If Bill Clinton can contest the meaning of the word "is", and get away with it, Trump should be able to whatever he wants with "payment". My dog's got a better chance of catching its tail.
Get with the program, folks. It wasn't a payoff. It was a scholarship fund contribution.
2
$453M income from $1.4B assets = 32% rate of return (down from 43% the year before). That's the real story in this disclosure. Nobody make those kind of returns. Where's the money really coming from??
4
The simplest explanation is most often the accurate one. I suspect that Mr. Trump knew about the payments to Ms. Daniels and Mr. Cohen before he filed last year but figured he could get away with not mentioning them on this form. He was wrong.
2
Trump paying off various lady friends: cost of doing business.
3
The lies on this one are coming so fast and furious that I need a score card to keep track!
7
Now we're supposed to give him "extra credit" for telling the truth?
5
A illegal unreported campaign contribution made by Cohen and accepted by Trump far in excess of legal limits is a far more serious crime.
7
So Trump did pay Cohen, and the story is not "fake news." I am shocked, shocked ! to learn that Trump lied. (Well, not really).
10
He claims he's a billionaire. Claims at times to be worth $10 billion. So then, why is Trump paying $35,000 INSTALLMENTS on a bill that's under half a million dollars? Is his cash flow that puny? Did he have to put Mar-a-Largo on layaway? Does he have a Cohen's credit card -- 12 months same as cash??
Or, maybe this is all just another example of a President and associates again making it up as as they go? Disgraceful, any way you slice it.
11
Having rewatched All the President's Men recently, it still pays to follow the money.
9
This stuff goes on and on so that now each new revelation is a drop in the bucket and sadly we are almost immune to it.
6
Rather than track each and every tabloid story emanating from the Oval Office; rather than feigning surprise each time Mr. Trump lies through his teeth, which he does before breakfast seven days a week; pay attention to the ongoing efforts of Mr. Trump and his growing army of minions to dismantle our government and to pack government offices with ill-informed, incompetent Trump loyalists.
Suggested reading: Evan Osnos essay in this week's New Yorker, entitled "Trump vs. 'The Deep State'". Perhaps that will provides less cheap entertainment than the latest episode in the Stormy Daniels/Michael Cohen saga, but it's what you really want and desperately need to know.
2
The entire argument hinges on the nature of the agreement. Giuliani says the agreement was strictly personal and therefore not subject to campaign finance laws. The OGE thinks the agreement constituted a loan and is therefore subject to campaign finance laws. Failure to disclose is probably not an impeachable offense. However, the only way to settle the question is to get testimony from both Trump and Cohen on the nature of the agreement.
The President may not be indictable but you can definitely subpoena him.
5
Trump lying hasn't been news for a long time now. His base doesn't really care. He is is just another rich evangelical who has assumed the role of Messiah.
4
I agree, but "evangelical?" He seldom prays - for others especially.
2
what about the $2BILLION in 'in kind' campaign donations to djt's 2016 campaign and the daily 'in kind' re-election campaign donations by fox noise?
4
Reimbursed for a campaign contribution long after the election and only after it becomes public. Nothing suspicious here...
6
Yes, it's terrible that we have a president that lies constantly, but, unfortunately, it's not a crime for him to lie to the public. So can we get the words "porn star" off the front page now please? We have so many other daily lies to deal with that don't have anything much to do with his genitals.
5
A knowing omission from this disclosure form is indeed a crime.
6
The short headline is misleading, as are many dealing with Trump. Headline like "Evidence shows Trump lied again about payments to his attorney." Trump lies are as egregious as Clinton's, yet Trump gets a pass on his lies.
The American people need to know he lies constantly and is bent on covering up misdeeds.
39
The biggest news amongst the storm of current developments is actually that Senate republicans are now admitting that Russia attacked the US elections ("meddled") -- specifically to get trump into the White House.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Russia, America's enemy (let's not sugarcoat this) wanted trump to "win" the election.
I repeat: Russia, American's enemy wanted trump to "win" the election, steal the Presidency, occupy the White House.
That's really all that anyone needs to know about this whole thing.
Why do you think the Russians would want trump in the White House -- because he would be such a great President for America?!?!
(Hint: no, they wanted him in there because they knew he would destroy the US from within, and he is well on his way doing just that)
(Against this background it is almost irrelevant whether trump knew that the Russians were helping him or whether he even was actively conspiring with them -- which we know beyond any doubt, let's not sugarcoat this either, that he did -- which is treason)
63
"Trump Discloses Cohen Payment, Raising Questions About Previous Omission"
Is 'Omission' the new 'drained swamp' word for 'Lies'?
25
This has always been the case in politics.
3
Seems so - plus "I don't recall", "I can't remember", "I wasn't in the room then", "That must have been the other guy", "I never grabb.....
oh never mind.
It is all sickenng. I'l looking for a puppy to look "up to" but they're all stealing the slippers and shaking their heads, "not me!"
1
Well Trumps “disclosures” have omitted 100’s of millions of dollars in Russian money laundered through Trumps real estate deals in Eastern Europe over the last 20 years.
So why show something as small as a $100,000 dollar hush money payment (illegal campaign donation ) to a porn actor?
It’s all so vulgar and corrupt.
30
What about all the other women he paid off?
26
What is Trump hiding from the American people in his personal and family income tax returns and business records?
What is Trump hiding from the American people by failing to declare and divest his assets into a blind trust?
What do Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin know about Trump's corrupt criminal actions?
36
Why Netanyahu? Kobe?
How can this not be an impeachable offense? Why is Congress silent?
28
Paying hush money an impeachable offense?
5
Eary in the Trump presidency, some reporters said we needed to know who held large loans that Trump had to get when he want having bankruptcy problems. Were they being held by people in other countries who might wish to influence a president of the US? I expect Mueller is working to answer the question.
2
He broke campaign finance laws.
1
yawn
Bill's transgressions we quickly forgave. This ain't an impeachable issue. let's move on.
2
I know a lot of people who never forgave Clinton. Remember, it was the cover up that brought Nixon down.
4
Quickly forgave Bill's transgressions? Is that what impeachment leads you to believe? Isn't it time we impeach Trump? Pathologically lying to the American people day after day after day certainly should be high crimes and misdemeanors. Much more so than a consensual affair with an adult-age intern.
16
Clinton went through the impeachment process because of his transgression with Monica. there was no forgiveness
17
I detest Trump and this entire administration. In my lifetime (I'm 42), this is the most corrupt political scandal that I have ever witnessed. That being said, does anyone really think that justice will actually be served? Nixon resigned in disgrace, yet spent the rest of his days walking the beach and speaking at paid gigs. G Gordon Liddy only served four years and came out writing a best selling book and became a popular radio host and even an actor! Oliver North was front and center in one of the worst traitorous scandals and served no prison time, became a bestselling author of numerous books, a FOX News pundit and is now president of the NRA. If it was me or any other of the "common people", we would be serving very harsh prison sentences and have a tough time reentering society. I expect nothing will happen to Trump and his ilk and I will expect a "time to heal and move on" speech from whoever pardons these people.
35
You are misinformed. I'm 55, so I remember Nixon. He didn't really speak at paid gigs after he resigned the presidency. He wrote several books though.
2
Maybe someone in the GOP will say, as Reagan did after the Irangate scandal, that "mistakes were made." By somebody somewhere, whatever. The GOP is allergic to accountability.
2
You're pretty young to be saying that.
With the use of electronic media, the kinds of coverage we have today has a much easier time finding and airing these scandals.
