love it. Just like they love Duck Dynasty. The problem is the Democrats are trying to get equal ratings with a lineup of PBS science shows. We all know how this will turn out. It's maddeningly disheartening.
11
If a restraining order if it's secret, how does the defending party know it has been executed by the Judge?
Does the restraining order need to be verbally advised from the party requesting the restraining order to notify the defending party on the day before it will be served?
If Trump were smart, he would let Daniels say and do anything she wants to and can, because it wouldn't hurt him politically (not even if she had a video of him saying "My buddy Putin and I are gonna steal the election together", not even if he'd forced her to have an abortion, not even if she had a video of Trump saying 'I am the Antichrist"). His supporters would give him as many mulligans as they needed to because he signs the right laws and appoints the right people and because, for some of them, it would just be a rally around one of us who's being attacked by them. He can't be impeached, and he can spin out any legal issues indefinitely, and if matters of federal law are involved, he'll probably always have five votes on the Supreme Court. He's poking himself in the eye because for him this is a power fight between Trump and Daniels, and he has to win and she has to lose at all costs.
8
Mr. Trump's belligerent cult and his paid enforcers are now spreading several dishonest stories. They are saying the left is pursuing the porn star fiasco because the investigation is dead. They are saying the porn star fiasco is no different than the Clinton investigations. The latter is, of course, a belated admission to what we all knew at the time, namely, that the five year long Clinton investigation was politically motivated and without merit.
Mr. Mueller's investigation has always been about the considerable blackmail risk represented by the extensive wrongdoing of Trump and his associates. If a porn star can not only extract massive payments from the president but also cause the president and his agents to take actions that are probably illegal, how much more could Mr. Putin have done or still be doing?
16
The issue in the Stormy Daniels affair is whether the $130,000 in hush money constitutes an illegal campaign contribution. If the Federal Election Commission determines it does, the Trump campaign and Michael Cohen might have to pay a civil penalty. Last week, the FEC fined the Bernie Sanders campaign $14,500 for accepting 2016 campaign donations from the Australian Labor Party, a violation of the Federal Election Act, which “prohibits any foreign national from making ‘a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value’ in connection with a federal, state or local election.” The Sanders campaign also paid the $14,500 fine the FEC levied against the labor union. (The Sanders campaign is so far the only presidential candidate proven guilty of illegal collusion with foreign nationals to influence the 2016 election.)
As far as scandal is concerned, the Stormy Daniels affair seems tame compared to the rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations lodged against Bill Clinton, or the sexual trysts Clinton engaged in with Monica Lewinsky inside the White House. Clinton also pay Paula Jones $850,000 in an out-of-court settlement to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit. The Stormy Daniels does provide another reason for voting against Trump if he runs for reelection.
25
Why bring Bill Clinton into it? If you want to raise allegations of sexual assault lodged against a president, you don’t have to go back to the 1990s. The Stormy Daniels affair seems tame compared to the allegations lodged against one Donald Trump.
But the fact that he exposed himself to possible blackmail and paid hush money as a presidential candidate hardly seems inconsequential, now does it?
17
Though William has given us interesting information about election wrongdoing by the Sanders campaign, he has sidestepped (with partisan motives) a number of pertinent questions. For instance, will the FEC, which is now staffed by Trump partisans, fine the Trump campaign for election wrongdoing which is comparable to that perpetrated by the Sanders campaign?
Larger than anything that William has mentioned is the blackmail risk. Any wrongdoing by Trump and his associates would be a ripe target for blackmail. Accordingly, any such wrongdoing cannot but have always been a target for Mr. Mueller. One porn star compelled the president to give her a sizeable sum. Moreover, he was also willing to in all likelihood break the law in order to hide what she had to say. Imagine what Mr. Putin could have accomplished, with what he has on Trump.
William Case wrote:
"The issue in the Stormy Daniels affair is whether the $130,000 in hush money constitutes an illegal campaign contribution. If the Federal Election Commission determines it does, the Trump campaign and Michael Cohen might have to pay a civil penalty. Last week, the FEC fined the Bernie Sanders campaign $14,500 for accepting 2016 campaign donations from the Australian Labor Party, a violation of the Federal Election Act, which “prohibits any foreign national from making ‘a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value’ in connection with a federal, state or local election." ..."
8
This was at least a refreshing "whattabout" comment--Bernie instead of Hillary!--until you had to pull a Clinton into it. Again, just as a refresher, Bill Clinton isn't President anymore, Trump is, and what he is doing is jeopardizing our country NOW. The value of history--outside of entertainment value--is what we can learn from it. Apparently Trump, for all of his criticisms of Bill Clinton's behavior, learned nothing from it and apparently decided to try to outdo him on the sexual harassment front. I guess that's his definition of "winning!"
24
If nothing else, Stormy Daniels proves that evangelicals supporting Trump do not care about morality.
31
This was the guy that brought Bill Clinton's abused women to the debate. Any other person, in any other job in the entire country would be held accountable for the behaviors our stable genius routinely gets away with.
16
What fun.
Some popcorn, please.
Trump has gotten away with dumb lawyers over the years by using them to bludgeon opponents into submission.
It seems to infuriate him that once he became president, his power to obscure actually diminished. He can hold his breath and turn purple, but Mueller's investigators continue putting the puzzle together, as do competent (not tabloid) reporters, and judges demand that protocols be met.
Trump's chest beating no longer creates fear, but ridicule.
8
Aha. We often hear critiques of presidential indiscretions as just their failures as role models. Because, after all, are their sex lives our business? This article points out exactly why it is our business. Blackmail for sex. Payoffs and taxes.
13
America ids doomed. Trump and his spawn are making big bucks because of his presidency. Trump himself is profiting from his businesses illegally because he is president. He is in league with the Russians and he morally bankrupt and the right wing values voters, hypocrites that they are don't seem to mind. The republican congress is ready to give him a pass on everything yet claim American exceptionalism. The only thing exceptional about America is we are allowing a circus side show barker drag us down into the sewer.
9
The announced meeting with North Korean crazy man is about two things:
1. Change the subject from Mueller and Stormy.
2. Vladimir Putin wants him to meet with Kim.
13
It may become a David Dennison Storm, that opens the door for serious legal investigations into the use of campaign funds, such as the Trump University, the legal fees, and other sexual NDA.
Also, there may be the problem of the name of our Genius President: Donald Trump or David Dennison?
4
Republicans are enthusiastic parties to rank criminality, corruption and enabling of foreign entities' manipulations of US elections.
Trump's historical antecedents are Caligula and Nero....and Republicans play diversionary fiddle while the Republic burns.
9
Trump's degenerate despicability notwithstanding, we may have here another case of obstruction of justice. Let's hope that this 'mafioso' gets nailed for it's abuse of power...and ousted from a public post he is unable, or unwilling, to honor. And Mr. Mueller is, most certainly, in the trail to victory for justice...by helping convict a 'criminal' of wrongdoing, arrogant enough to think he is above the law.
8
Poor Melania and Barron. The humiliation they must be suffering through as this story develops. Every time I see Melania at DJT's side walking to Marine One or Air Force One, I wonder how she can justify her continued loyalty to him. This despicable, unethical, immoral man is dragging her and all Americans through the mud, with no evidence of any shame.
15
She knew what he was when she married him. I feel sorry for the kid.
1
May we never use the word Scandal to describe any of the perfectly predictable, possibly illegal, generally awful deeds of Donald Trump? They don't surprise us, bring no shame to himself, his kith or kin. They are the expected behaviors of a life long con and creep, chief groper and head of a clan of grifters. We might be scandalized if we learnt he's a cannibal. Had killed someone with his bare little hands. It would take a lot.
Lock Him Up.
11
I thank Stormy because now I finally understand why the "Christian" evangelicals are the biggest hypocrites under the sun: They have raging Daddy issues.
Pastor Robert Jeffress explained on Fox News that Trump's porn-star-hush-money problem is entirely irrelevant because he is a "strong leader." And, there was a study showing that the common characteristic of Trump supporters is they love authoritarians. See Thomas F. Pettigrew, Social Psychological Perspectives on Trump Supporters, 5 J. of Social and Political Psychology 1 (2017).
So the only thing that matters to them is that the straight white "Christian" male is a "strong leader." Forget that he stands for the exact opposite of humility, love, compassion, acceptance of people who are different, concern for the meek -- you know, that stuff Jesus was rambling on about. Trump's a compulsively lying sleaze-fest with every single characteristic of malignant narcissism on steroids, and that bother them not one iota.
He's their Daddy and nothing else matters. I would feel bad for their mental illness -- except the 45 administration is horrible for this country and those fools voted for him.
28
The crowning moment is when Melania files for divorce.
14
Oh Steve, no need to divorce. At least not now. I am pretty sure she gets a pay day every time something of this smarminess occurs.
2
Melania knew the sleaze for what he was and knew what she was getting into...after all, lover boy was married to wife number two at the beginning of their "romance." Granted, trump is disgusting, but women have been making money from sex for a long time, some of them quite a lot of money. How else would even a gorgeous model pay for $50,000 coats? Swallow hard, (yes, intentional!) take the money, and find another creep when this one moves on. And remember to vote Republican!
1
In the 15th century, Pope Leo X was, "selling forgiveness of sins. For a fee, bereaved relatives could get a deceased loved one out of Purgatory. At the right price, they could also save up for their own future sins—sort of a spiritual IRA. Indulgences, they called them." In WWII Die Spinne/Odessa and the church helped Nazi war criminals escape to South America. And now the religious right is giving Trump a "mulligan" for reprehensible behavior, a Faustian bargain if ever there was one. Meanwhile, Trump continues on, leaving chaos and ruined reputations behind him . . .
14
“Any halfway competent lawyer could have drafted the contract so that he didn’t need to sign it,” Super said of Cohen and Trump. “But they didn’t do it that way.”
I'm shocked. Incompetence in the Trump Bankruptcy Orbit. Cohen has a few problems. Mueller is looking at him and now he either rats out Trump or possibly loses his license to practice law in NYS.
WHY do people associate themselves with Trump? It's like getting into a car at 4AM with a guy who's been doing shots of tequila since noon.
19
So I'm waiting for this ever emboldened Donald Trump (or David Dennison or John Miller or John Barron) to just admit...Yep, I had sex with Stormy and McDougal and assaulted all those women who accused me. But you knew what I was like and voted for me anyway. "I'm President, you're not."
"I am the only one that matters."
Bet the evangelicals would throw Trump a huge parade.
21
And they'd portray it as an admirable act of honesty and witness.
1
Trump apparently got no public relations advice in the matter or he would have simply bitten the bullet and put the thing behind him: another sex scandal - so what? Instead he’s now got a never-ending advertisement of not only a sex scandal but stories of skulduggery, incompetency, and ignominious legal connivance. Plus, true or not, the majority of the audience thinks Stormy is the truth teller, not Trump’s mouthpieces.
10
Please let the videos and pics be made public, please let the videos and pics be made public, please let the videos and pics be made public, please let the videos and pics be made public, please let the videos and pics be made public, please let the videos and pics be made public, please!!!
12
And while you're at it, Freygunnr, how 'bout those tax returns, as well?!
12
Agree with the opinion that the cover up may prove more damaging than the degeneracy.
I don't see how Trump is vulnerable to blackmail over sex. In his case, it's not even a man-bites-dog story. Despite known indecencies, Trump attracted enough electoral college votes to be named president. Despite on-line amateurs, porn remains a lucrative industry.
Evidently large swaths of Americans like Trump and porn. Fewer like lawyers, but that's up to the courts. Trump may have to reimburse Cohen the $130,000.
4
I wouldn't call Trump's remaining supporters "large swaths of Americans." He remains a minority president.
6
for those who think this is much ado about nothing. Seriously?! The way the Right sank its teeth into Bill Clinton ? The way it sank its teeth into Hillary over Benghazi and her nothing emails? The way it cheered while Trump dragged the issue of President Obama's citizenship through the media mud for years? It's always 'merely' salacious or National Enquirer-level 'news' when it's your candidate on the hot seat. .. If this is true, I couldn't give a rat's behind of whom, or of what, Donald Trump has carnal knowledge. But knowingly breaking campaign laws, paying hush money, intimidation... isn't that sort of the definition of a swamp?.. He has made it this far on filth, venom, and spite. Now let's see how he handles it when the sludge runs back downhill.
25
Who is the villain in this piece, Ms. Goldberg? Stormy Daniels (aka Stephanie Cliffords), the porn star who romped consensually with President Trump after his third son was born to Melania of Slovenia, and was paid off for the roll in the hay? Mickey Cohen, the president's lawyer, who paid off Ms. Daniels with $130,000 of his own moolah "out of his pocket" to shut her up right before the 2016 Election? Or was the villain the President's favourite target - journalists and the "fake press" for revealing the nefarious transfer of money from Trump's lawyer to his porn-star inamorata? Too many villains to count. The King is in his counting house, counting out his money. The Queen is in her parlor, eating bread and honey. Too many blackbirds now in the pie set before the King. This scandal (linked to the Russian Connection being desperately swept under the White House rug) may be seious enough to wake up the Republican party against their Lord and Master of the red M.A.G.A. golf caps.
8
Memo to Michelle Goldberg: Hillary lost. It's time to get on with your life. Or get a life.
3
Well, political reporting and commentary IS her life's work.
11
Hear, hear.
2
Memo to Timothy: Hillary won the popular vote by nearly 3 million. (And, no, the election wasn't rigged by all those "illegals" casting their ballots.) Get over it! (And, while I'm at it, Lee surrendered to Grant. Get over it.)