There were simlar issues with many, if not most, of Trump's presidential predecessors, we just didn't find out about it unless it was particularly brazen.
Let's see how the next 10 years or so are treated in our media - human nature being what it is, we'll be sure to see more and get increasingly more details. yuck.
1
Trump is a moral blight on this country
46
Last weekend at Cork Opera house, Ireland, I saw a comedian and part of his act was to pull national flags out of a box and make jokes about the country. When he pulled out the flag of the U.S., every single person in the audience booed...loud and long...do you not realise how much your country is despised now, how Americans are seen as mean and arrogant, how unwelcome you are? Serious reputational damage.
60
We have been defending and financing a large part of the world for years, to say nothing of providing homes and opportunities for surplus populations from every part of the globe. Now we’re mean, arrogant and unwelcome? Stop cashing the checks and tell your people to stay home...we wouldn’t want to offend anyone.
2
So what. America has caused a lot of problems as well and if we’re being honest, your contributions in a lot of things is exaggerated or was only in your self interest. Take the two world wars for example. If you want to be consistent, praise the French every day and thank your lucky stars they supported you in 1776.
6
With due respect, most if not all first world countries do that (Canada, UK, and the EU, to name a few). Trump has indeed changed the world's view of America, through no fault of many of its countrymen, who have to stand by and watch it happening. He is arrogant, and bombastic and is thumbing his nose at the rest of the world. To pretend differently would be disregarding the facts.
4
At this point there is zero doubt that trump is up over his comb over in criminal conspiracies. Not just conspiring the steal the election, but a host of other financial crimes.
This begs the question of why is it that congressional Republicans are still so willing to obstruct justice for him? If memory serves, 48 people ended up getting convicted for crimes related to Watergate. 64 were indicted (again, if memory serves)
trump Russia, obstruction in multiple cases, mishandling classified documents, tampering with evidence, bribery, and all these other financial and campaign finance crimes make Watergate seem like Nixon not paying a ticket for jaywalking in comparison.
Republicans had best be thinking long and hard at whether trump is worth years of their lives in federal prison, or if they should be quietly telling Mueller and SDNY prosecutors what they know in exchange for clemency.
29
John, they're too busy stealing the store from the common folk. while Trump does what he does best, divert people from important issues, the Republicans are busy turning this country into a banana republic.
2
Trump's henchmen should ponder the number of years that Haldeman and Erlichman, Trump's top guys, spent in jail. Also ponder the accumulating evidence that Trump is not loyal to his minions.
2
Anyone else get the feeling this financial disclosure is just another lie to provide cover? I need receipts for payment to Cohen, otherwise, I'll continue to assume that Cohen just used the AT&T money to pay off Stormy Daniels and any other Peggy Petersons out there.
One thing I don't assume, is that Trump is telling the truth.
15
This time at least, the megalomaniac did not fail to pay for services rendered.
9
The media and many bloggers are to quick to call the President a liar because they have a different agenda then President Trump's MAGA agenda. Those of us that appreciate and support President Trump know he is speaking the truth. We get it! The media and liberal followers just choose to twist his comments to kill the messenger. This is the tactic that liberals and the main stream media use to promote your socialist agenda.
FYI: The people are on to you!
1
Just curious, is this a generic copy and paste comment you make on various articles across the internet or something you wrote up specific to this article?
21
We are quick to call him a liar because he lies---several times a day, and about any topic.
20
And yet, he previously claimed to be unaware of this matter and now claims to have paid at least $100,000 that's obviously connected to this matter. Both of those statements cannot be true.
You're certainly right that many people "have a different agenda" than the president, to put it mildly. But that doesn't make him truthful in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. He is a liar, whether or not you like him.
15
The walls are closing in on crooked Trump. Sad.
25
Story really doesn’t tell us why most of these five things are important, as promised. Hastily developed, perhaps.
2
Where are Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell?
Their jobs are to challenge this out of control executive branch. Instead they initiate bogus charges against the Justice Department.
Ryan's quitting with multi-milllions from his "tax cuts for the rich" and a promise of a lucrative lobbying position but he will never escape his disastrous legacy as the Speaker who enabled and covered for this corrupt man they call their president.
Trump should have been ousted after his Lester Holt tv admission of obstruction of justice! Now it's a daily dose of DJT conduct that 1/3rd of this country simply dismiss as "That's Donald!". It is beyond belief the volume of lies and deception this WH continues to spew, while the Leaders of our House and Senate, Ryan and McConnell, just turn a blind eye and recount their million$. They have $old out America to the highe$t bidder$.
What is wrong with our nation? How did we sunk so low?
28
This is a form of "hush money" to keep Michael Cohen quiet.
9
How about we see the only reason that Melania sticks around- the pre-nuptial agreement. Trump is a pathological liar- and if that doesn't bother you , something is wrong.
30
And it all started when Trump considered casting Stormy Daniels on his reality show "The Apprentice." In his mind, Trump believed Stephanie Clifford, Stormy, looked like his daughter Ivanka and had sex with her. Slice it and dice it anyway you want to but Donald J. Trump is a sick, sick man and unfit to serve as President of the United States.
36
John Gotti had nothing on Donald Trump.
9
except for competence
20
To much energy is being expended on a topic without any validity. Up to this point I have seen no proof President Trump slept with this tramp. For or against it's time to focus on "innocent until proven guilty".
1
How about he hasn't denied it? The "man" is proud of dogging around - listen to the audio tapes of him bragging about it.
27
The point is the truthfulness of Trump's financial disclosures, not whether or not he slept with Ms. Clifford. He could (consensually) bang anyone he wants as far as I'm concerned, but lying in a financial disclosure is serious stuff, and usually indicative of illegality.
9
Trump believes he is above the law. I am disappointed in those commenters who don't seem concerned about such a person being president. He took an oath to make sure the laws are faithfully executed. Yet some people like to think he is trustworthy.
1
Didn't we impeach Clinton for lying about his affair?
14
Clinton did it under oath
6
Melania made bewteen $100,000 and $1,000,000?!!!! Why?
3
Royalty on her Getty images, so says Pro Publica
1
Trump lies about everything, and he does it so inartfully.
You would think that having constantly lied his entire life he would have gained some facility in it, like Bill Clinton say, but no, he’s still sadly inept.
No matter, the Trumpublican Party no longer cares about the truth, honor or decency so they will gleefully parrot his lies and swear on a Bible they no longer believe in that the Buffoon is truthful.
Interesting times.
18
Agreed. Trump wouldn't be where he is and certainly wouldn't stay there without the support of the equally corrupt and dishonest GOP.
19
Please practice "Former President Trump." Here is another nail in his coffin.
6
The question is: How many nails does it take to bury the POTUS? It is starting to sound like a lot of nails!
5
Trump surrounds himself with weak people. Like Melania, Jared and Inanka, Kelly, Pence, Ryan,
Giuliani, etc. etc... just like Putin he cannot handle strong people with constitutions like Hillary, Obama, Rosenstein and Mueller. His days are now numbered.
17
Strong people stand up to DJT- see M. Bloomberg and R. Tillerson’s college commencement speeches.
9
To see the corrupt president and soulless mitch mcconnell sashaying down the halls of congress after a republican meeting where not one republican asked trump about his illegal and unethical recent activities is appalling.I know this rot in the GOP has been growing for years but to see the leaders of this debacle smiling while strolling thru the halls of congress makes me want to puke.It is indeed "a terrifying time to be an American".
24
Mitch got his brother-in-law a government job and his wife is in DJT’s cabinet - need we say more.
15
"The letter is not an official referral and does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing, according to lawyers." Come on, NYTimes.... according to which/whose lawyers?
4
This article strikes an odd tone at times. In what possible way does this new disclosure bolster the Trump argument that the payment was made for personal reasons unrelated to the campaign? The very fact of its timing shortly before the election, that it was omitted from last year's filing, concealed and lied about are very consistent with the likelihood that this was all about the election. And how on earth can the authors with a straight face state that the Trump Organization is not pursuing new deals in foreign countries when we've learned of a new Trump-affiliated project in Malaysia that China is funding to the tune of $500 million? What gives here, NYT?
6
Of course it was about the election. But they are saying Cohen paid her only to protect Melania from being embarrassed. Without any specific proof to the contrary that excuse could actually fly. We all just have to pray that somewhere in all the stuff taken from Mr. Cohen lies the proof that it related to the election.
3
Don't forget Kushner's dealings in Qatar
1
Trump uses the immigration issue to attract and distract his base like I use a toy to entertain my dog. But my dog is smarter than the Trump base and eventually he gets bored.
16
I don't even ask. I just grab it. Then I give out $130,000 at arms length using a complicated arrangement involving a series of partial reimbursements through some shady hustler.
So I have intimacy and attachment issues. So sue me.
9
The idea that Trump didn't know about his hush money payment to a porn is ludicrous.
9
Those of us with half a brain know that but until he lies under oath there isn't much that can be done about it. One campaign finance problem isn't going to be enough to take down a President. At least not this one. He is the master of con.
5
The trouble with Trump several times on your page is that it benefits him. People are so used to his name that they will vote for him again. Most people just see TRUMP and skip the story because they know it is anti Trump, but the name sticks in your memory.
2
Lets give this guy permanent residence in a government facility.
6
Is there a crime here somewhere?
1
The political crime was committed by Cohen and Stormy: hush money did the trick. The money was given at a crucial time in the election. It shut Stormy up, depriving citizens of important information that could have swung the election against depraved Trump. (This country still has decent people who vote on the character of the candidate rather than on party affiliation.) When James Comey declared just a few days before the election that Mrs. Clinton's email affairs were again being examined, many people turned against her and voted for Trump or some other candidate. Had people known about Trump, Stormy and the hush money, they could have voted differently in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of course, all this is a speculation....like everything else in political discourse.
4
Why isn't the NY Times covering the story about the 2 missing suspicious-activity reports (SARs) against Cohen that went missing from the Government Financial Crimes Database. The disappearance prompted an official to leak other SARs last week as a whistle blower before they went missing too. Looks like a huge corruption story and I certainly hope NY times isn't burying it. Slate Magazine: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/whistleblower-leaked-damning...
3
But - her emails...
2
So long America; it was nice knowing you once upon a time. That was before the Alt-Right & the Kremlin destroyed democracy as we knew it of course. The hundreds of $Millions spent by the Koch brothers & Comp.; combined with the obvious efforts of Putin to do whatever it took to put Trump (the ultimate perfect stooge) in the White House has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Now comes news the no matter what the Mueller team has discovered will NEVER lead to an Indictment means the 1%s have won. Putin is one of those 1%`s by the way. Fascism and Authoritarianism is in; WE THE PEOPLE is as dead as the dinosaurs. Shame really; democracy had a good 240 year run. But since Trump has now proven the President of the U.S. really IS above the law; Trum was right all along. He could shoot someone dead and get away with it. Goodbye America.
6
Is anyone surprised? Every time The Con Don opens his mouth - and speaks through his disgusting lips - he lies.
Stormy Daniels and her lawyer are doing OUR United States of America a great service by getting all this information to WE THE PEOPLE. The press and other media are doing their jobs by getting it to us.
It's not about sex. It's about the hostile financial takeover and conning of OUR United States of America. Time to stop it now.
17
The Winter White House is in D.C. And the summer one and the fall and spring too.
8
It is evident to me that Trump needs better accounting staff. This picking through the sordid remains of a one night stand is simply an effort to cause discomfort to Trump supporters. The team doing this is inadvertently showing their true colors and they aren't pretty.
Lawyers, money, sex industry workers: what a great way to increase circulation.
Include the fact of how the strippers lawyer has been funded and the self-important "disclosures" we've had inflicted on us and there is little wonder the situation is backfiring.
2
It’s too bad for Trump supporters’ peace of mind that Trump does disgusting and illegal things and then lies about them. Don’t blame the messenger.
7
So, Giuliani was Right when he went on Fox News and openly spilled the beans about Trump and his Lawyer paying Daniels.
This of course means: Trump Lied... Again!
How many more direct, major, knock down, hard core raging news stories - that Trump and all his people told us were NOT True (Fake News!) - and which was ultimately proven to be Trump Lies - do we all have to hear before All Americans Finally Understand that Trump is a Lying, Crooked Scoundrel? This is beyond pathetic. It’s not even being talked about anymore... even as Trump Supporters still swear Trump is True Blue Squeaky Clean.
There’s more:
1) Just this week we heard about Trump directly taking money to keep a Chinese Factory Open.
2) The British Press (Daily Mail) is reporting that Cohen demanded money from Kuwaiti and Qatari officials on behalf of the Trump family to get the right contacts for infrastructure building, and positive outcomes from Influence in Washington. The stories are confirmed by appropriate High Government Officials in both countries.
How many more stories of Open Corruption, Graft, and grifting as a High Art are we going to have to put up with? Much of this stuff isn’t even reported in the US Press anymore. When it is, few notice.
Forget Russia! There are now so many open acts of Obstruction Of Justice and Corruption, that Russian issues are becoming an afterthought. When Will We Finally Say “Enough Already!”?
21
Trump lied. So what else is new? That sure as heck isn't new. Not one bit.
3
I initially thought that, with all of the allegations and accusations, that Trump would finally be nailed by a serious financial play--embezzlement as in the Trump U fraud, money laundering through selling overpriced buildings to cronies, election fraud, things like that. But no--instead, a porn star Trump jumped for bragging rights is doing the bragging herself. Trump's denial of a sexual interlude with Stormy Daniels may ultimately be the lie that finishes him off. But as usual, Trump himself is the only person Trump can blame for his current woes. As with every other scandal, Trump brought all this down upon his own head.
6
There is way too much talk about a Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen types these days.
With possible nuclear war, killings on borders,cancelling written agreements among nations and other national issues that carry with them huge consequences , our perspective gets lost because we are offered and consume way too much of relatively unimportant stuff like Stormy Daniels and the Stormy chasing attorney's who always get involved by chasing after money.
If people have the need to read that junk, The New York Times might step back and allow those readers to view the national inquirer (written here in all small caps) where it belongs. We are losing our perspective. The TIMES might help us gain it back.
4
During the Whitewater investigation Orrin Hatch prowled the network circuit. To date he is a no show on the subject of Mueller investigation! Times change.
4
Perhaps Trump should listen closely as the crowd will now chant "Lock him up!"
6
Start digging, Donald. Our nation needs your imprisonment at hard labor until all the water, sewer and roadway projects make America great again.
9
What a big surprise !
Is there anything that Trump doesn't lie about ?
8
Since Mueller has decided that a sitting President can't be indicted none of this matters anymore anyway.
Sitting Presidents haven’t been indicted in the past. That doesn’t mean Trump won’t get his just desserts.