10
My personal opinion is I don't care who sleeps with whom, but the religious right comes out looking like just who they are- misogynistic liars interested in nothing more than power.
And if Trump didn't have an agreement with his wife about his sexual behavior she's an idiot to stay with him.
i expect a sixth grader could find extensive lawbreaking in Trump's affairs.
Let's get this over.
5
GO STORMY GO!!!!
10
Remember when Howard Dean's presidential bid tanked because of a robust, "yeee-haw!" at a rally? The times they are a changin'.
12
This very, very sad segment in our nation's history says much more about what we, as a people, have devolved into than it does about Trump. You had to living in a cave or under a rock for the last decades to not know Donald Trump was a vile, loathsome, amoral, misogynistic, ignorant person. He didn't hide it, he reveled in it. He told us himself he was a serial sexual predator and voyeur of naked teenage girls. Yet, nearly half this country's voters, 63 million, voted to make him the leader of this country. That is not on Trump. That is on us.
Trump was right. There is nothing he can do, even shooting someone, that will persuade his cult of followers (80% of Republicans still approve of him) that he is a menace. It is up to a porn star and Mueller to save this country from our Trumpian nightmare. That doesn't say much about us - or maybe it says everything.
27
What do the North Koreans have on Trump...?
7
The readers comments fail to underscore the utter moral depravity of our president. He routinely uses and discards women regardless of the role they play in his life as wife, daughter, colleague, prostitute or porn star. Trump routinely degrades, demeans, destroys, betrays and exploits women without remorse, regret or regard for their well being. His wife, Melania, is treated as a trinket used to enhance Trump's vainglorious exploitation of these women who are also shamed in his utterly unfettered degradation and exploitation as though they are chattel, pigs in a pen to be consumed at his whim without respect, concern or love. He endlessly degrades himself and each of them even his daughters. His conduct is an outright attack on women who are now courageously seeking to establish themselves as equals deserving of respect. Trump has no moral compunctions about exploiting and discarding women as though toys without lives, meaning, dignity and rights. Those moments are the essence of this man who should be removed from office through impeachment yet the Republicans will exploit him to pursue their own aims to turn our Nation over to wealthy campaign donors who are the entitled elite, above the law and above restraint. Together they collude to exploit ALL Americans...what a hideous disgrace for our Nation. Trump is a parasite, a liar and a self indulgent predator. If Stormy Daniels has the hutzpah to call him on the carpet so should we. Impeach him for gross misconduct in office.
23
Exactly. You should also mention that he doesn't treat men much better.
1
Trump refers to Melania, in the presence of others, as his "trophy wife." When Stormy Daniels asked about his wife, he said, "Don't worry about her."
All of these relationships, including his marriages, are superficial.
2
When I heard the religious right invoke "the mulligan" comment about Donald J. Trump's affair with Stormy Daniels it highlighted the hypocrisy of these idiots. They want to run our lives and have an opinion on everything and would deal with Satan if they got a benefit from it. I guess that we are going to see a repeat of Watergate....."the coverup is worse than the crime"
20
SEAN: The religious right appears to believe that the end justifies the means as Trump has been delivering for them in terms of their agenda: Right-leaning SCOTUS, anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, support for the Israeli right, etc.
4
Great analysis of this vulgarian's susceptibility to blackmail and his seedy dealings, not only in this affair, but throughout his squalid life.
16
If Stormy can blackmail Trump over sex, isn't it obvious that Putin did the same?
19
The worst president ever proves it every single day.
13
It's interesting that the Times' very own Editorial Board this morning chides Trump by asking why he isn't worried more about red lines with Syria while its own editorialists would prefer to dwell on mostly irrelevant porn stars just to heckle Trump and get under his skin. Make up your mind where you want him to scratch first.
2
So the President isn't up to multi-tasking? You may think that this mostly irrelevant porn star isn't worth writing about but it's pretty apparent that the President had some sort of relationship with her and he and his minions have either lied about it and/or tried to cover it up. I'd doubt the opinion pieces in this paper about this likely relationship are just written to get under Trump's skin. Every day I learn some new and relevant detail about the capacity of these people to lie. Maybe if Trump kept better company he wouldn't have so many places to scratch.
8
Can't wait for the headline, "Melania Dumps Trump!"
7
...which will be (imo) after he is out of office. Shortly after, but not during his tenure as President.
1
As our politics look increasingly Italian, I'm reminded that they once elected a famous porn star to parliament. Stormy 2020..??
83
She actually ran for the Louisiana Senate against David Vitter. I think her campaign motto was something like, I may be an adult film star but I haven't broken the law. Vitter won that race, but his penchant for hookers caught up with him when he ran unsuccessfully for Governor.
6
Why ITALIAN? Italian politics can be somewhat tumultuous, if that's what you mean, but it looks like you are referring more to the seediness of this particular Trump mess. You need look no further than our own political shores for that, we've been as good and as bad as any other country in that regard.
5
Who signed the check? Or, was it paid by mail order? Apple Pay perhaps? Certified check? C-notes? If I was a porn actress and wanted to turn myself into a prostitute, what form of payment would be appropriate? A girl’s gotta have standards after all, especially around a sleazeball like Trump. So many questions......
4
This was not a payment for sex; it was hush-money well after the fact.
4
Goldberg is trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill, is a porn star is trying to make headlines for all it's worth, no one will remember her name a month from now.
1
Just as no one remembers the name Lewinsky.
4
that's EXACTLY what bill clinton thought, too
1
There, assume you are correct in your assessment that this mess is exaggerated. Then why did the right get away with impeaching Bill Clinton for having an affair with a white house staff member? Why has the right insured that we knew Monica's name then, and we always will? What makes trump get the free pass from your team that Bill did not get?
5
Finally someone gets it. He's a creep! More than that; he's got that 'silver spoon' rich kid; no one ever said no to him attitude. The rest of the world sees a bombastic; characterless, empty-headed porn addicted womanizer, or worse. Someone called him a street fighter. I never saw him on my streets unless he was one of those dudes cruisin' in a Bentley lookin' for little girls and boys to play with
10
The republican party ------ THE PARTY OF FAMILY VALUES!!!!!!
16
Is there anything, really anything, that the right-wing Republicans will not lie about? Trump is their poster boy. Or should I say, idol?
There sure seems to be a lot of golden-calf worship going on in the GOP.
Seems like the Republicans would sell their souls, and sell out their country, for enough money and power.
1
Even though it strains all credulity and plumbs the depth of grostesquery that Trump was still cavorting with porn actresses at that stage of his life, it doesn't matter.
He is the quintessential horny adolescent, trapped like a bug in amber, a relic of the pathetic needy unseemly, ever-scrambling for sex of some sort, any sort, the tawdrier the better. But it doesn't matter.
His base still clings. Evangelicals have given over all semblance of piety, purity, family values. It's a religious war to end all wars and be able to compel everyone to say Merry Christmas and it doesn't matter if their leader is a swine.
The GOP yawns, turns away and continues gleefully looting the country. The business community maybe snickers behind the pages of the WSJ describing the "facilitation of payment", i.e., payment to porn star, but doesn't care.
It doesn't matter. It's third-rate TV, it's Duck Dynasty in the White House, like Beverly Hillbillies rerun in DC, bulls amok in china shops, with head duck, Donald quacking incessantly about what a great big duck he is. Because he can hire porn stars.
It's what the voters wanted.
15
All those mulligans...
Defenders of djt just repeat the mantra that the ends (Gorsuch, Tax reform) justify the means. Nothing will detract them, no tweet, insult, or payoff, or crime.
Oh Stormy, oh Stormy
Bring back those sunnnnnny days.
7
Michelle, dear, sweetheart - you should really ask for a different assignment. Your column is nothing but a rehash of really OLD news. There is nothing new here. No analysis. Nothing. Stop wasting editorial space. I can get all this from reading Yahoo! - for FREE.
1
I haven't seen Eisen's "property" analysis anywhere else, so this column does have value, and the blackmail point is a good one too.
But thanks for informing us that Yahoo! still exists. I wasn't aware of that.
6
All hell would have erupted from Republicans, Conservatives and Evangelicals had Obama, or Gore, or any Democrat running for the Presidency done anything close to this or dozens of other of Trump's actions, statements or foibles. That they still show little compunction to admit shame, or apologize - or even abandon their 'Groper in Chief' - leaves them clearly and forever marked as 'the enemy from within' that our nations founders most feared.
6
Think about it: Trump was a well known celebrity when this alleged affair began.
So Stormy must have kept souvenirs for the fun of it, or for proof.
This could be emails, photos, tape recordings, or actual DNA.
If Michael Cohen goes before a judge and says he paid the 130,000. out of his own pocket as he's claimed, the judge should say, "don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining".
9
$130K seems like bargain rates to keep shut about having sex with a prominent presidential candidate. also, what kind of idiot would leave a trail of images and correspondence with his sex industry lover? is the pre-nuptial with melania really that strong? trump had better be watching his back (or other parts) for as they say "hell hath no fury like woman scorned" and he just keeps piling it on.
3
Coale-- do you seriously think Melania married for love? For friendship? So they could grow old together? So she could have a built-in family of charming step kids and grandkids?
NUTS. She got 3 wishes: citizenship for herself, a baby to anchor her to trump and his $, and einstein (as if!) citizenship for her parents. She has been getting and will continue to get nice fat paychecks for making minimally nice to the donald. No scorn is to be comin' from this ice queen.
10
Trump has a habit of not signing documents, as several recent episodes have shown. He thinks he only has to say,"Let it be written, let it be done."
4
The McDougal matter is far worse than hurricane Stormy . A gossip sheet which deals in the purchase and sale of salacious scandal buried a Trumpian tryst to protect his campaign. In other words, our President is owned by the National Enquirer. That publication supported his campaign with fake news and malicious attacks on his opponents. Trump not only owes them a debt of gratitude, but may be asked to return the favor by favoring other secret patrons of the rag and it's owners. It would also appear that the payment is a campaign law violation.
And, what other indiscretions, sexual or financial, have been bought and buried?
If we had a concerned Congress, Hushmoneygate would be investigated and impeachment not far behind. Trump is a walking, unknown risk to national security.
17
All confidentiality agreements must include a clause that allows the muzzled person to disclose if ordered to by a court of law. The main issue to be decided in the campaign financing case is whether the $130,000 payment was an "in-kind" donation to the campaign. The FEC regulation is easy to find with a Google search. "In-kind" contributions are aimed at anything other than writing a check, or donating money. If I like a candidate, and own a convention hall, and let the candidate that he can use it for free to have a rally, I am required to inform the candidate and provide the candidate with a receipt for what it would have cost. If I were to go out an buy drinks and food for the rally, I would need to inform the candidate of these purchases and provide receipts. The candidate is then required to report these contributions. If we did not have "in-kind" reporting all kinds of shenanigans would transpire involving straw-men/woman to hide who is contributing and how much. Mr. Cohen and Ms. Clifford WILL testify about why this $130,000 agreement was consummated. The story will come out. We can surmise the answer-Mr. Trump was going into an election and having an affair with a porn star during/soon after his wife's pregnancy is not likely to add glimmer to his character reference. The $130,000 was paid to directly benefit the campaign as much a donation of a convention hall and catering. The $130,000 was not reported. That is a campaign financing violation.
13
There is no doubt that Trump, as has been his custom, also had an affair with Ms. Daniels. The question now is whether his attorney can extricate himself from the box he placed around himself. Notwithstanding Cohen's puffed up attitude about his actions, he stepped on it this time. Big bucks for mediocre results. Here's wishing Ms. Daniels every success in revealing Trump for what he is: an errant husband without any compunction for his wife.
10
This article misses a few salient facts, pointed out by Susan Simpson, a Washington DC attorney:
1. Cohen formed EC LLC on October 17 2016
2. The contract provided for EC LLC to pay Stormy $130K by October 27, 2016
3. Between October 17th and October 25th, the Trump campaign made payments to Trump Organization properties that totaled $129,999.72:
10/17 Payment to Trump National Golf Club, Washington DC for facility rental and catering services $8,544.00
10/17 payment to Trump International Hotel for facility rental and catering services $13,431.88
10/17 payment to Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (Travel/Lodging) $18,731.90
10/17 payment to Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (Lodging) $79,043.94
10/25 payment to Trump International (Lodging) $10,248.00
What a coincidence!
16
Only someone ignorant would make a payment of $129.999.72! Easily spotted.
3
The NDA precludes her from discussing Trump's alleged children or paternity information??? That sounds like an agreement that might take away rights of non-signing parties, including children not yet born. Such an agreement, I hope, would be seen as contravening public policy.
Kids have a right to know who their father is.
10
I already know more about this subject than i want to. But I understand the legal and cosmic implications of the payoff. Why does everyone associated with Trump need an LLC and pseudonyms to make tracing the money so difficult?
Donald is hiding a lot that we need to find out. He should have thought of that before running for president.
13
What about David Dennison? Will the real David Dennison please stand up. Mr. Dennison, as we know, was (is?) a hedonist playboy with a big bankroll to engage in his narcissistic pursuits, and under varying identities--real estate mogul, casino operator (casinos spy on their employees and guests all the time, a perfect set up for someone harnessing voyeurism for their personal sexual pursuits), scripted reality tv personality, fake how to succeed author, and cronyizer with the rich and famous through his purchase of golf courses. Probably a lot of drugs involved here, too, i.e. with possibly now only half a brain remaining plus old age (dotard), and if speed--worse.
Mr. Dennison"s new identity appears to be Republican political campaigner. Given the timing this may have been ordered by a foreign power blackmailing him. The lawsuit by Ms Clifford definitely says he is susceptible to blackmail. Good thing we know about this now, lest this guy actually be elected to something, though Republicans probably don't know the difference between being bought off and blackmailed.
For his lawyer Cohen, maybe like Aaron-- at the foot of the mountain with the golden calf. And if the FBI knew about all this (the Russia stuff) all along, we can be thankful they "protected their sources" and spared us any incompetence of not warning us in a timely manner. Mr. Steele appears to be the real patriot here, and he's a British citizen.
Anyway, why vote; the polls say Dennison can't win.
5
Of all his crimes, it would be ironic if this becomes one of the fatal blows to the dotard-in-chief's presidency. As with Al Capone, it's not the crime but the cover-up... and there are oh-so-many cover-ups (since there are oh-so-many crimes and transgressions)!
I don't care if this is tawdry compared to his other crimes. If this gets him out of office, I wish Stormy Daniels much success.
11
And yet, Trump will just skate away from this mess too. Like he said, he could shoot a person in plain view, and the republican Congress, and his supporters, wouldn't care.
5
This is serious if it gets Trump out of office.
But in the meantime, Republican voters are more and more believing the last Republican tax plan is good.
They don't realize that the total debt today is $20 Trillion / 150 Million taxpayers = $133,000 per taxpayer.
With the Republican tax plan, the debt we can expect to have ten years from now is at least $30 Trillion / 150 Million taxpayers = $200,000 per taxpayer.
Over these ten years, someone earning $75,000 a year will get around $7,000 in tax reductions. At the same time their share of the increase to the national debt will be $67,000.
$67,000 for each taxpayer is our share to be put on our Federal debt credit card.
With all of the Trump chaos, voters aren't hearing this more important message.
Trump is a buffoon but also a conman and it works. Look over here at my left hand while the Republican right hand is picking our pockets.
7
I'm guessing this was a standard contract that Cohen was using for many such hush agreements with many women, that's why it was sloppy. Trump is used to being able to pay for silence and has gotten away with it for his whole career. Funny that such a woman has outsmarted him.
10
President Trump may or may not be able to silence Stormy Daniels based on the alleged confidentiality agreement, but even if he is successful with that effort, the story is not disappearing. The payment to Ms. Daniels is likely to have violated federal election campaign laws. And a confidentiality agreement, even if effective, is no defense if Mr. Mueller or the FEC decide they need to investigate the circumstances surrounding these events. Although the way in which the facts become known may not be clear now, it is hard to see how this attempted cover-up succeeds, proving once more the Washington truism that the cover-up is almost always worse than the crime.
6
Off to the side. Both Clifford and McDougal both say they are (or at least were) Republicans. Michelle gives some clue as to why when she calls Clifford a clever capitalist. But I really am interested to hear why in their own words.
1
If there is a 'love' child out there, somebody who looks like, I don't know, Don Jr. or Eric or Ivanka (well, who knows what she really looks like) or Tiffany or Barron....wow. Now that, I think, would be a scandal.
And, yes, Mr. Eisen, all that valuable material....it's worth a lot. That may be what brings more trouble upon his House of Cards.
3
Generally speaking, settlements should be illegal when the facts that are being settled are clearly breaking the law. As it is now, a lot of things that are settled are blatant wrongdoings and against public interest; they only encourage entities to cover what otherwise will land them in jail, and gives them an easy escape route. No wonder hush money is the tool of choice for the Trumps and Weinsteins of the world.
4
Trump’s future now involves defending breaking the law, not just his marital vows.
5
What is also lost here a little is that while this was going on Trump was threatening to "Get Nasty" with Hillary Clinton in the debate about Bill Clinton's infidelities.
The duplicity is breath taking. How a normal human could handle such contradictions is staggering and says a lot about the utter and pathological lack of conscience our president has.
11
Unless it can be shown that this payment of hush money violated the law, trump will not suffer any existential consequences over this. It's baked into the cake that he's anything but a role model. clinton survived lewinsky, and JFK's legend is no worse for wear despite his marital infidelity. The bar was lowered a while ago.
3
I don't care if they bust Trump on an Al Capone offence. I don't care if they bust him for jaywalking - just so long as they get him out of the oval office and away from the nuclear codes. As is, we're playing Russian Roulette with five bullets.
5
It's been apparent from the beginning that the person to watch in all of Trump's shenanigans--political, financial, sexual--is Michael Cohen. His role in the Trump Organization was the all-purpose Sancho Panza--waterboy, intermediary, front man with a checkbook in Trump's disputes, and a very big mouth when Trump adversaries or critics require a public or private tongue lashing to silence them.
There is a rule that investigators always follow--follow the money and you will know what actually happened. To know what Trump has actually done, you follow the money and follow what Michael Cohen is doing or has done on Trump's behalf.
4
So glad Michelle connected the dots and explained why the salacious story of Stormy Daniels and Trump's seemingly inept and/or lying lawyer is relevant to the Russia investigation and the running of our government (into the ground, in Trump's case).
Here is one of my takeaways and questions from this column. Is it true that the president doesn't go through a high-level security check to hold his job in the White House?
If Jared Kushner's wheeling and dealing prevented him from getting full security clearance to work as a top aide on the president's White House staff, what about all the financial entanglements, sexual exploits, and heaven know what other skeletons his father-in-law, President Trump, has in his dank and sleazy closet, which would make Trump vulnerable to blackmail and manipulation by big special interests and foreign governments?
What other president has ever put this country at so great a risk because of his questionable financial conflicts of interest (release Trump's tax returns), blackmailable sexual behavior, and complete lack of personal character, dignity, and respect for the law, our allies, humanity, and God's green earth?
We need to tighten the rules to be President of the United States—for hiring, for checks on the power of the presidency, and for firing.
7
The announcement of White House decision to meet with Kim Hong-Un certainly came along just at the right time, didn't it? How can Stormy Daniels or even the Mueller investigations compete with THAT one! Or so the Trumpet thinks.
5
I think Steve Bannon is right. it may very well be that women, and the "sex wars" in which Trump has been such a good soldier, take Trump down legally before Mueller even gets to him. And Ms. Goldberg is also right. It isn't Trump's sexual escapades that matter ; it's the payoffs - and the way Trump has exposed himself AND OUR COUNTRY to blackmail on a global scale.
324
It is always the cover-up. You'd think politicians would have learned something from the Nixon debacle and from WJC's stonewalling.
4
Ah, and I thought the left was focused on Mueller-dreams. Apparently, they've finally given up on those and are actively pursuing other pretexts for impeachment. Do you folks have any idea how closely you resemble House Republicans 20 years ago who went after Clinton?
4
Mr. Luettgen is at his Republican spin stuff again. Special Counsel Mueller has an abundance of riches, and Ms. Goldberg discusses just one minor brick in an unbeatable case. Time for your medicine, Mr. Luettgen.
24
This isn't a pretext, hypocrite, it's a legitimate campaign finance issue.
8
Yep. Worked that time.
Will work now.
3
How is it possible our nation's President's personal integrity has sunk so low that adulerous affairs with porn stars and illegal payoffs do not register outrage with our populace?
How is possible that the white evangelical GOP base is not outraged over this man's behavior? How can these Christians tolerate his words? his actions? his behaviors towards immigrants, women, disabled, the poor?
And yet, the candidacy of the most-qualified person to the POTUS office in decades was derailed by poor email security practices?
59
Worse, the W Bush White House deleted 22 Million e-mails on their private server gwb43.com and most people don't even knows about it.
http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/george-w-bush-white-house-lost-22-mil...
The Republicans are much better at marketing.
7
I answer to your question (rhetorical though it may be) regarding lack of outrage on the part of right wing evangelicals, DT is putting hard right Christians in powerful positions within federal agencies, like Health and Human Services. One such appointee doesn't believe in contraception, let alone a woman's right to have an abortion. Evangelicals love this.
5
Try looking on the bright side: Each new sex scandal dilutes the value of whatever Putin has on Trump and thus increases our national security.
23
I laughed out loud at this one. Thanks! A bright spot in the swamp.
2
Monica Lewinsky scandal pales in comparison.
49
Quaint, even.
5
I have to say if Mueller and Co. can't put this creep and his entire entourage in prison he needs to lose his law license.
33
And the Christianists give President Chaos yet another "mulligan." How many is that, now? 30? 50? 10,000? I thought there were only 18 holes in the game. But it's all ok because, Supreme Court! Religious liberty! Abortion! It's ends-justify-the-means Christianity, is that right?
Isn't there any threshold beyond which you have to start asking yourself who's using whom? When your "means" is someone so manifestly antithetical to everything you claim to believe in, maybe YOU are the means to an end that is as corrupt and hypocritical as he is. If there is an anti-Christ, you couldn't possibly ask for a closer fit than this guy, not least for how easily he has taken in the True Believers, eyes wide shut, without even bothering to hide what he manifestly is. "Father of lies"--does that ring a bell? Are you aware that "hypocrite" is by far the most frequent term of rebuke Jesus uses in the Gospels?
43
How low the dignity and prestige of our office of the Presidency has sunk!
Porn scandals. Bribery. Russian interference in our most important freedom - voting. Greed. Hubris. Downright ignorance and stupidity that are glorified as assets to be prized.
Yet, the Republicans do and say nothing! And the religious right suddenly doesn't care about morality and sinning anymore.
Yet the Republicans rant periodically about Bill Clinton - you have got to be kidding! There is no comparison in sexual misdeeds whatsoever. Hired prostitutes? Hush agreements about sexual movies and pictures involving the president? And hush agreements regarding children with the prostitute?
If this were a democratic president the hypocritical Republicans would have long ago convened House and Senate committees to investigate. As it is Republican Trump, they will say and do nothing to preserve their power.
The Republicans have forgotten about their oath to their country and shamelessly care only about preserving their power with one of their own in the White House. Shame on them!
I am not the only one watching in shock and humiilation as the Republicans under Trump destroy our country and its foundations, brick by brick.
Voting the Republicans out of office and impeaching Trump cannot come to soon to save our democracy.
69
Let’s begin with the premise that I detest Trump. Regardless, these women, who had sexual relations with him, have taken “ hush money”. They are no better than him. You have a sexual relationship with someone you shut up and move on. Trumps character is another ball of wax.
3
But "these women" are not President of the United States.
5
"The Stormy Daniels Scandal Gets Serious."
To whom? This ain't North Korea or the Middle East or will the Yankees consider going to a six-man rotation; this is National Enquirer fodder. A much as I loathe our Tangerine-in-Chief and believe women who've accused him of abuse, this appears to have been a consensual relationship and if Ms.Clifford got $130,000 out of it, good for her.
The rest is between the Dour Orange Giant and his wife...and please stop giving me a reason not to go to Page Six. I need to know what Kanye had for breakfast, which ranks pretty much on a scale with this tripe.
6
It is serious because it could be illegal and reason to impeach Trump.
5
To whom? To people who care whether the candidate who became president broke campaign contribution laws.
3
I doubt that whatever Putin has on Trump - and he certainly seems to have something - that it has anything to do with sex. Trump has absolutely no shame and his base simply does not care that he is a serial adulterer, groper, sexual predator, etc. Trump understands that now, even if he did not during the campaign. I'm convinced that Putin's "dirt" on Trump is criminal - something that cannot be simply ignored, or that would be irrelevant to his base.
22
Michael Cohen, the Fixer, the Bulldog, Trump's Consiglieri and all the other superlatives heaped on this sleazebag has turned out to be not so smart and in danger of disbarment. And Trump, of course, never was all that smart when it came to consorting with porn stars. How stupid can one be to deny even knowing a woman when still photographs have been published along with details of a "hush" agreement about "videos" and "paternity information?" How stupid can one be for a lawyer to claim that his client knew nothing about him paying the porn star $130,000 of his own money, then complaining that he was never reimbursed? And how stupid to do it a month before the presidential election, putting not only the lawyer but also the president in violation of FEC laws? Doh!
25
Enough of us (tho not a majority) willingly voted for this obvious trainwreck, and something like a third of us still support him.
So close to half of American voters didn't and don't don't care about infidelity, sexual harassment, lying, misrepresenting, perjuring, bankruptcy, default, punitive litigation, scurrilous personal enrichment of every form, vacuous policy... and, and, and?
As much as Trump mortifies me, I worry that somehow we deserve him.
12
This illustrates exactly how trump deals with truthfull allegations.
Trump will be aggressive and sue anybody at the drop of a hat for any perceived attack on him or his business. There are hundreds of examples.
This time, trump pays off a porn star so she will keep quiet - If the allegations are false, why not attack her and sue for defamation ? The reason is obvious.
What this tells us is that when trump knows he has done something wrong, he covers it up - When he thinks he can get away with it, he fights. This is important because trump has payed off many women - This tells us that these women must have something on him. Puntin also must have something on trump, because trump refuses to attack him as well.
13
I hope Melania Che is the prenup and gets a good lawyer. How does trump explain to his son that he was having an affair while his mother was pregnant?
4
The same way he explained to his first three children that he was having an affair while married to their mother. And itnis nome of our concern.
Trump: 'She's a great woman and told me she needed help to get counseling for sexual addictions. she confided that to me and the $$ was for one year's worth of therapy- and I was just a friend. She was looking for love in wrong places and I completely know all about that. Money well spent'.
"I only hope I have enough $$ left after lawyers and incidentals to pay my current wife, you know her name, what she will need to move on.'
3
"Constitution?" said the President. "I have the Constitution of a horse! The other Constitution? Fake news!"
15
LOL. Repeat. Then sneer. And don't stop.