1
A President that is constantly spewing hate and maligning all Mexicans, to justify his building of a wall between the US and Mexico and that Mexico would pay for it. The wall is a promise to the minority in the electoral college that elected him. Our country is being held hostage by an outdated electoral college, a President that is corrupt, a Republican party that has sold his soul to the devil. The Republican party neither cares or is collectively afraid of and/or just as corrupt as the Republican President? I have lost all faith on Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.
9
Where are the murky Cyprus connections detailed? Trump/Kushner-Oligarch financial foreplay is the green line to cross.
1
Now that we've drained the swamp, how do we get rid of the sludge?
9
Unfortunately this has become politics as usual. Trump is no different than Clinton whose “foundation “ extorted vast sums from foreign countries and individuals. At least Clifford (Daniels) got something for her work... Clinton’s followers were stiffed. The sad story is politicians simply feel no accountability.
1
The law is one thing, but this what I know about Donald Trump, from his own words:
"He doesn't have a birth certificate. Or, if he does, there's something on that certificate that is very bad for him. Somebody told me that where it says 'religion,' it might have 'Muslim.' And if you're a Muslim, you don't change your religion."
"I have people that have been studying Obama's birth certificate and they cannot believe what they're finding. If he wasn't born in this country, which is a real possibility, then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics."
"People do not think it was an authentic certificate. His mother was not in the hospital. There are many other things that came out. And frankly, if you would report it accurately, I think you'd probably get better ratings than you're getting."
"An 'extremely credible source' told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud."
"Amazing. The State Health Director who verified copies of Obama's 'birth certificate' died in a plane crash today. All others lived."
"Who knows about Obama? Who knows, who knows? I have my own theory on Obama. Someday I will write a book. I will do another book, and it will do very successfully."
From his own words, you'll find everything you need to know about the real Donald Trump.
21
Well played.
My NY Times Hero for the day.
1
Will Trump call the Stormy gate a witch hunt. He paid Ms. Daniels for the services he received.
4
I suppose all of the media attention about who paid Stormy Daniels how much and when would be important if you had an honorable man occupying the Oval Office.
But Donald Trump‘s entire adult life, his career, etc. is based on lying. Bald faced naked lying. Truthful hyperbole.
His base and much of the Republican Congress say so what? They don’t really care just as long as he sticks it to the liberal media and the Democratic Party.
I grow weary watching the news every day and hearing the reports of him being caught in his lies as if it’s some Eureka Moment for the country.
Oooh... Trump lied on Air Force One. So what? Until he pays a political price for his outright lies and immoral behavior it doesn’t matter. All this is doing is wearing us down, making the country numb.
If you compare CNN’s or MSNBC’s newsfeed this morning to the feed 8 weeks ago nothing had changed. Talking heads are shocked, SHOCKED by Donald Trump. People are tuning out. That’s the real danger.
13
Reality Check why do people complain about those who represent us deplorables? They are best money can buy in any level of government now.
2
You are right. They are Detestable, and totally corrupt.
When I saw the video clip of Trump in the aisle on air force one denying to reporters that he had knowledge of the payment to Stormy, he looked like he was lying. On listening to what he said with the additional facts we now have, any claim that he didn't lie is down to a Bill Clinton like "it depends on what the meaning of is is" argument. As I recall, the Republicans didn't buy that from Bill.
5
"Under federal law, an official who “knowingly and willfully falsifies information” on a financial disclosure could face criminal charges."
Yea, Right...and it's prosecuted so often too...
6
So Trump and Cohen lied. I really can not guess why his supporters think this is all fake news. They can hear what he said on AF 1 and read what he wroth on the discloser form.
8
Big deal! Honestly, as sad as it is, this sort of extra-marital stuff is hardly news anymore. The royal family were all over this behaviour decades ago. Give it a rest!
2
This has nothing to do with extra-marital stuff. This has everything to do with illegal campaign funds, failure to disclose and corruption.
13
It appears Jared learned well from his father in law, commission as opposed to omission, they both lie so well and have people to take the fall for them.
4
I read article after article on the deep corruption of this Presidency and each day say to myself "so what." If President Obama evidenced any of these misdeeds he would have been impeached. But here we sit day in and day out, one debased story and lie after another and nothing happens.
13
Who cares? Trump is doing a fine job, let the guy be. The president of the United States will NEVER be indicted. Period. The rest is conversation.
2
No one seems to care that he lies/lied/is lying. Isn't that one of the counts used against Bill Clinton, lying (under oath)? And obstruction of justice? We certainly appear to have both with Trump. The voting public is the boss, and we need to fire this creep and his gang of crooks FAST. It can't happen soon enough for me. This current swampy gang has shown its true colors. Make America Greedy Again indeed.
And while we are at it, let's vote in people who will work for the public and repeal Citizens United, get money out of politics, create term limits, require transparency of tax returns by politicians, and tighter controls on our presidency. Enough of double-dipping by feeding at the public trough and cutting taxes for themselves and their benefactors. These give-aways are attracting the wrong "public servants".
18
It's a fact that Trump has a problem with telling the truth even on topics that do not negatively affect him, yet his supporters know this and have no problem with it. The same supporters that could not support Ms. Clinton because they branded her a liar and untrustworthy. Why is that? Is it because Trump openingly supports the bigoted racial and anti government sentiments that used to underground that is now blatantly displayed in public? What about Congress. It's obliviously ok with the Republican House or they would have done something months ago. Trump has proved time and again that not only is he incompetent, he blatantly breaks the law as a normal course of action.
This November will be the best chance to change Congress and get rid of Trump. If this Republican Congress won't take care of this country then the voters must show them they way.
12
Anyone paying any attention at all has long known that Trump is a con man with absolutely no respect for the truth. The fact that he is a hard right goon taking away our liberties and further enriching the wealthy is the real reason that he was elected. The truly sad part is that the people he claims to represent are simply the marks who have been taken in by his scam. I never though that the US was perfect, but it was a country that I respected and served with four years in the Navy. Now I feel that it may be beyond redemption and I have little but scorn left for our flawed political system and the oligarchy that this country has become.
18
With all these back-and-forths about his finances, I'm pretty sure that Mueller has enough reasons to access trump's tax return. And I'm pretty sure he already has it sitting on his desk...and I'm pretty sure he's just laughing out loud watching trump continue to lie and waiting for the right moment to spring.
Trump's biographer had predicted that trump will be impeached simply because of his habit of "playing hard and fast with the law."
I agree.
7
No wonder Trump refused to disclose his tax returns during the 2016 campaign.
4
Furthermore, Trump might be able with valor to claim this payment as a tax-deductible exemption on his unreleased statements.
2
I heard excerpts from Barbara Jordan's speech regarding the impeachment of Nixon. She spoke to make Congress understand that by impeaching the President, they were not removing him from office, but simply entering a process to determine if he should be removed.
Who is someone with her eloquence and conviction and understanding of the Constitution in Congress to start the impeachment ball rolling for Trump? Any takers, people of the Congress?
4
You will find the Red Congress under the rocks.
1
I guess the only thing I'll say is that it amazes me that the people who support Trump are not put off by the hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars that are changing hands in obvious "pay to play" deals.
I'm just amazed.
18
70,000 votes spelled the difference in the election of 2016. If Stormy Daniels had gone public with her story before the election, would the result have been different? The $130,000 payment must have looked like a fantastic investment to Trump; at least until the FBI raided Cohen's office and home.
Trump was very good at navigating the sleazy side of New York real estate. And he was a tremendous self promotor and reality TV star. But he will regret the day that he ran for president. The bright lights of justice and truth will show him up for what he is; just another crook.
13
This story only affirms my contention: if you confuse the situation with numerous versions and lies about the facts, the issue becomes a non-issue for most citizens who don't want to wade through the muck of it all. That is how Trump has achieved his success in business despite defaulting on contracts and bankruptcies. Now his political fortunes are determined by the same manipulations of facts. He is a fraud of the first order, politically supported by citizens who are too distracted to make sense of him, distracted by fulfillment of campaign promises that they want to see implemented. He is a very shrewd and successful politician to be sure!
5
Mueller must follow the money. In Giuliani’s Fox interview where he explained the Daniels repayment, he described how he spotted a series of monthly $35,000 payments made to Cohen and said “there that’s it” as if he had just landed on the perfect explanation for how Trump might have repaid the Daniel payment; it did not sound like that was the known intent of that particular series of monthly payments. It likely wasn’t as that debt was not listed in the previous disclosure form; and Cohen until quite recently reportedly complained he had not been repaid the Daniels money.
5
Failing to report that is a violation of campaign finance laws. But what if you never knew it was for that? That will be Trump's position. Nothing will come of this matter.
What is important to note is the admission by Mr. Mueller that he will not seek indictment of a sitting president. This is the story of the day. It is Justice Department written policy (1973).
Impeachment will also not occur. People who hate Trump will have to resort to Xanax, Yoga, and the like to continue living their lives.
I'm reviled at the thought of him being president. I voted for neither candidate. Both were repulsive. The pain I feel today is about a country divided in this manner. A civil war without the shooting.
So close am I to the brink of serious depression, that I need to avoid the news, and seek diversions like learning a language or finding a painting by the numbers set.
7
Hedley, by calling her repulsive, you seem to have fallen for the 25 year smear campaign against Hillary Clinton. Why you couldn't bring yourself to vote for her, knowing that you were, in effect, voting for Trump, must be at least a large contributor to your depression.
I wonder if you could go back in time, if you would still not vote for Hillary?
3
There is nothing in the Stormy Daniels payment that is a danger to Trump. The thought that it was some type of campaign finance violation was fanciful thinking on the part of some of The President’s opponents.
Still plenty of threats swirling around Trump but this one turned out to be a minnow.
3
Corruption and bribery is so common in Cohen -Trump business relations. U.S. used to be the ones fighting corruption in the developing countries. Where is the Congress to protect us from our own corruption?
6
The Groundhog Day Presidency. So mired in apparent wrongdoing, although a US society non pareil in rewarding bad behavior is reinforcing, we begin to understand the reasoning behind President Trump's consistent pattern of lies and fabrication. Some Republicans object to the Mueller investigation but it seems to me he's filling a vital role to be expected when a lawyerly swarm has buzzed in his presence and in his wake throughout his public life.
A conditioned reflex to lie (it seems the scold was missing or simply brushed off during his formative years) is his default position in the course of his everyday conversation and seems uninterrupted as the record shows even when preparing his tweets gives him some room to pause.
Is it any wonder that he is slow, sluggish, and detached when confronting fact-based material? As though called on in class, there's a "Do I have to do this?" current running through his prepared remarks.
Congenial is not the word I'm looking for but his ad libs, his zingers, during his showtime for his supporters is "his material," in a parry and poke singsong delivery.
To suggest this doesn't mandate our due diligence makes no sense at all, not with a USA Today headline "Exclusive: Trump's 3,500 lawsuits unprecedented for a presidential nominee" (Jun 1, 2016). The poke and parry, I stand corrected, includes 1,900 cases as plaintiff, 1,450 as defendant, and 150 labeled bankruptcy, third party or other.
Motion to adjourn sine die (no return date).
3
Wish I could as well as you!
Stretch, stretch, stretch. Trump has a personal lawyer. Paying him is a campaign contribution? Any prosecutor who brings that charge would be laughed out of the court by any reasonable judge or jury.
1
Tcarl, you left off the rest of the sentence. Of course paying a personal lawyer is not a campaign contribution. It's the fact that the money was used to cover up something right before the election that Trump believed would be damaging to his campaign.
5
Sadly it doesn’t matter if your up to date. Unlikely that a sitting President can be indicted so check that out in the NYT today. If accurate it’s no surprise. The Mueller Team will pass the findings on to Congress. In my opinion if the magnitude of the findings are egregious, obstructive and criminal enough then it might trigger an impeachment proceeding.
I also believe Mueller would provide a “legal opinion” and comments attached to the findings. Perhaps a recommendation in relation to Constitutional law. Broaching impeachment’ would be a long encumbered process fraught with partisan special interests and chaos.
What a mess. Trump won’t care at this juncture. He’s looking toward another term. He struck gold like it or not with tackling illegal immigration, the border and the reaction to the idea in immigrant communities that illegals should be accepted and anyone who gets here should be embraced and even thinking that if from a poor country they are refugees. We are really in trouble. Trump will do anything he wants.
38
What really is a shame is that if you can't indict a sitting president, why bother with the investigation? The sorry excuse of a POTUS gets away with all of it. The Republican Congress will not impeach. They have too much special interests being accumulated with this POTUS. Sickening.
6
Of course a sitting president can be indicted. No citizen of the United States is above the law. The only thing recommending that an incumbent president ought not be subject to indictment are Department of Justice opinions - and those opinions and rules are not legal opinions but administrative. We've already had established that a sitting president may be subpoenaed - and we already know that impeachment is in fact the Congressional equivalent of indictment. More critically, since the grounds for impeachment are 'High Crimes or Misdemeanors,' by simple induction it is plain that someone who is impeached has been charged with a Crime. In other words, an incumbent who is impeached by the House is indicted and his trial will be conducted in the Senate. QED.
In my sunset years, I forget whether the term "cover-up" needs that hyphen.
40
Having visited the US and found so many nice and helpful people especially one young man who helped me when I strayed in a part of a large city that I should not have gone too. So many beautiful parts of the country so many wonderful sights a country people sure can be proud of. Now all that is being diminished by one man yet in a democracy the choice of the people. I watch the rallies when Trump goes back to the faithful to have his back patted it so strange even he cannot be so naive not to understand how he has divided the nation you would think he would go where he is not popular and try and win people over at least try but running back to the faithful shows a lack of backbone.
79
To be clear, he was not the choice of the majority of the people of this country. As far as his understanding of what he is doing to this nation, he is surely well aware. Sadly, the only things he cares about are his ego and his bank account. The two are not always mutually exclusive.
7
It is glaringly obvious that something in Trump's tax returns will, if exposed, place him in great legal jeopardy, and that is why he is so scared to disclose them.
95
Don't put too much hope in those returns. Tax dodgers lie on their returns all the time. A full and vigorous audit looking for proof of evasion could take years, 500, Partnerships, LLCs and S Corps? What a maze he has created.
1
Bill Clinton lied about one affair and was impeached. Trump lies about several and NOTHING is done. I am fed up with this double standard. FED UP!!!
163
Mark Esposito, this is understandable but Trump is otherwise occupied restoring Law and Order. The Nation can do little with our broken Justice System.
Here is the good part: Those folks that voted for him have to live with that fact the rest of their lives.
Mark, it was multiple affairs and cases of sexual harassment by President Clinton.
Not surprising that Clinton and Trump were friends. They are two peas in a pod.
1
Make
America
Get-rid-of-craven-rapacious-vindictive-immature-avaricious-myopic-liars
ASAP
MAGA, indeed. Please, 2018? Please, 2020?
46
" raising questions about previous omissions?"
I think you mean he lied flat out on Air Force one.