In earlier era--you know, like from '08 to '16--the mere hint of a whiff of a possible transgression or faux pas from anyone in the Obama administration was grist for the 24/7 mill of (mostly) fake Republican Media Bureau a/k/a Fox News outrage that was squeezed for every decibel of static. Didn't like the beer summit, the inadvertent salute of a Marine with a coffee cup, presidential golf outings, a vegetable garden outside the White House, answers about the birth certificate...? Scream and rant up a scandal.
The president, or agents thereof, admits to forking over hush money to a porn princess, a Playboy plaything...? Verifiably half-truthing or lying daily about matters minor and major? Secret meetings, quid pro quos, deliberately or incompetently incomplete banking and security disclosures, mysterious trips to Russia....? The facts and semantics of 'collusion', 'conspiracy', 'nepotism.'? Yawn.
OK, Rs, the Ds are keeping note of silence kept, tongues held and passes taken. The howling quiet for Mr. Trump should be the benchmark when the near-future not-a-Republican occupies the Office. Any creature more advanced than a squirrel will expect the silence to be continued. On the other hand, this lack of umbrage is already costing Republicans votes. The hypocrisy is a stark x-ray of the innards and the 'soul' of the 'party.' We look to see how the evangelicals will twist the 10 Commandments, Matthew 7:12 (the Golden Rule) et al.
13
Now we know what Putin has on Trump.
3
“It all kind of fits together in a way,” Nick Akerman. NO, no, Nick. It doesn't fit together at all. And anybody that says it does is not doing news, but political propaganda. The basic fact here is that this is a porn actress trying to get money with sleaze bag, camera-chasing, money-grubbing attorney Michael Avenatti. Michael has never seen a camera he didn't want to kiss. Look at the desperation of the left-leaning press. Trying to tie the two things together. We've been hearing that Trump and his campaign colluded with the Russians. It's been a deafening chorus. With no shred of evidence to that effect. Lacking that, Trump's enemies roll out tabloid fodder like this.
1
I wish you Trump supporters and Russia lovers would understand a basic fact: Mueller is not going to show any evidence at this stage. He's still gathering it. Why would he show his cards before he has all of them? You don't need to be a lawyer to understand that. So stop with the "there's not a shred of evidence" stuff. The fact is, the investigation is coming up on a year old, and it appears that there is a mountain of evidence, and more coming all the time. I just don't get your protestations to the contrary. Wait, then watch. Watergate was child's play compared to this.
10
What would you be saying if all these things were about Hillary?
3
The president of the United States is being sued by a porn star and nobody seems worried about his marriage or political damage. Wow.
418
Marriage? Really?
8
His marriage is his own business.
4
I don't give a damn about his marriage. Political damage? I certainly hope so.
9
I am heartened by Michael Cohen's incompetence; it may well be just what's needed to demonstrate in an American setting what had so concerned Steele in the Russian one-- Trump's propensity to set himself up for blackmail.
What a pleasure to read Michelle Goldberg's gorgeous, insightful prose!
16
The real scandal lies in the complete and total hypocrisy of so-called Christian conservatives who are standing by this morally bankrupt man. The only parallel is the total surrender of Republicans who, when Barack Obama was President, claimed to be dead-set against deficits and in favor of free trade. How either group retains the tiniest shred of credibility with anyone is beyond me.
23
There is every reason under the sun why this news should be received with more than a yawn. Just as we should be outraged that Trump's supporters, most notably the Christian Right, "bless" him with the words, "We forgive."
From probable "cooperation" with Russia to personal debauchery in all things women, this country through a most amoral president along with his partners in crime, a drooling Cabinet and a worthless Republican Congress, is being led down the path of perdition.
Without me taking up more of our readers time, I believe that this pathetic and disgusting political paradigm we are now experiencing erodes the moral foundation that is basic to a thriving democracy. Without this moral compass, from individuals to global powers, we are swallowed up by the quick sand of our own making.
16
The reason we have Trump is because of letter writers like "drspock." Having sex with a porn star shortly after his son is born? No big deal. To me, the most disappointing aspect of Trump's presidency is that it has shown that so many Americans don't care about morality and veracity. They are just two values shoved to the back as long as they get their increase in paychecks which will probably be eaten up by increased healthcare premiums thanks to Trump ending mandatory enrollment and subsidies to insurance companies.
19
Sounds like another form of obstruction of justice to me.
It shows the pattern DJT has pursued all of his "adult" life and in that regard it isn't just "Stormy" for the cus it could well be his Waterloo.
It fits together so nicely with what DJT has shown is his "style" of "governing" if it can be so called. It's just another DEAL folks and that's what we will have been fed from start to a rapidly closing finish with the Donald scuttling away for ground cover after this all winds up.
The most humourous aspect is that even with all his money he couldn't get a lawyer to do it right. I wonder how this could have happened at all. Something isn't right here and it may lie in the concerns expressed in the contract about "sexual perversion" evidence and details concerning DJT's "alleged children" or "paternity information". There could be enough to this that it hamstrings our Prez with his future plans for a lifetime job like Xi.
Really, if I could think of any one thing that might totally nullify his prospects it is this remarkable and pathetic story of blackmail and hush money.
It is sleazy rotten and stinks so high the public and the media simply must drag it around until it is dismembered like that old putred chicken your dog wouldn't let go of.
12
sooo.. are we saying this is like Al Capone's tax evasion?
4
The knives of Robert Mueller have been drawn; They are being sharpened.
3
We need a more adulterous version of a nothing burger [nothing burger of course being code for something burger]. Stormy in a teacup?
Did the country (or the Electoral College) elect Anthony Weiner president?
6
Come on...DJT MUCH worse than Weiner.
4
“Any halfway competent lawyer could have drafted the contract so that he didn’t need to sign it,” Super said of Cohen and Trump. “But they didn’t do it that way.”
All while surrounded by the "best" and "brightest". Yikes!
6
Headline from the future: "Mueller seeks to talk to adult film actress, Stephanie Clifford."
3
Most of us have known from the campaign that Trump is an inconsiderate, unethical pig, so one more scandal changes nothing. However, I am really shocked by the hypocrisy of his base, especially the evangelists, which were up in arms and clamoring for blood when Clinton was... well, Clinton. The good thing is that from the moment Trump was elected, and after supporting the candidacy of pedophiles for high offices, they lost any possibility to claim the ethical high ground ever again.
13
Keith Olbermann nailed this aspect of Trump's demise months ago, before Stormy was a low pressure center. He stated that perhaps Trump's sexual misconduct was one of seven freight trains headed straight for Trump, and that it might be the one to do the job. I hear a train a'comin' around the bend.
9
One relevant question: Did the Russians , in their surveillance of Trump, know of the Stormy Daniels and other affairs?
If so, added to the allegations in the Steele dossier,, it's a recipe for blackmail and collusion....."covfefe"....etc. .
4
Look what happened to Clinton as the GOP impeached him over a tiny tempest in a tea pot. If any GOPer should claim that that incident wasn't small how could they claim that Trump is not worthy of that same impeachment and criminal prosecution.
Of course the Clinton incident and its aftermath was all political and Trump's liability is treated the same way only this time Trump is at least marginally a Republican.
The charges against Trump should be treated as criminal and above politics, but the GOP is likely to go on excusing Trump's disgusting and traitorous behavior as just part of his personality. Perhaps at some point the GOP will decide Pence should take over and pretend to do the right thing and impeach Trump.
But still, the stink of corruption from both Trump and the GOP will linger and seems to only become the normal. Will we always need to hold our noses? disgusting.
6
Clinton was not impeached over the tea pot. He was impeached for lying about the tea pot or at least equivocating about the tea. But djt lies constantly while the elected officials who should be shutting him down or even shutting him up, do nothing. That's our real problem.
If this Stormy affair blows up, his base will enjoy it as just another entertaining installment of our reality government and the rest of us - the majority - will be left sorting through the ruins looking for something that still resembles Democracy.
2
Melania must be so thrilled to find out that Stormy was not Trump's only affair.
Trump reportedly also cheated on Melania with Playmate, Karen McDougal (also "hushed)" during the same time period.
Hope Trump was getting frequent health checks from his doctor during this time.
6
I'm not so sure that he did get those check ups. Certain illnesses would explain a lot of things.
I know, guys. This is on the border line, but it is perhaps a realistic line of reasoning.
2
The saddest part of all this is that we 'expect so little' of the 'man' in the White House.
5
Great explanation about why the Stormy Daniels-Stephanie Clifford affair is not just about sex ten years ago. It's about potentially illicit campaign payments to cover it up and ongoing efforts to hush her up. And it may in itself be, like Harvey Weinstein, the opening of the floodgates of vast legal apparatus that involves dozens of women. Maybe, just maybe, the #MeToo movement will finally catch up with the predator in the Oval Office as the the new as in "follow the money" meets the old in "cherchez la femme."
13
Oddly— makes me wonder— how is Russia connected to Kim Jong Un’s overtures to Drumpf!?
The Russians stand to benefit if our Commander-n-Thief appears stronger in relationship to Korea.
Aren’t they the ones who could them continue their clandestine trade with NK?
Anyone with knowledge of this please feel free to weigh in.
3
The over-riding hypocrisy of the Republican Party, the American Evangelical Christian community, many in our media, and around 40 percent of our citizens is on display for all in the world to see. These groups do not care what Donald Trump has done or continues to do. He's their boy--he's white, he's rich and he's a thug riding rough shod over the American Presidency and showing us for what we really are to the rest of the world. He has put our greed and moral bankruptcy on display for all to see. I hope Stormy wins her lawsuit and puts all the ugly details out there for all of us to see up close. If we're going to wallow in Trump--let's really do it.
16
This issue, among many others, illustrates the biggest irony, which has been going on for a few decades now, that being that conservatives and Republicans (and now Trump supporters) have a very, very low bar for themselves and a very, very high bar for Democrats. It's like listening to a parent say to a child, "I don't expect much from him because he's stupid, ignorant, uncivilized, boorish, amoral, and lacks social skills. I expect much more from you, though, because you are smart, mature, have a good work ethic, civilized, and operate on a higher plane. So, I'm going to put him in charge."
And that is where we are at.
12
Best comment today. Thanks.
2
Is there no end to these scandals with this man? How much more is the Trump base prepared to accept in order to "poke a finger" in the eyes of the "elite"? More to the point, when do the sworn members of Congress find their backbone?
8
It's rarely the scandal that bites these people- it's the cover-up.
6
These guys never learn - it's always the cover up that gets ya.
5
To paraphrase countless car commercials, this is not your father's sex scandal. It's 2018. Nobody cares about anything except their paycheck and/or their stocks.
1
And Al Franken was forced to resign for a comedic act when he was employed as a comedian?? His first instinct to fight it out was a better one. The #MeToo movement has gone to extremes to remove basically decent men from mainstream society who have come straight out and apologized for what they thought (and were raised to believe) was "harmless" joking, yet allowed serial predators like Trump to go unscathed.
I am not defending frat-like male behavior, but I believe many of these men have re-examined themselves and their behavior and are determined to change, while the really bad apples have just dug in.
10
What will it take for Congress to challenge this entitled monster? And how much humiliation is Melania willing to take? Will Barron turn on his father in the same way Don Jr. did? This scandal isn’t going away anytime soon.
9
No two people deserve each other more than Trump and his ultra-sleazy lawyer, Michael Cohen. It would be the most beautiful thing imaginable if Trump is finally brought down by the combination of his despicable behavior and Cohen's arrogant legal incompetence.
16
Oh what a tangled web we weave.... Donald Trump, a disgusting, gutter dwelling man, who has hijacked the presidency and the nation's reputation, is beyond exhausting. Poor Robert Mueller now has even more to investigate, related to Ms. Daniels, hush money during the campaign, and all that might emerge from it, which is probably a lot.
But, as scandalous as Trump is, what shocks me more is the failure of Congress to take any action to rid us of this awful president. Pence is not a whole lot better, but at this point I will settle for what we can get.
5
Will a lawyer for Melania claim that these documented infidelities by DT violate their marital pre-nuputual agreement and hence allow Melania to sue for a large divorce settlement? Inquiring minds want to know...
19
I hope she takes him to the cleaners.
2
What has the Bar Association to say about Cohen's actions?
12
Absurd as the whole thing is, it would be perfect in its irony for Trump’s downfall to come not only from the Special Counsel but also from his dalliance with a porn star. Befits the image he has projected throughout his publicity seeking life.
Not so great for our national image and we are left to languish with the hope for a return to the days of competent leadership.
5
Either Trump signed the NDA or he didn't
1
And we don't know. See Paragraph 8.9 of the NDA (really).
What are these “laws” of which you speak. Republican Russian Reactionaries don’t need no stinkin laws. At least so far!
5
Let's enlist Stormy to tell her story during the 2018 campaign.
7
I'm wondering why we haven't heard any outrage from Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority "Leader" or Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House. In 2016, a month out from Election Day, Donald Trump himself, told the world via megaphone that he was, indeed, a man who would, with impunity, violate any woman he chose. The Republican leaders on The Hill, aforementioned, looked the other way. Indeed, 63-millions of Americans thought the idea of an admitted sexual predator in the Oval Office a real hoot.
The Stormy Daniels stuff isn't really surprising. The president has been known, for quite some time, as hostage to his libido. While he was (and still does) excoriating Hillary Clinton as "crooked Hillary," he was authorizing hush money to a common trollop. It's bad enough that he may have violated campaign finance laws.
Far worse, I say, is the absolute treachery that he knowingly, willingly perpetrated on his third wife. Not only was the child of their union still in diapers, the father is reported to have remarked, in an email no less, "I can't wait to see you again." How this (and mayhap other revelations) slimy man explains this to the mother of his child is his business. The atomic fallout is a presidency rife with domestic acid and blame. How this does not and cannot reflect upon matters of national security only the naïvely-inclined may take pains to explain.
This won't crater the Trump presidency but it forces 63-millions to look in the mirror. What they see is what Trump is.
9
"With any previous president the story would have been explosive, but with this one, it felt relatively minor."
Of course, if Hillary had been involved in something so sordid, the Republicans would skip impeachment altogether and have her blindfolded in front of a firing squad by now.
20
Or at least wearing a Scarlet "A".
6
But the scandal will lie less in the details of Trump’s degeneracy than in the steps he and his lawyers took to cover it up. “
Isn't that the same as it's not the crime but the cover-up.
We all knew about the defaults in Trump's character before 'they' elected him.
We have seen nothing yet.
Trump is the most unqualified person ever to occupy this office.
And no he didn't then nor now has the character for its representation.
It's like having a known murderer as a priest.
But this is what America wanted, at least the red states.
10
"A halfway competent lawyer...". The SCP never looks for competence, just someone willing to do whatever asked.
5
Why should Mr. Cohen pay the $130,000 to Ms. Clifford from his own accounts? It seems that the only real choices are:
1. He did so with his client's knowledge and expected to be paid/reimbursed.
2. To cover up for messing up the agreement in some way.
3. Ms. Clifford has something on him and the Trump affair is a cover story.
4. He is an upstanding member of the boy's club and wanted to gift Mr. Trump $130,000 so the affair didn't cost his friend any money.
What are the chances Trump has stiffed Cohen like he does all the other people who work for him?
9
This was serious from day one. If this had been anyone else, this would have ruined them and rightly so. Now we just take it for granted that things like regarding this President are just "par for the course". Pun intended. The silence from the right is deafening. In another Op Ed on these pages the description of conservatives included... "Conservatives and people of the right value these things as well but have several additional moral touchstones — loyalty, respect and sanctity. They value in-group solidarity, deference to authority, and the protection of purity in mind and body." Based on the reaction to this among the plethora of morally void acts of this President, it show that their "values" are disingenuous to say the least. I am disgusted more by the hypocrisy of his conservative leadership enablers and the day to day supporters of this President, than the man himself. Having been a New Yorker all my life, I know who this man is and have no reservations in regards to my opinion of him. He is a gangster wanna be and a 12 yo bully, who chews up and spits out anything decent if it is in his way. I have lost patience with his supporters and until they show themselves to hold anything close to a consistent value system, do not trust anything that they say or do. Call me part of the problem because I am "not willing to compromise", but I am done. Respect is earned and his enablers have a long way to go in m eyes, to earn it. Particularly the Christian right.
14
"The Times" needs to do a very good, very thorough Investigation and expose of the entire Trump Organization and its finances, financing, revenues, profits, expenditures, taxes, bankruptcies, defaults, etc. Where does all the money come from and where does it go?
This ought to be a big picture of "Watergate" dimension with charts, graphs, crack reporters, and the whole "All The President's Men" "and/or Women" approach. Perhaps this is, or should be the electoral vetting that neither Mr. Trump, nor Mrs. Clinton, nor Mr. Bill Clinton never received.
6
Why aren't Stormy Daniels and her lawyer guilty of extortion? How is an agreement to keep silent in exchange for money not blackmail?
I am no fan of Trump (though I care nothing at all about his sex life going back a decade), but I am confused about the legal status of this sizable payment.
Daniels was about to go public with her story. Cohen approached her and made a financial offer in exchange for her silence. No blackmail.
3
Trump can get by with the Stormy Daniels episode, because he’s currently REALLY popular with a certain crowd—I’m sure I don’t have to tell you exactly who they are. But eventually, every shiny object gets tarnished. The “new” wears off, and you wonder why you were so enchanted with it in the first place.
Will the Stormy Daniels episode be the thing that causes some of the Red State voters to reconsider their infatuation with Shiny Object Trump?
Maybe not, but we can be sure that there is more awfulness to come, in the Trump Cornucopia of Sleaze.
7
One lesson from the Nixon era is not the actual indiscretion, but the cover up that Idoes in the perpetrator.
We can only hope this adds another reason piled upon the many, many examples of illegal practices and the sleazy character of Trump which will ultimately undo him.l
9
While the daily drumbeat of Trump scandals continues to enthrall Times readers, perhaps a look towards 2020 and the incredibly thin Democrat bench should warrant some concern as well. Seriously, the Dems need a good candidate.
2
yet another in an endless number of lawsuits trump once again finds himself in. it still boggles the mind that the usa electorate voted for him, as he had no governing experience, and no redeeming personal values whatsoever prior to his decision to run for our highest political office. the odd upside of his being elected our president, it's the revealing of the transparent hypocrisy of the portion of the mega dollar donors and evangelical voters who espouse 'family values' when voting for one with such a complete lack of morals, ethics, and intellect as he.
8
Future elections should be interesting. The Greed Over People party has consistently denigrated and highlighted the short comings of Democratic candidates based on personal history and entanglements. Bill Clinton? Gary Hart? John Edwards?
Doing so in the future will further put a spotlight on their utmost hypocrisy. Democratic legislators have resigned over less than what Trump has proven to have done.
8
Can anyone shed light on "paternity information" ? Does one kid resemble the milkman? Why would the Very Stable Genius want Stormy to be quiet about his paternity or lack thereof?
11
I suspect that is just boilerplate language in an agreement like this.
1
Let's be clear. The affair is not 'alleged'. The affair was real. Otherwise it wouldn't cost 130K to be quiet about it.
14
Sarah Sanders unwittingly admitted as much yesterday by saying that the President won the case in arbitration. (He was not named in the case and the Arbitration was only a TRO.)
4
There is only one approach Trump can take to this mess to make this all go away.
He can give a statement announcing that he had an affair with this woman exactly as she alleges, and that he did in fact do the things the other 18 women have alleged, and that he paid for hush agreements for this one and all the others whom he will name, and that none of it matters because he is Trump and is free to do whatever he wants. He will then drop his claims against Stormy and release her from the agreement. He can add that Melania knew exactly what she was getting into when she married him, and that he has a nondisclosure / pre-nup agreement with her as well which financially restricts her from griping about his extramarital behavior and requires her to make an occasional appearance by his side. He can finish by saying that while it is true that he will greatly enrich himself, his family and his cronies while in office by flaunting all of the ethical rules, that that is but a small price to pay for making America great again, and that America is privileged to have him as president, and that henceforth he will not burden his administration by pretending to follow any rules.
This, of course, would require him to not be a coward.
9
Except the part where he admits to the whole "Russia thing" would likely result in prison time.
7
He and his cabinet will leave when the US Treasury is drained.
3
How on earth could the president, according to Sarah Huckabee, "win the temporary restraining order against Stormy Daniels in arbitration", when he - as Daniels' lawyers so correctly stated - was not even party to it after not having signed the original hush contract paid for through a LLC founded for that purpose alone?
Cohen said he "facilitated" that payment. That little word alone proves that not he but another person just laundered money through Cohen's suddenly formed LLC.
11
Sarah Huckabee: Memo to self. Don't be fooled into giving away the truth again.
9
That was an Oooops from someone who was not properly prepared to discuss the issue and who tried to wing it. Sadly, this happens all the time with this WH and Sanders and they frequently give Alternate Facts. Trump's form of gaslighting is to keep throwing so much slippery gunk out that things never get traction.
7
Frankly, I think that Trump could shoot a Republican member of congress and congress would still be silent...
All this pretending that a sex scandal involving payment of large sums of money, a non disclosure agreement, and the President of the United States is just a private matter is hooey. This is grotesque behavior by almost anybody's standards. Trump is supposed to represent the dignity of the highest office in the country and the most powerful office in the world. It's time we took back the Presidency and Make the Presidency Great Again....
12
This is really gettin' good. Very nice to a have a top flite member of the Adult Entertainment Industry Community involved at this level in this situation. This will hopefully breath some new life into the Industry.
Truth is always stranger than satire, parody or fiction.
With the recent return of Lisa Ann (out of retirement) to Adult as well we may have a very good convergence of stories and personalities here.
It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out in our society at this time of our 45th President.
2
You have to wonder if Trump's sudden, bizarre agreement to meet with Kim wasn't motivated by a bad week of news. In that sense, the Stormy story may be having a big impact on the trajectory of "serious" news.
48
None of this matters. It's yet another distraction. What matters is people voting the GOP out in November of this year and that man out of office in 2020. Vote. Get out the vote. Support candidates that are not going to be beholden to Big Oil, Big Pharma, and the NRA. Decisive voting will be better for our Republic than counting on Robert Muller.
61
Amen. Make sure your neighbors and friends vote.
7
Sorry but the tax cut scam will keep the republicans in control of congress and we will probably be stuck with President Bone Spurs until 2024. Do not overestimate the intelligence of the American public nor underestimate their stupidity.
1
Watching Trump is like watching nature films capturing the hidden behavior of a rare animal in the wild; totally unaware of the presence of human observers. Soon, the nature observers will have enough of the rare animal’s behavior on film, to unravel the secrets that helped the animal stay “rare.”
Trump did operate an almost invisible empire but his efforts to hide parts are actually exposing all of it. Making his taxes public may have revealed that his real wealth was overstated but experts could have warned him to put into blind trusts those items that are now troubling investigators.
Sexual dalliances that might have only caused trouble in his personal life are now spilling over into his presidential life with much greater consequences. Private-life secrets were minor compared to their revelations in presidential matters.
Clinton’s White-Water issues became the Lewinsky impeachment issue—a molehill that became a mountain. Marital infidelity is not a molehill in any household but relative to world stability, it is; however, wives are not really surprised by the things their husbands are capable of doing. What is surprising—to them—is how much they can tolerate.
It’s probably too late for Trump to “come clean”—eventually he’s going to get caught—but the consequences are going to be more devastating for the country than to Trump…
…but, Trump may not even care.
26
Trump lives only in the present, and he seems to think he can recast it to his own benefit. I want him to be held responsible at least once in his life.
7
Remember, Trump has literally said, "I'm the ONLY one that matters."
With his massive ego, there is no way Trump will take the fall alone. He will create a major catastrophe and take as many people with him as he can.
7
Going from outright denials of a Trump relationship with a porn star, to payoffs on Trump's behalf to silence her, isn't trivial. It sums up much of what is characteristic of this president. He will say anything, truthful or not, to manage the moment. Veracity holds no place in Trumpworld.
Predicating a defense of the Trump/Stormy payoff as a simple legal arrangement misses the point. This is particularly true for a president who has routinely abdicated his legal and contractual obligations when it suited him, and sued others simply to intimidate them by exceeding and outlasting their ability to pay lawyers as effortlessly as he can.
It appears that what we have here is a Trump payoff, or even bribe, calculated to buy Ms. Daniels' silence in the immediate run up to the presidential election. It should be lost on no one that people who have to buy the silence of others have something to hide, denials to the contrary notwithstanding.
570
"a president who has routinely abdicated his legal and contractual obligations when it suited him, and sued others simply to intimidate them by exceeding and outlasting their ability to pay lawyers as effortlessly as he can."
Also he doesn't always pay his lawyers.
I don't think Cohen was repaid the $130,000.
11
I cannot wait for screeching to begin when a Democrat gets into office and s/he does something far far worse than Trump, like not salute a soldier. We are in this mortifying situation thanks to the right wing media and the GOP. A sitting president who committed treason, surrounded by family members who committed treason and one of our two political parties has nothing to say. But they sure will in the future ... they will count on their base to remain ignorant, their winning strategy for the last 20 years.
60
You're right. The suit was ingenious. I'm not sure Clifford is using publicity strictly as a capitalist venture though. Cases like these go to die in arbitration. The deck is stacked against Clifford from the beginning. She could end up owing Trump far more than $130,000 if she loses big in arbitration. Publicity is something of a survival mechanism for her right now. If the public loses interest, she's likely to get swept under the rug.
That said, leave it to team Trump to botch the hush money payoff in the biggest way. I half-expect the failure to recuse Trump's signature was an intentional strategic move by Cohen. Something to keep Trump further away from the scandal. There's also an equal chance Cohen made a mistake while rushing through the legal process. You should note the timing of his LLC's creation. Either way, the effort obviously failed tremendously.
Meanwhile, we hear crickets from the G.O.P. moralists.
19
Our fake spiritualism begats the '...religious right was willing to give him a “mulligan,”... Sure they were. They are promoted, not so much by gun rights and restricting contraceptive rights, but by money. He's done well. He and the 'conservative' Republicans passed a tax law for the rich. Basically, game over. Done deal. Actually, Trump could go now and the crooked billionaires of America would thank him on his way out. No problem.
The fact that this guy cheated on his wives innumerable times, and has been much more into lucre than God makes no difference to the right. He's supported by evangelical leaders? Wow, what hypocrisy. The 'faithful' vote for the moneychanger/moneylaunderer. Surely that's a sin.
Seems like he's a traitor that doesn't care how or from where he gets his money; much like the leaders and wealthy supporters of the Republican Party. Money is the madness and fever; nothing else comes close.
Trump going to a prayer breakfast is true 'fake' religiosity. The billionaires that bankroll the right want no more government; they have theirs, so let the commoners fight in the ghettos. This is certainly not the 'give your second shirt' people. They're capitalists on steroids with lobbyists, politicians & judges as henchmen. Oh, and the 'conservatives' voting for what they'e told, by the rich or the Russians or whoever inflames their passions the greatest.
The 'dream' is dying because of the right-wing, not the left. Greed is killing equality, humanity & love.
48
@ttrumbo Fayetteville, Ark.
In the evangelical world All sins are obviously forgivable.
Accountability not required. Hypocrisy okay too.