Let's not beat around the bush.
And while he pays no taxes and I pay mine for this criminal to be flying around on air force one to play golf..
It's enough to make one sick.
140
Mr Trump has the advantage of the perception, set up by the right-wing demagogues, that all charges against him or against any right-wing person of fame must be the result of a deep- state big government liberal conspiracy.
With this set up, Trump can never be found guilty of any malfeasance. The right is working tirelessly to stack the judiciary with conservative ideologues, gerrymander voting districts to insure Republican majorities in both Houses, and pour advertising dollars into Republican campaigns.
This is to protect the interests of the tiny group of ultra-wealthy individuals who depend on conservative political support. We live in a plutocracy, and until Trump threatens that power system, he will remain in office.
66
It is mind boggling that when Hillary Clinton talked about a vast right-wing conspiracy (which was real), it was dismissed out of hand but the deep-state liberal conspiracy is taken as truth. I just want to sit in a corner and scream like a toddler having a tantrum.
3
Here we have a President who has lied so many times even the Russians don't trust him. I'm sure his money trail is so confusing Trump himself would be surprised where it ends. He will get away with all the crimes we thought he committed cause he was inept at accomplishing anything. Trump is like a thief who breaks into a jewelry store and forgets why he is there, but congratulates himself for a successful break-in as he walks out with nothing.
33
In the end Trump may walk out of the jewelry store with nothing but right now he, his children and son-in-law are trying to grab everything they can.
3
Trump will certainly walk out with something: A warming planet, disappearing species, gutted science, meaningless schools, shackled aliens, lower taxes for billionaires, and opinionated courts. He is a hollow man, but his greed is unparalleled as he shoplifts our country of its many gifts, ideas, and resources. Shame on us for letting him loot our country so quickly and shamelessly without giving him loud and numerous protests.
5
really? this is news? he admitted what we already knew? here's how Time will tell it - he's such an entitled narcissistic low life that he sells out his country to feed his pathetic feeble go. he didn't drain the swamp, he built a hotel around it.
in other words - he totally colluded with Russia because they're a state run mob and he borrowed money from them.
50
Pres. Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about a sexual liaison. You could fill a book with all the whoppers this guy has told including this payment. .. And also do you really have to quote Giuliani. I mean who cares what he says. He's another one. It changes from day to day, even hour to hour. He's senile anyway.
53
Doctor Woo,
“They can’t indict,” Mr. Giuliani said. “They can’t indict. Because if they did, it would be dismissed quickly. There’s no precedent for a president being indicted.”
Perhaps when we have regained our wits, and assessed damage to Our Constitution, a precedent will be set to avert these misunderstandings and misdemeanors.
2
Now I don’t believe it: I think Cohen was setting up a slush fund, where the Novartises of the world would put up money that would pay Trump’s expenses. A bribery scheme, that is.
31
Why did Cohen need so much money and what did he do with it? Based on the numbers (the millions he took in for access to Trump) there was no reason for him to mortgage his house to pay off Stormy. So obviously that explanation was a damn lie.
40
And this is just a routine financial disclosure form on its umpteenth revision. Imagine what would be revealed if his tax returns were released.
46
I'm guessing Mueller has had Trump's tax returns since the beginning of this probe. Those returns would be like a road map for those following the money, which is what Mueller-grade investigators do.
1
So, Trump "paid more than $100,000 ... Michael D. Cohen, as reimbursement for payments to a “third-party.”?
Isn't this sort of thing the ESSENCE of MONEY-LAUNDERING?
Concealing the trail of money with the intent of hiding the truth!
59
No surprise here. We are in for a long haul regardless of the Special Prosecutor Team findings. What a mess
20
Has the office of the President of the United States ever been so degraded? I know George W. Bush unleashed a futile and endless war based on lies, Lyndon Johnson did it too, but he also led the war on poverty and the fight for civil right. And surely JFK was a serial philanderer but he at least had a positive agenda for the country. And Warren G. Harding fathered an iliegitimate child while in the White House... I so could go on. But have we ever seen a cheesier, sleazier, shallower POTUS than this? Just asking.
67
So he lied on the previous one, since he did not disclose the debt he repaid on this one. As Chris Cuomo says, Trump is tighter than two coats of paint, and as Spy magazine found out, he will track and account for an cash a check for as little as 13 cents. The notion that he did not know where $130K or $35K per month was going and for what is simply not possible.
37
Stormy is the tip of the iceberg. There are others, I am sure. We will know since they apparently were paid from the Cohen slush fund. Or was it Trump's campaign fund? Hard to know what was what any more.
19
This is HUGE !
The president and his lawyers have lied about this multiple times, and in multiple ways. They are trying to cover something up and this scandal is not going away - This story deserves the front page headline.
22
You've got to wonder, "Are we a nation of law and order?"
If so, why is Trump and his mafia family not serving life sentences?
Oh yeah, the Evangelical "Christians" colluded with the Russians to sell him the presidency. The bargain calls for him to nominate far right-wing judges, which Trump's Republican kiss-uppers are only too willing to approve. In exchange for the "Christians" selling their souls, Trump got a "you can't indict me, you can't prosecute me, I get to rob the nation and you can't stop me" card. This card has the guarantee that the Republican Party will honor it and run interference against anyone who dares look too close while Trump is selling America to line his pockets.
Makes you wonder what happened to Republicans? As for the Evangelical "Christians," they were never followers of Jesus Christ, thy are Christian in name only because they really worship Trump, not Jesus Christ.
35
The only person so far claiming that a sitting president cannot be indicted is Rudy Giuliani. Robert Mueller has not yet commented on this topic.
2
Ronan Farrow laid it out for us this evening in chilling detail:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-lea....
The fact that a career law enforcement officer felt compelled to leak the documents, potentially subjecting him to five years in prison, is enough to make the blood run cold.
29
Another day another lie from Trump.
How many lies do you tell your family? How many lies do you tell your boss? Is Trump the role model that you want for your children?
15
Yeah, but see, if wealthy people lie to poor people, it isn't really a lie. It's just good business. Ready to change your vote yet?
19
Raising questions?
More like, "President caught in another bold-faced lie."
16
Questions and lies, but we're getting to the truth. It's like digging for a lost treasure in a pile of garbage. You have to dig up a lot of disgusting XXXX before you find the treasure. In this case, the truth has to be unearthed from a lot of Trump garbage, lies, and XXXX.
8
Which version of Trump & company's statements is finally supposed to be true? The latest one that seems like it might eliminate the secret campaign money legal jeopardy?
It's really hard to believe anything Giuliani, Trump, and Sanders are peddling. Because to believe is to choose a version among many that have been offered.
51
Guessing it's not just a case of follow the money - follow the blood.
17
Once again the sun came up in the morning. Once again Trump lied, or avoided the truth. Which is the more predictable?
42
Given that Kim Jong-un owns a hydrogen bomb, I go with Trump lying.
6
Why do they constantly lie if they believe they are doing nothing wrong?
35
Because they do not believe that lying is wrong.
8
Because they know what they've done (and are still doing) is wrong! And furthermore, because their base does not hold them accountable!
Anyone who still supports Trump is saying they are opposed to decency.
52
They are opposed to decency and PROUD of it.
18
"Bribery refers to the offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of any item of value as a means of influencing the actions of an individual holding a public or legal duty. ... Solicitation of a bribe also constitutes a crime and is completed regardless of whether the solicitation results in the receipt of a valuable gift."
www.law.cornell.edu
22
The American public either didn't know or didn't care that D Trump has operated through bribes, pay-offs, and influence peddling for decades.