5
Excellent analysis of the "American" religion of money. It is the Calvinists who twist Jesus' postulations of love and care for all into the most blessed are the rich, they are rich, so they must be the most blessed.
us army 1969-1971/california jd
They say that where there is smoke there is fire. Trump's sexual habits seem to have created a smoke cloud the size of Montana.
24
It would be poetic justice if the campaign hush money and affair brought Trump down. His bragging about sexual assault and infidelity did not. The 19 women who accused him of sexual assault never received justice, only threats. The Russian dossier mentioned perverted activities that are consistent with Trump's simultaneous extramarital affairs with the porn star, the Playboy model and others--all while Trump's current wife was taking care of their newborn son. This may not have bothered evangelicals but I wonder about Hope Hicks.
Trump's slimy habit of paying off women, obtaining NDAs, threatening them with expensive lawsuits should be called out.
Half of the citizens in this country are women. Trump's ugly treatment of women is already on the record, but when it intersects with criminal campaign payments and Russian blackmail, it is a matter of law and treason. Trump's tax records may show a series of payments with thinly disguised rationales.
No, Trump, they don't let you do whatever you want because you're rich and famous. No man is above the law.
44
"No man is above the law."
Unless they have $millions to pay-off the law.
5
We shall see.
3
But Trump said... "I'm the only one that matters!"
6
All of this scandal will make no difference because the members of Congress will do absolutely nothing to this president. He has free reign to do whatever he wants. Congress has abdicated its duty. The swamp is still full of the venal.
735
"the members of Congress will do absolutely nothing to this president"
Let's be clear the zombie republican majority will do absolutely nothing.
18
Make sure everyone you know votes this November, even if it's a slam dunk for your candidate!
15
@captain bob:
It's true that THIS congress will do nothing to censure or impeach this sleazy madman, but the NEXT congress could. If we vote in Democrat majorities in the house and senate, Trump is toast.
Organize, donate, VOTE!
20
The religious right is happy to give Trump a "mulligan" saying "we are all sinners".
Where was the "mulligan" for Bill Clinton? Or Gary Hart? Or Al Franken? But there is another "mulligan" for Roy Moore.
Ironically, as I understand it, forgiveness is based on the miscreant admitting his/her "sins", apologizing for them, and pledging to do better. But Trump NEVER admits guilt, NEVER apologizes, NEVER changes.
So what it all means is that the Christian Right is filled and led by pure totally opportunist hypocrites, with "situational ethics" (and the worst possible interpretation of that phrase).
It is long past time for Congress to begin Impeachment hearings, because no President in our history has ever been so corrupt, so criminal, so perverted, and so much a violator of every aspect of his oath to protect and defend the Constitution.
Trump's best quality for keeping America safe is his incompetence and inability to actually implement the one-man rule dictatorship he clearly craves.
37
If the worst that can happen to Daniels is that she would get sued for a few million, then she should just go ahead and release the story because I do not have any doubt that a "GoFundMe" campaign would more than compensate her. Please tell all!
46
Any "go fund me" page would be taxable to her.
And then there's the problem of her NDA and the requirement thereunder to resolve all disputes of the terms of the NDA in arbitration.
This could end up for "Stormy" as a category 5 hurricane for a goodly period of time in her financial future.
These bottom feeders in Trump’s swamp are dragging America deeper and deeper into this mire.
Even if Trump’s political policies keep getting worse, so does his personal
degeneration.
When, if ever, Donald Trump is gone from the White House , I fear America will spend years trying to repair his damages to our very way of life and our place in the world.
22
“Any competent lawyer.” The best people.
19
The issue in the Stormy Daniels affair is whether the $130,000 in hush money constitutes an illegal campaign contribution. If the Federal Election Commission determines it does, the Trump campaign and Michael Cohen might have to pay a civil penalty. Last week, the FEC fined the Bernie Sanders campaign $14,500 for accepting 2016 campaign donations from the Australian Labor Party, a violation of the Federal Election Act, which “prohibits any foreign national from making ‘a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value’ in connection with a federal, state or local election.” The Sanders campaign also paid the $14,500 fine the FEC levied against the labor union. (The Sanders campaign is so far the only presidential candidate proven guilty of illegal collusion with foreign nationals to influence the 2016 election.)
As far as scandal is concerned, the Stormy Daniels affair seems tame compared to the rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations lodged against Bill Clinton, or the sexual trysts Clinton engaged in with Monica Lewinsky inside the White House. Clinton also pay Paula Jones $850,000 in an out-of-court settlement to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit. The Stormy Daniels does provide another reason for voting against Trump if he runs for reelection.
Although you may think the Stormy Daniels affair seems "tame", you have forgotten the 19 other women. Why is that?
13
I really wish everyone would stop making Bill Clinton to be some kind of Ted Bundy. He was an adulterous dog, yes, but he was NOT a rapist. And I think it's a little late to yet again draw an equivalence with Ms. Lewinsky. I'm just really tired of it. Trump is the devil incarnate next to Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton is not evil. Donald Trump is. It's not even close.
5
Oh, but the campaign contribution question is just one of the issues in the Stormy Daniels affair. As you would know if you'd read the piece.
3
I suppose if I, or any other "average Joe", did this kind of activity we'd be called a common bum, unworthy of the least respect. But what if the Trump accomplishes a real kind of compromise with North Korea regarding their nuclear weaponization? Will he get another "mulligan"? I can hardly wait for Ms. Goldberg's detailed article on his impeachment and finding of guilty for the charge of obstruction of justice. I think this is way beyond any judge finding otherwise on the basis of "public policy".
4
Well, apparently whatever relationship occurred between Daniels and Trump was between consenting adults. In my opinion, it should still be scandalous, but we have been told by liberals for decades that such relationships are none of our business, even when they involve the most extreme power differential of an intern and the President of the United States. Yet, Ms. Goldberg insists at straining at gnats involving campaign contributions and alleged susceptibility to blackmail in order write at length about this consenting affair. By Ms. Goldberg's logic, Bill Clinton was far more susceptible to blackmail than Trump, and Clinton's rape of Juanita Broaddrick was the antithesis of consensual. The next thing you know we will be hearing that Trump had sex with an intern in the Oval Office, secured her a government job, lied about it under oath, and then used the full force of the Administration to smear her, in order to undermine her testimony in court. Boy that would certainly suggest susceptibility to blackmail and serious ethical problems. Now that would be really scandalous, but if your willing to excuse something like that, it requires truly supreme hypocrisy to now fret about Trump's sexual immorality and his attempts to keep it under wraps.
2
I agree that the scandal with Daniels is not a big deal. The Mueller investigation will drop the bomb on trump that many of us are confident about. Namely, that trump’s nefarious business dealings, involving Russia, led to him and his campaign colluding with Russia, to swing the election his way. Why? Russia wants sanctions lifted and it is a quid pro quo arrangement. Then, throw in obstruction of justice, RICO and conspiracy and this man is done.
7
In yet another instance of life imitating art, we seem to be watching a reality TV version of The Marriage of Figaro, at the point where the Count has failed to remove a witness to his infidelity due to his having failed to sign Cherubino's papers sending him off to the Guards.
Apparently the droit du seigneur has been reborn as "when you're a star they let you do it".
Of course, the resemblance seems very unlikely to continue, as Beaumarchais' play and Mozart's opera both end with the Count humbly and publicly apologizing to the Countess. It is very hard to imagine the circumstances under which Melania would hear the heartfelt words "Forgive me" from her spouse. Of course, you never know - the Count wasn't too inclined to remorse either, until he was publicly exposed beyond any hope of evasion.
The plot of whatever we are watching now probably won't be that satisfying, though, however it turns out.
9
Despite the serious national security issues and the ruin to our country caused by this one-man wrecking ball, I am laughing. Mr. Big Shot can't even hire competent attorneys, but then who would want to work for him, regardless of pay, except someone as sleazy and as incompetent as he is. All of them: Kushner and his creepy family, as low-life as the trumps, the lawyers, and remember trump's doctor during the campaign? No one has ever spoken the truth! No one. Including Kelly. And Sanders doesn't know how to even spell the word. Lock them all up!
30
Oh, the shame of this man being our "so-called" president. He has nothing but contempt for our laws, our institutions and the majority of our people. He said, he had "the greatest respect for women", but his actions show he just uses them like possessions for his pleasure with his power, that has been unleashed against the world for his selfish agenda. We are so disgusted by his antics and lies that we can't wait till he is held accountable for his actions. Justice will be served. The day of reckoning will come. Truth will be brought to light and their will be no way for him to deny it.
20
From what I’ve seen and heard of Ms. Daniels she’s more than a match for Donald Trump and seems endearingly unawed by the fact that he’s now President.
When Trump told Ms. Daniels during one of their Florida trysts about his fear of sharks and that he wished “all sharks would die,” he couldn’t have been more prescient. From Mueller to Ms. Daniels there are currently a lot of “sharks” circling this presidency who smell not just blood in the water, but in the case of Ms. Daniels - a shed load of cash.
25
Where is dad's defender Ivanka who recently declared she believes him?
23
You may have missed the part of her interview when she said, "I know my father." THAT explains her silence.
7
Sorry, I guess that sarcasm is not my strength.
And yet the Religious Right will look the other way--the same ones who thought the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal was the end of civilization. And the same ones who voted for this man because of the abortion issue would deny that 45 probably paid off several women for abortions.
25
This disaster of a president is like a Bizarro world superhero.
Remember when it was a stain on a blue dress? Trump has managed to stain the entire country.
I wake up each morning looking for news that offers some small hope that this will soon be over.
26
The Stormy Daniels affair sheds light on just how compromised the president is about his past. If Ms. Daniels has the goods on the 45th, there’s no telling just what Russian agents have on him that could blackmail him and destroy his presidency, to say nothing of the embarrassment and harm done to the country. Ordinarily, this news wouldn’t even be on the tabloid pages but this man is the president, even if doesn’t act like one. The failure to disclose the $130 thousand payment may also tie into the president’s tax issues, which could further muddy the already murky area of his taxes and deductions.
The president has played by his own rules all his adult life without ever being held accountable for his actions. However, as president, his words and deeds, past and president, are magnified a thousand fold. He simply cannot buy off an embarrassing or compromising incident because he is no longer a private citizen. He defied campaign rules by failing to disclose donations and refusing to make public his tax information like his predecessors have done.
And why would this president, as a candidate 2016, be taking care of “a hundred women” while assuring the American people that he was better suited to be their president than his opponent? Will the Republican Party and the Christian evangelicals continue to give this man a “mulligan”?
29
This is still a footnote in the grand retinue of things that Trump is doing wrong and has done wrong and will do wrong.
11
A small thing may become the straw that breaks the camel's back and brings him down.
How enthusiastic will former Trump voters be next Election Day? Passion will be high among Democrats, nil among Republicans.
8
Doesn't Trump make anyone who works for one of his companies sign an NDA and confidentiality agreement? And didn't he try to do the same for those who work on his staff in the White House, even hough they are actually federal employees?
Maybe he even makes his "friends" sign one.
It's almost as if anyone who he interacts with in his life is not allowed to disclose anything about him, their interactions or their observations about him. Whats up with that???
12
The populace in general barely cares. Congressional GOP certainly doen't care and their Dem counterparts? Everyone here knows they are (in)famous for batting their eyes and wanly smiling whenever real action is required.
4
I bet "the populace in general" is clicking on Stormy Daniels stories more than any others. Those who get their news only from Fox constitute a small percentage of Americans.
8
Didn’t really explain the Al Capone reference. But, the Law enforcement and FBI agents were having a hard time making anything stick on Capone, an over the top criminal which everyone knew he was. Hence, the similarities here. So they realized they could get Al on Tax Evasion. Capone died in jail. He wasn’t in for the countless murders. No. He was convicted of tax evasion. OJ went to jail , not for his obvious murder spree , but for petty robbery.
17
Cohen claimed that the payment was a private transaction that he was able to “facilitate” with his own personal funds. (It was made through a limited liability company Cohen created called Essential Consultants.) “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,” Cohen said in a statement to The Times.
Obviously, Cohen did this out of the kindness of his heart. I should give him my bank account information in case he wants to be just as kind to me.
12
There is no claim that Mr. Cohen was the source of the payment merely that the source was neither the Trump Organization or Trump campaign. That does not exclude any other source including trump himself or his enablers.
3
Cohen has been busy complaining that Trump has not repaid him. THAT is helping the scandal unwind.
7
How come every time you see a picture of somebody standing inside Trump Tower, it's always accompanied by news that's never good for USA - cover ups, resignations, scandals, firings, convictions and so on?
15
Seems likely there are more details, no doubt salacious, that Trump/cohen did not want — and still do not want — to become public.
This affair occurred in the months after Melania gave birth, and news of it has been around for years. What was the $130k really intended to squash...at least three people know. Did it involve affairs while she was pregnant? Speculation, of course, but there’s more here clearly.
10
There's something off when so much digital ink is devoted to such insignificant stories. The salacious stories about Trump are just not that important.
If this were the National Inquirer it would be the bread and butter of the publication. But it's not. The New York Times prides itself on being a pillar of national and international journalism and a bedrock supporter of America economic and political elite. (that's a story in and of itself)
Yet, "Trump's women" has become an endless theme, more so than for example Democratic support of bank deregulations, which will make it harder to uncover the rampant racial discrimination in lending that is currently going on. Or that the Flint water crisis which is just the tip of our crumbling water system iceberg.
And at some point one has to ask are Trump's efforts to hide his womanizing really more than what Bill Clinton did? Maybe different in form, but not in purpose.
At the end of the day is all this so that "we might learn interesting information about the president."
I'm looking for that article about how by senators voted on this bank bill, but it looks like they got scooped by Stormy Daniels.
76
A.). You don’t need an article about how senators voted on a bill. Look up the information.
B.) This story is about payment of hush money in the closing weeks of a presidential campaign. It would have been irresponsible of the Times not to have covered it. (For an example of that approach, check out Fox News.)
113
Your trump is the current President, not Bill Clinton. Clintons have been investigated ad infinitum so we know their stories well. Your trump is the current President involved in scandal after scandal and for the sake and security of our country we need to know about all of his blackmail-inviting performances.
106
I think the point is that every other person (man) who has accounted himself the way trump has acted is gone (G-O-N-E). Bill Clinton was Impeached for less. It is based on a moral standard that the "christian right" established and the Republicans embraced as something designated "Family Values". Based on that standard trump should be out. Then, there are people like you.
100
Get back to us after Trump both shoots someone on Fifth Avenue AND loses supporters. Moral depravity, dismantling the Western Democracy alliance, combining with Russia to destroy or election system, nothing turns his supporters away.
This will not bring him down.
11
Why didn't he just say they talked locker room talk. Cheaper than $130K, and apparently a lot of American will buy it...same ones, in fact, that were this Obama or Bill Clinton, or the like of Hillary Clinton, would have demanded impeachment along with a whole lot of sermons about Christian, moral ,and family values and that "character counts!" Good thing for Republicans, I guess, that they have decided that character doesn't count; tax cuts for bazillionaires do.
21
For our evangelical friends out there, do you really think that Trump could lead a life of serial affairs without paying for a few abortions along the way? Willing to give him a mulligan on that one as well?
88
Victor James. I'm pretty sure they would.
7
"Any halfway competent lawyer could have drafted the contract so that he didn't need to sign it," Super said of Cohen and Trump. "But they didn't do it that way."
Notice the trend in Trump's hiring? Whether it's his own lawyer or the staff around him, Trump tends to hire people who don't know what they're doing. That's another big scandal right there.
34
It appears that the nation's lawyers learned quickly that Trump refuses to pay his bills. It is a pity that thousands of tradesmen had to get stiffed and some still today are willing to work for him---knowing their chances of going into bankruptcy are better than 50/50 because he will not pay his bills.
10
@Pat: Trump also stiffed a number of banks. So reputable ones refuse to deal with him. Only disreputable ones will, some of which are Russian and in cahoots with organized crime. Hello, Robert Mueller.
12
I find it curious that Cohen obtained a secret temporary restraining order from the arbitrator.
How can anyone be expected to obey a restraining order if it's secret? Why does only one party of the NDA appear in front of the arbitrator?
When did America begin having arbitration hearings not unlike a modern Star Chamber? This is extremely disturbing.
722
Arbitration is exceedingly common (in my view, unfortunately). Now, as someone who has been involved in several private arbitrations, it's hard to imagine any arbitrator's order being valid if one of the parties was not given notice of a proceeding.
17
Because legally it is a valid and binding order.
That was the contract that "Stormy" signed to get her $130K.
It seems to me that "Stormy" has plowed her way through the money and is not seeking another source of income from someone who is interested in her silence.
Her actions are getting perilously close to blackmail.
1
TRO's usually are ex parte, meaning the other party(ies) do not get advance notice. This is due to the allegedly immediate need for judicial redress, but it is temporary. The injunction process requires notice to all parties and is the next step in the process towards permanent resolution.
3
I also observe that we have lowered our national morals to such depths that no one is even discussing the disbarment of Michael Cohen for violating the ABA Rules of Professional Conduct by funding a settlement for a client.
39
Michelle Goldberg refers to an article in POLITICO in which Tony Perkins a leading evangelical presents the mainstream evangelical view about Trump.
Probably a view held by many members of other Christian faiths.
I cannot but be reminded of the use of indulgences in late late medieval times in the Church. One should remember that nearly all the money raised by selling indulgences was used to further the aims of the Church (like building cathedrals).
Ironically as regards the evangelicals who are branch of protestanism, the protestant reformation was largely a reaction the this use of indulgences. It seems they have forgotten their history.
In this case the GOP has granted Trump a massive Indulgence never before seen in the Christian world.
Who said history never repeats itself?
31
Trump's supporters and the Republican congress don't care, and it's conceivable the Supreme Court doesn't care that the president has been subject to blackmail. We are at a point in history where we will have to decide whether or not government, "of, by, and for the people," can survive. Unless the people install new congresspersons, new senators, and new governors in our red states, we are looking at an oligarchy closer in resemblance to today's Russia than to yesterday's American Republic.
42
Take money out of politics by mandating exclusive public funding for Congressional and Presidential elections the Republic we save might be our own.
13
There seems to be one huge unanswered question in all of this latest tawdry episode. What was the money for? Are we left to draw our own conclusion that it was for services rendered or goods received? If so, then those need definition. If it was merely a donation...for what cause?
If everything friend Stormy wants to say is a lie, then why pay out money in the first place? Taking that a step further, why go into arbitration?
This looks like just another example of Trump's previous practice of just using his lawyers and a check to make a problem go away. Thankfully, he can't deploy the same strategy with Mueller.
534
Yep, it always comes down to "Follow the money".
8
It seems that the strategy won't work with Stormy as well. She seems to have thought this out pretty well and she stands to make a big pile of money once the NDA is thrown out of court. There may be pics and video for her to sell. Think Fox News will pay to get them and quash them?
6
I think she had proof of the affair. It might have been texts or messages. Or some pictures of something. Remember how she was required to hand over all types of things in the agreement.
Hopefully she kept copies and is about to expose Trump. This is not a minor story or uninteresting as some commenters said. It shows the character of Trump in how he treated his latest wife. It shows his willingness to payoff a blackmailer kind of situation. It might be campaign cash that was used. Trump might have used his own money but did not report it to IRS (again his tax returns would show so much).
Will that Congress, I should say the Republicans, would honor the office of the President and rid us of this monstrosity.
8
Ultimately, the details of Trump’s relationship with Daniels will likely come out. David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told me he was surprised by how legally strong Daniels’s lawsuit seems, due to the way the original NDA was written. “Any halfway competent lawyer could have drafted the contract so that he didn’t need to sign it,” Super said of Cohen and Trump. “But they didn’t do it that way.”
We may get a Tweet from the Donald about this. He does not like it when his minions don't do their jobs properly.
25
Reeling from the Access Hollywood tape, Donald Trump had his lawyer pay hush money to a former paramour on the eve of the Presidential election so as not to alienate voters as the same time Mr. Trump, Ms. Trump, and everyone around him claimed that his comments on the tape were isolated and not an accurate reflection of his character.
In other words, Donald Trump and everyone around him lied to the American people and paid money to hide that lie.
Now, that may not be any crime, but if Donald Trump and everyone around him were willing to engage in that level of deception, what other things have they or will they be willing to do to get or maintain power?
More importantly, what other persons have damaging information on Donald Trump that exposes him to an unacceptable risk of blackmail?
This is much more than a story piquing our prurient interests.
It is a story about whether this man and his minions effectively stole a Presidential election and whether he is so compromised by his past that he is unfit to serve.
57
What a despicable man this Trump character is and was. But what does that say about all of the people who voted for this evil person. And worse this Republican Party and almost ALL of it's politicians and fellow republicans and so called Christians who continue to support him. From the heart of a Christian who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ, may God help us ALL !
7
There are video tapes, still images, audio recordings: documentation that cannot be refuted with a simple statement that "it did not happen" or "fake news". Ask Rob Porter how that ended up. trumps prenuptial agreement with Melania is already void because of what has come out in the press. Now it is just a matter of how much trump will have to pay her. That is the story because trump could care less how he is otherwise perceived, even by the "christian" right. It is all about money.
33
Stormy is the most creative of all former Trump affiliates and associates because she can do more films, sell her own name branded sex toys, live pole dancing, and late night infomercials for adult entertainment which makes her much more available for commercial success than other former Trump associates who are confined to politics.
10
Questions of paternity provide yet another reason as to why we need to see The Donald's tax returns. How many dependents has he been claiming?
226
For his 2107 returns, 63,000,000 dependents...
3
The National Enquirer Presidency and his fawning Fake News-Fake Religion voter base remain on full feculent display as they drag America down into their ditch of intellectual and moral depravity.
Any sentient being in 2016 could see that Donald Trump, a scofflaw businessman, accomplished pervert and bottom-shelf yellow journalism Svengali, was as worthy of a Presidential vote as Bernie Madoff in a clown suit, but tens of millions of desperadoes, Know Nothings, whited sepulchers, Reality TV and Fake News suckers stepped right up to swallow Trump's Snake Oil political guarantees to Make America Great Again.
What has followed, predictably, is the slow-motion rotting of American government and the American mind as the effects of Trump's tawdry, trashy toxin decompose the Oval Office, cripple Congress into a Russian co-conspirator, turn the daily news feed into a Presidential sewage report, and transmogrify American politics into a Worldwide Wrestling Federation spectacle of earnest stupidity as tens of millions of religious, rural, regressive Americans cheer on Donald the Me$$iah for the WWF championship.
Let's hope that the hideous national stain of this disgusting Carnival-Barker-In-Chief and the political wrestling fans who supported this deplorable dreg of society will come to their limited senses as Robert Mueller, the court system, the The Fourth Estate and the women this man has groped shine a bright light on Trump treason and his neurotoxification of the American mind.
610
Socrates, thank you for my new favorite word - "feculent". I love it, it is so fitting for these times we live in.
38
One of your best, Socrates. Well done.
21
Socrates, I never fail to read your wisdom. Predictably and accurately you lay the blame right at the feet of all those who voted for this abomination of a president. But I have little hope that our hard and thick-headed citizens will come to their limited senses. They are too easily manipulated by Fox News and the economy is too strong and stable at this point in history. My hope is one that shouldn't be too hard to imagine and might actually be Trump's undoing. It's that Mrs. Trump files for divorce and tells all. That might hoist the rascal on his own petard. And it would be an avalanche that even Fox couldn't explain away as a little snowball rolling down hill.
22
Why would Cohen pay Daniels $130,000 if Trump was not involved? Why use aliases in the agreement? I believe the right to enforce the agreement is by Trump, not Cohen as Cohen may have not standing to sue for the violation or breach of the agreement that right belong to the alias in the agreement.
Cohen may also have a conflict of interest as he was a party to the signing and had to agree to the use of the aliases names as parties. Cohen obtained an ex-parte order without notice to the other side that is also appealable to a higher court or he could request re argument before the same judge. In essence this is not going away as the legal issue are complex. All this places Trump in a very difficult legal position.
96
What have we come to ? as an electorate. Do we care nothing for character? How about the Christian Right, do they want to give another Mulligan? What about the other single issue voters, such as some Catholics?
204
I don't particularly care who puts what where. That is between Stormy, Donald and Melania. None of my business.
However ... Republicans who continue to support the Comrade in the Oval have lost the ability to ever again credibly complain about morality. Their lust for power is a sin against the teachings of their mythology. They have surrendered their soul for authority. They don't get to complain about unwanted pregnancies being terminated from a place of supposed moral authority.
They have demonstrated they have no morals.
11
Trump cheats at golf; he'll take all the mulligans available.
5
Get Michael Cohen under oath and ask him the following?
Why did you pay Ms. Clifford $130,000? What did you expect to get in return?
You maintain that neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign reimbursed you for the payment, or was party to the NDA. Did Donald Trump himself reimburse you, and was he a party to the agreement?
Did you make any payments to other women in return for their signing an NDA? If so, did you do so on behalf of Donald Trump? And when did you do so?
151
Cohen could simply invoke Amendment Five of the Constitution.
2
@jbartelloni: He can't take the Fifth in a civil suit.
4
Trump has received the backing of most evangelicals in spite of the fact that he makes Bill Clinton look like Mahatma Gandhi. Trump has received the backing of most Republican Congresspeople in spite of the fact that he makes James Buchanan look like Abraham Lincoln. These blocs are hypocrites of the highest order choosing to turn a blind eye for the sake of promoting their agendas. Eventually they will abandon Trump but only when he's outlived his usefulness. Sic semper tyrannis.
Trump's crooked fixer, Michael Cohen, is doing his best but this genii is out of the bottle. I'm looking forward to the Stormy Daniels Show and, in particular, the squirming of Republicans and evangelicals as they label it "fake news" or a "liberal plot." If Obama had behaved the way Trump has, these phonies would be thumping their bibles and screaming "Lock him up." If anyone deserves to be behind bars, it's Trump.
839
Avatar, today's evangelism is an excuse for white patriarchy, bigotry, and racism. That's why trump gets the "mulligan."
10
Come on, where any of us ever fool,ed by the gop support group. Every claim, be it of religious principle, economic tightwadness, or patriotism is only a meme to influence voters. These are people with only one aim: acquire as much wealth and power as possible. If anyone has ANY evidence to the contrary, please share it (trolls: make sure your translation from Russian is accurate).
4
Just another interesting chapter in the life of Trump. I am more inclined to have Stormy disclose conversations about the Trump campaign and his bid for the Presidency. If there were any conversations. Or if she knows about meetings and collusions that Trump maybe informed her of when they were having pillow talk.
Trump has proven over and over that he is depraved, by his lying, cheating, money grubbing and lack of governing the country he has sworn to serve.
This is where Stormy could become a heroine, if she knows anything of substance that has endangered our freedoms.
113
>
I doubt much will become of this since the Dems are the attacking force. DTJ is immune to moral dustups.
The GOP could and would make hay of it, if the shoe was on the other foot, but the Dems don't go after arteries, they go after capillaries, and they're not even proficient at that.