Decades? Well, yeah. So, they should have known, right?
18
Feels like further clarity is needed on these numbers. Story says, "The document, which covers the 2017 calendar year, showed total income from Mr. Trump’s business operations and investments of at least $453 million." But the rest of the numbers are rendered as revenue. Revenue is a gross number, before the cost of operations are backed out. Income is profit - what went into his pocket. The income on $435M in revenue, the amount he actually kept, could be anywhere from 5% to 15% of revenue - a big number, to be sure, but nowhere near what is portrayed.
5
Good point, Jonathan.
"... the Trump Organization has only announced one such endeavor, a deal in the Mississippi Delta"
Maybe Trump Trailer Parks will become a franchise.
9
Donald Trump at best skates right on the edge of lying and at worst he blatantly lies. He has gotten away with this most of his life and, I think, that drives him to continue what he views as success. Let's face it, no governmental agency is going to go after him about false financial disclosures or about lying about how he paid off anyone. None of his supporters care about his lack of honesty or his unethical and perhaps quasi-illegal acts. We are stuck with this disaster until the 2020 election and even then, if most of his actions don't result in a financial disaster, we may be stuck with him for another four years.
I wish I could be comforted that the Democrats were going to come up policies that would get them the House or perhaps even the Senate, but I don't see that happening and time is wasting, it's only 5 1/2 months to November. I wish I thought the Democrats could come up with a competitive presidential candidate for 2020, but I'm not seeing that either.
16
I could not agree with you more John Betonte. Your comment is spot on.
Biden, or Kamalla Harris.
If Trump were NOT elected in 2016, NONE of these shenanigans would have come to light. The ultra rich have been finding devious ways to BUY themselves out of all sorts of unethical and illegal conducts. The ugliness of our MONEY driven culture is now in full view.
36
Lawyers say adultery is not a crime. They also say lying is not a crime. Using foul language and rudeness are not also a crime. Mr. Trump has reportedly lied over 3000 times since he took office. This means that he always lies. Isn't it great to know that our President is so consistent and assuring that whenever he says or tweets something, we know for sure that it is a lie.
22
I don't know if the law has changed in recent years, but in New York State, adultery WAS a crime.
3
Lying IS a crime when you do it under oath. It's called perjury.
Lying then, or lying now? Or, most likely, both. So Trump paid Cohen back the $130K for the hush money payoff he didn't know about, for the affair that didn't happen. Right.
21
Enough to give anyone a kidney ailment...
18
This comes as no surprise really. What I'd like to see is someone at the next press briefing ask Ms. Sanders why he lied on Air force One? Should make for an interesting linguistic dance.
17
My money says her father won't let her quit. He's a world class hyperbolic ideologue. And Trump won't let her speak her mind. She'd be therefore trapped between two men who would not allow anyone to give an inch of concession to "the enemy". Sad and painful if that's the case.
4
And, exactly how long are we to believe that Trump knows the 'best people'? He knows best secrets regarding unaccountable liabilities, discrete LLCs and money laundering.
10
How does this go then -
"You pay it...ok?"
"No, I pay you then you pay him."
"No, No, I pay you then you pay him and he pays her...ok"
"I'm disclosing that I paid it back or some of it...and then I pay you monthly."
How does that sound or what?
Well, these boys have stolen enough to pay anybody and anything.
6
The normalization of the witch hunt as a legitimate expression of political differences began with Bill Clinton. I expect this deliberate step was preparation for the possibility that a rogue player might someday buck the system and rise to the top.
I am much more concerned about the powers behind the undercurrent of globalism and how American sovereignty is seen as an obstacle to it's advancement than I am about any Russian boogie men.
what about the law? any concern for that?
8
Yes indeed. Again, it is a matter of priorities. I have to ask myself why so much importance is being placed on issues of sexual shenanigans and hush money pertaining to such matters and so little attention is being paid to how our own government uses policy decisions to circumvent laws pertaining to border security and immigration.
Do you not see a pattern over numerous decades that could be considered incremental steps toward eventual open borders and co-mingled sovereignty like what we see in Europe today? Deliberate steps, I might add, taken under the guise of a "broken system?
Which would you consider more important, hush money over sexual shenanigans or the undermining of our rights to self determination?
So what it the Stormy Daniels affair reveals that the President of the United States is susceptible to blackmail and has no problem with bribery or extortion. Yeah, what's the big deal?
13
This is a perfect example of why the president can certainly be indicted. Impeachment is limited to high crimes and misdemeanors. Unless everything a president unlawfully does is a high crime and misdemeanor, the President could commit crimes which are not those, with no remedy available. That is silliness. Failing to disclose material information is a federal crime punishable by a year in jail. It is quite arguably not a high crime and misdemeanor. The notion that impeachment is the only penalty available is simply tortured and wrong. Impeachment is the only way a President can be removed from office. The Framers intended quite that. They never said he could be President and commit a limitless number of lower crimes with impunity. He can be indicted, convicted, and jailed. When Congress sees fit, they can impeach. If not, he can govern from jail as many public officials, including American, have done in history.
And by the way, misdemeanors in the late 19th century are not what we think of today. They were serous felonious offenses. The "high" modifies both crimes and misdemeanors.
9
I thought that the contract with Stormy Daniels revealed that the money was actually paid by Essential Consultants, LLC, a limited liability company formed in Delaware to Daniels. Something is wrong with this picture... Trump reports in 2018 that he paid Cohen in 2017 to reimburse Cohen for money paid by an LLC in 2016 to Daniels. I presume the LLC was funded by Cohen. And under the new tax laws, this pass through LLC won't have to pay any taxes on the money that sat in its accounts before being paid out....
3
Really? Trump is a billionaire?
Question: What billionaire has to make installment payments on a $130,000 loan from his lawyer?
Answer: A non-billionaire.
28
Or someone trying to make a series of small payments for the purpose of avoiding detection...
12
So this disclosure raises questions? I just read Ronan Farrows latest piece in the New Yorker, about Cohen's money trail, secret bank reports, suppression of evidence and more. I suggest everyone read it, unless you have a weak stomach, it will make you want to wretch.
62
Read it and remind yourself that the special counsel’s team does not have a weak stomach...
1
This is news??? What the... Really, we already knew he paid off Daniels. I suppose the next report will be Trump admitting he had an affair with Stormy. Wow! What next, film of prostitutes doing nasty things in a Moscow hotel room?
It is now clear beyond much doubt that Trump had an affair with Daniels. Probably also with Karen McDougal as Ms. McDougal has claimed.
Let us assume that all of this is true, including the nasty business in Moscow. But so what? Adultery is not a crime, it is an imbroglio between Trump and Melania. All of this lascivious behavior will not impact the Evangelical community because they are all hypocrites and will excuse any bad behavior of Trump. Right now they are developing their rationalizations for how Trump is a righteous and marvelous human being.
30
It’s significant because of campaign finance law violations and the obstruction charges. Affairs aren’t illegal. But, breaking laws is. A point that seems to be conveniently lost on all too many these days.
18
I think you're missing the point. It isn't the adultery and behavior with prostitutes that either did or didn't happen in that Moscow hotel room. It's about Trump's paying hush money via an intermediary of questionable business practices and ethics, lying about it, having other people lie about it, failing to report and account for it, getting caught in the lies, and possibly being tainted by other very unseemly activities his intermediary involved himself in. Not all necessarily illegal, but all of it further confirmation of Trump's character and ethics.