This fact is the central reason why the GOP controls Local, State and Fed gov't.
The only hope the Dems have is that Matthew was correct when he ruminated: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."
Of course who would want the earth after the GOP has had its way with it.
147
Monsatan -- they're been planning this since Day One.
The central reason the GOP controls government is big money. Period. The GOP decided to represent their donor base, and SCOTUS enabled them with Citizens United and McCutcheon. Your metaphors are nice, but you're on the wrong track.
3
I find it hard to believe that someone as entrepreneurial as Daniels, would take $130k in exchange for silence. Putting that aside, what I don't find hard to believe is Trump's failure to sign the NDA. Though he seems to love to put his name on stuff and he just couldn't see to fully executing the NDA. Is it hubris? Is it laziness? I think both.
41
@Grace: "I find it hard to believe that someone as entrepreneurial as Daniels, would take $130k in exchange for silence."
Like everyone else, including Trump, she thought he'd lose the election.
5
This is sleazy for sure but isn't that Trumpworld in a word. Everything is a transaction of dubious design. From stiffing subcontractors to conning his University patrons to chiseling his club members to cheating on his wives. Sleazy Trump and his support team are now degrading the American presidency and our democracy. Stay tuned, there's more dark alleyways to explore.
222
I am still wondering if Mr. Cohen filed a 1099 for the payment rendered to Ms. Daniels. If he didn't, doesn't this constitute money laundering? Or are bribes a source of tax-free revenue? Could create a bull market in hush money.
431
Now that is an interesting question. I now understand the "Al Capone" I've read about. A 1099 would have had to be filed, one would think. the issue of the affair is between him and his wife. But this is about the money and the law.
23
Are bribes a source of tax-free revenue?
According to the Supreme Count, this tax exemption only applies if you are an American politician,
5
and did Ms. Daniels declare the $130K payment as income for tax purposes? It was reimbursement for goods AND services.
3
My real concern is less that Trump will continue to get Mulligan after Mulligan for his non-stop scandals, lies, and misdeeds, than it is that he has permanently lowered (if not removed it entirely) the bar for future office holders. We risk becoming incapable of holding politicians to any reasonable standards at all.
331
I wouldn't worry. The second we elect another black person to office, the Evangelicals will suddenly remember that any elected official must be as pure and holy as Christ Come Again (so they can crucify him).
12
As is so often the case, it’s not the offense itself, but the coverup that’s the problem. Nobody is really surprised when a self-indulgent boor acts like a self-indulgent boor and that part should be left for the boor and his future ex-wife to deal with. It’s the cover-up that raises my concern. Philandering politicians paying hush money, destruction of evidence (but apparently not all of it). It’s as if today’s headlines were ripped from a pulp novel.
83
Yes, Trump's lawyer paying off Ms. Clifford and the attempt to cover it up, is a scandal, but the bigger is why the other women accusing Trump of sexual harassment aren't being heard more loudly, being taken more seriously. Adding to the strangeness, is having Robert Jeffress, an evangelical advisor to Trump say that "Evangelicals still believe in the commandment: Thou shalt not have sex with a porn star", but are giving his a pass on this; how forgiving in that Trump was married at the time of the affair and his son had just been born. How many people have been forced to compromise any shred of integrity they may have (questionably) had to begin with to allow our President to be his flawed and indecent self?
45
Everybody in this tawdry tale seems to be fond of using aliases. Why doesn't Daniels simply tell and sell her story/book rights about someone given the alias of say, John Barron, replacing Donald Trump? The only way for Trump's lawyer to challenge her freedom to do so would be to suggest, in court, that her Barron-story matched the true Trump-story. Trump can not complain.
Daniels keeps her $130K, she receives many $1M for the book, everyone gets entertained (but for Melania I suppose), and Trump fumes alone in the Oval office.
111
Brilliant!
5
Best response yet!
3
"But the scandal will lie less in the details of Trump’s degeneracy than in the steps he and his lawyers took to cover it up."
Let's not forget, in this age of Trump, that lying and/or cover ups are also degenerate behavior...as is inappropriate use of campaign funds. All of which seem extremely likely here.
43
The Stormy Daniels Affair is a dramatic example of the double standard in American politics. Had this president been a Democrat, the Religious Right would have taken to their soap boxes in high dudgeon over the moral turpitude of Democrats and Liberals, but this is their guy so it's no big deal.
Democrats, on the other hand, are disinclined to pontificate on private behavior between consenting adults, so the president's long history of marital infidelity, and proud promiscuity isn't much of a cudgel in resisting Trumpism's political pestilence .
Republicans and the Religious Right have weaponized hypocrisy. They see no downside to changing the rules of the game when it suits their needs. Democrats, should they decide to adopt similar tactics, would be called out and accused of all manner of chicanery by their now formidable adversaries on the Right.
169
If you look at history with a critical eye, religion has been the refuge of hypocrites. I know religious people who are incredibly kind, and are also tolerant of others. But they are heavily outnumbered by the religious people I know who are either completely delusional or use religion as a fig leaf for their glaring hypocrisy.
4
Even the moral high ground may not survive global warming.
2
He's not going away?
I really hope you're wrong.
We have a country that's under siege by this festering boil and his complicit enablers.
Let's hope he's going away very soon.
32
It would be news if none of these things were coming out of the closet concerning the life of a coddled, narcissistic, playboy. The news really should focus on the "Christian" sycophants, lapdogs and toadies who are Trump's enablers; offering Trump all the indulgences he needs to get into Heaven. Mike Pence being first in line, with Paul "Family Values" Ryan, not far behind.
Then come the crusaders for Christ, the Evangelical Leaders like Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell jr., of Liberty University, who paraded Trump in front of his college's students as if Trump were St. Frances, himself, confirming Liberty University to be in the model of Trump University.
Trump never aimed for sainthood, just a life of debauchery. The others, the religious hypocrites, mere carnival barkers trading on the name of an honest man from 2000 years ago, are far slimier than Trump will ever be.
293
Liberty University is the most inappropriately named institution in the country.
11
They also have way too much political power.
6
My understanding of arbitration is that the parties agreed to terms and if the terms were violated the available course of action is to return to arbitration where the terms of the agreement, including penalties, could be enforced. Is that true? Are their other remedies for violating the terms?
Since arbitration is not a court of law how can it issue and enforce a restraining order against Ms. Clifford ahead of any action?
Also since arbitration is not a court of law what is the worst that could happen to Ms. Clifford if she spoke in violation of the terms of the agreement? Can the arbiter send her to jail as a judge could do in a criminal action? If he/she cannot why couldn't someone like CNN agree to pay all her legal costs if she speaks out?
22
"The NDA does, however, show that Trump was susceptible to blackmail".
No, this story shows that Trump IS susceptible to blackmail over sex: the blackmail is happening right in front of our eyes.
His "team" will find a way to pay her off and the amount, this time, will be sufficient to silence her, and I think she also cares about her physical integrity...
Sordid, indeed and dangerous. Has this happened before and who will be next, what was and will be the counterpart?.
On another level, what is left of the dignity of the US presidency office?
64
Stormy Daniels seems to have excellent lawyers, better than Trump's shysters, plus she has a great story to tell, and the spunk to tell it and sell it. In the end, any case involving Trump's sexist shenanigans will be tried in the court of public opinion. Whether people believe her and the many other women apparently paid off and silenced by Trump and his minions, or are willing to condone the unappealing tactics of a repulsive character like Trump and his male machine, is not really in doubt. A win for Stormy will be, in the larger picture, a win for women.
65
I sort of agree. Although, a person who gets herself into situation like that in the first place, selling her private parts to the internet or the President, is not my ideal of a hero.
2
I'm one who thinks this scandal is only mildly interesting.
I'm much more interested in what happened in the Seychelles.
Come back to me when there is something that involves RICO charges, handcuffs, and a perp walk.
74
Will it ever end!
When Trump is gone the Republicans can never criticize anyone for hypocracy!
But then I remember: there is no shame in the Republican Party.
49
I don't think it is fair that Mr. Trump should have his private affairs aired in public. Ms. Daniels apparently knew what she was getting into and seems intent on eroding Mr. Trumps image. A private matter between two consenting adults should not be exposed to the public, unless it has some bearing.
What if Mr. Trump has some sort of physical condition? Rashes, knobby knees, boils, Microphallus, fungal toenails, sagging bottom or protuberant belly, etc. They can all be highly embarrassing.
Mr. Trump is a President of the United States, lets give him the respect he deserves, the same respect he has shown for his predecessor's and his office.
13
Life isn't fair.
Politics can be a rough game.
Get used to it.
To borrow from Harry Truman, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
9
' lets give him the respect he deserves, the same respect he has shown for his predecessor's and his office.'
exactly, and more dis-respect on top of that! that would be "fair".
18
Trump has never shown respect for his predecessor. Period.
Photographs of any "physical condition" are the least of his problems with this debacle. There is another secret Trump is ferociously fighting to keep hidden; something that may actually upset his followers. It's doubtful that it would be a fungal toenail.
17
Either Trump was fully engaged in the Stormy Daniels payoff or Michael Cohen should be disbarred. It's one or the other.
Here are the relevant New York Rules of Professional Conduct
RULE 1.4. Communication
(a) A lawyer shall:
(1) promptly inform the client of:
(i) any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client’s informed consent, as defined in Rule 1.0(j), is required by these Rules;
(ii) any information required by court rule or other law to be communicated to a client; and
(iii) material developments in the matter including settlement or plea offers.
(2) reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client’s objectives are to be accomplished;
(3) keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter;
(4) promptly comply with a client’s reasonable requests for information; and
(5) consult with the client about any relevant limitation on the lawyer’s conduct when the lawyer knows that the client expects assistance not permitted by these Rules or other law.
(b) A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.
178
I would also ask how Sarah Saunders knew of the arbitration proceeding. If Trump was not a party (as the caption to the injunction indicates), then Mr. Cohen improperly disclosed information about the confidential proceeding. Again, either Trump is involved or there is grounds for attorney discipline against Mr. Cohen.
17
Thank you! Crystal clear now.
So the bottom line question is:
Would Michael Cohen really risk disbarment for Trump?
16
Do you think that our Debaucher-in-Chief would either care or understand Rule 1.4: Communication (between lawyer and client)?
Since he doesn't read he would never know the specific nuances. At best he would have been given a precis orally. This would have conceivably gone in one ear though definitely out the other (the vacuum in-between having left no evidence of occupancy).
The life of an attorney with Trump as a client is a dicey business. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. You go into it for the money and get out of it with tire marks of the bus that just ran over you. Oops.
Bad judgement.
Oh well.
8
Perhaps the judge will refuse to enforce the contract, even if it is solid on all other grounds, as against public policy. Should public policy allow the candidate of a major political party to buy the cover-up of conduct the voting public might consider relevant to their choice?
235
Maybe it’ll go to the Supreme Court.
1
"It’s a campaign finance scandal, a transparency scandal and potentially part of an ongoing national security scandal. It’s salacious and absurd, but we should take it seriously. Trump’s team certainly seems to; Cohen recently obtained a temporary restraining order to silence Daniels."
As many point out, including the columnist, what should be a source of outrage, only elicits yawns because "we expect so little of Trump."
It's a distraction but one that just confirms more of the same: ineptitude, power, and of course money. But it's also an example of the kind of corruption that dominates this administration: a prevailing attitude that's there is no price too high to pay to exercise raw power to control the narrative.
I don't think much of the public deeply cares --myself included--but still the story hovers over this administration, polluting the Trump White House and allowing us to see how easy it is to become a target of blackmail.
But's it's also a story of impulse control and how the president can't seem to see a direct linkage between his own recklessness and containing the consequences.
When it comes to sex, like so many things, the cover up can be worse than the original sin.
361
"Salacious and absurd" indeed. Trump and his antics are textbook examples of 2 of my favorite words, prurient and tawdry. They roll off the tongue like cherries and chocolate with a creamy rich vanilla ice cream, which for many is where impulse control really counts. This gang that can't lie straight is a sideshow to what really frightens Trump, more than his treason being discovered. Apparently there's some possibility he has at least "x" more heir(s), and his "fortune" may be diluted by that variable. And, apparently, he's inclined to some form(s) of kink that would, finally, embarrass even him.
It also seems his lawyers' incompetence is on par with his own. I'm inclined to believe there's a little league team's worth of kids with code names like "Regent", "Viceroy", Earl", "Duke" or possibly even "Obersturmfuhrer", unaware of their inheritance, who would be very interested in their birthright, to say nothing of their potential genetic red flags.
The whole bit about "David Dennison" and "Peggy Peterson" brought to mind a hilarious skit with Johnny Carson and Jack Webb called "Copper Clappers" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgYbogp1Ha0
This entire presidency is reminiscent of Abbott and Costello's "who's on first". I have to wonder if Trump's allies in the sleazy tabloids will be able to resist when the licentious, vulgar and lewd details come out, sharks have no code of professional courtesy that I know of. Maybe he can get them to superimpose "CNN" over his face?
31
We don't need all the self-righteous piety. Not Catholic moralizing, not Protestant prudism. Original sin indeed. Before you get on your high horse about the President's sexuality, remember what we're dealing with here is a prostitute. I doubt Democrats like you were moralizing when Bill Clinton was lying under oath about getting oral sex from a 22-year-old college intern. In the Oval Office.
1
Stormy weather for the Don,
His peccadillo's being put upon
Campaign violation
For his assignation?
Wih a Storm that's yet not gone.
604
Peccadillos are an extra $500.
See lots of Larry's work at https://nytimes-comments.github.io/
8
A++ Larry. Compact, yet comprehensive!
11