20
And not all necessarily LEGAL, either...
1
I think it's time to get Don The Con in front of congress to clear this whole mess up. I'm sure he could give an honest explanation of all this. LOL
23
In front of THIS congress? They'd give him a standing ovation.
15
If asked he'll probably say he'd "love" to explain to Congress and "stay tuned" because he's going to make a "big announcement" day after tomorrow about it because he's "definitely going to do it."
Then of course he'll hedge by adding "who knows, we'll see."
And that will be the end of it like so many other pronouncements.
6
Oh, Nathaniel, you made me laugh out loud. Which is great. I don't laugh too much when I am reading the news or the comments on the news these days.
1
Yet, many of Americans who voted Mr. T into the White House would continue to support the Cheater because they are cheaters and they love seeing the copy of themselves.
Democratic machinery is functioning.
17
What about the payment to Karen McDougal, the Playboy bunny? Where does her hush money show up? And how many more?
26
The owner of the publishing company for National Enquirer paid the $150,000 to McDougal for her story. Though the owner and Trump are friends, it does not appear that Trump is reimbursing the publisher. But it should be reported as a gift, in kind, to Trump.
6
That came from the Enquirer which bought her story to shut it down - the owner, David Pecker, is Trump's buddy (who'd recently published a front page hit piece on Cohen, which was said to have needed Trump's approval). She's free to tell her story, but it's been told and people are probably more interested in getting the truth out of Trump at this point. There may be an issue if the Enquirer payment might be considered a campaign contribution. There's too much of this to keep track of...
1
Most citizens, having been caught failing to disclose or report a sum this large, by a government agency such as the IRS, would be dealt with harshly and face penalties up to and including incarceration. The complete abscence of any repercussions for Trump for what can only be described as fraud, demonstrates yet again that he is above the law.
54
What else is new? He's been above the law since the day he was born. How many billionaires have ever been imprisoned?
7
Apparently, he is above the law. A good number of people, including Trump lawyers and some other so-called legal scholars, say that a sitting President cannot be indicted.
1
So, then, Dodurgali, and the rest of the world, that means that a sitting president IS ABOVE THE LAW! How's that grab everyone?
1
What happened to Trump's 10 Billion $mackers? Seems now he's down to only 1-point-some-odd billion, almost food stamp level poverty. I know that's where my wife and I would be if we had to get by on 15% of our income and assets.
Al Capone was brought down by the accountants, imprisoned for tax evasion and not for the countless murders he ordered. No one is about to accuse Trump of murder, though he himself has mused on what would happen if he did cap someone at random on 5th Avenue some day. And Capone finally died of venereal disease complications. The parallels are interesting, not to say amusing.
27
So Trump re-paid Cohen for the NDA. But we really want to know what happened to the $$$$$$$$$$ paid to Cohen by Novartis, AT&T, friends of Putin, the fee to Donnie for 'brokering' Ruskie gas co sale? Hundreds of million, into LLC's, shell companies? Paying to shut up the porn girl may be the only legal or legit activity. Selling the White House, abroad and at home, seems to have been the reason for the big money.
Michael Avenatti still our pick for a Nobel Peace Prize for making the rubes pay attention to the wholesale corruption involved in monetizing election results globally, but the pay-out to Ms. Daniels was chump change. We wouldn't have done Donald for ten million. But Novartis, Putin oligarchs et al had bigger stakes.
31
"But Novartis, Putin oligarchs et al had bigger stakes."
Still chump change if compared to the $500M investment by China in an Indonesian area that will benefit three nearby Trump-owned properties. This coincides with Trump's willingness to save ZTE after he shut them down for violating sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Slate had a detailed article today about possible bribes with international business deals. This stuff comes in faster than Mueller or anyone can process it.
13
Here's a 4D Chess Hypothesis:
1) Trump pays into Cohen slush fund (Cohen does lots of stuff that Trump doesn't want his fingerprints on)
2) Cohen pays Stormy. Nobody will ever know!
3) Stormy blabs.
4) Cohen's payment, if not reimbursed, is now considered an illegal campaign donation not reported by Trump. A criminal act.
5) Trump decides to report reimbursement. Now taking the heat for cheating on wife is less costly than admitting to a felony.
(Weirder stuff has been happening)
21
If you had an employee, and you learned that he falsified his resume, you would fire him. If you learned that he lied to you, you would fire him. If you learned that he was making money on other business while he was supposed to be working for you, you'd fire him. If you learned that he disclosed your trade secrets to your competitors, you'd fire him.
65
Now all you have to do is figure out how to fire him. He has support of a large portion of the electorate; he has support of the majorities in the House and Senate; he owns the Department of Justice, such as it is; he will not likely be taken down by Russiagate; he will stands of good chance of re-election if the economy doesn't tank before 2020. Right now Trump seems immune to most approaches to fire him, and all Democratic talk about impeachment does is rile up his supporters making a Democratic takeover of either the House or Senate ever more difficult. If you know a good way to proceed, we all would like to read it.
4
John, if trump does not get impeached, (or worse) and we have to suffer through more years with him, look for the Southern District of New York to come after him when he leaves the presidency. He can do nothing about THAT, unless he pays off someone, like, let's say Preet Bharara. (Would not work, I'll tell you that.) The long arm of the law, when it actually works, can reach very far, and be very patient, if need be.
2
Why is this revised document being accepted as true? He categorically denied any such payments. Now we're supposed to believe him? The only reason for this "disclosure" is because the rather more believable prior version of events is far more damaging and illegal.
25
It needs to become a legal requirement for all future presidents to disclose annual tax filing documents.
42
You may be the most honest person Trump ever met. Thank you Stormy!
24
People should give Trump a break. After all, he quite likely got his payoff to Stormy Daniels mixed up with other payoffs and simply forgot about it. Oversights happen!
16
"Under federal law, an official who “knowingly and willfully falsifies information” on a financial disclosure could face criminal charges."
Do we really expect Jeff Session's Justice Department to enforce this?
40
Trump once said he could shoot someone in the middle of the street and no one would care. I never thought that elected Republican leaders, sworn to defend our country and constitution, would be the ones he was talking about.
15
Yes, it turns out that those Republican leaders are exactly the nobodies he was talking about.
3
Tillerson for MVP.
7
He never had collusion with those Russians! His entire Trump Tower of cards was propped up by Russian money. Now the Presidency is being used as a money laundering operation. All Trump enterprises, bankrupt without continual capital infusions are operating as open channels of influence. Hush payments are threads that may unravel the entire ball of financial self-dealing that Trump rolled into the White House.
13
if trump released his tax returns it will show that his tax evasive lies will earn him 1000 years in jail.
16
Trump lies as he breathes. Why anyone would take Trump's financial form as a complete and true picture of Trump's finances is beyond me. This is Trump's touchiest subject and he definitely has accomplished and very skilled accountants who "prepare' the numbers just so.
Lets not forget one of Trump's great friends Carl Ichan. He who loves insider trading deals. What about Trump? There is no detail of any of his stock transactions or portfolio since he entered the rarified world of the Oval Office with all of its information. Trump's tweets Have sent the stock market up or down. Did he help himself?
Dig deep. Even then the truth is elusive regarding Trump and his money.
11
Forthcoming when it suits their interests, aren't they?
In this case it looks a lot better for Trump if he knew, despite the conflicting lies he's previously peddled and tweeted. The alternative--a corporate slush fund through 'Essential Consultants', ostensibly for Cohen to gain access to the president's 'thinking' (and what a house of horrors that has turned out to be), but functionally designed to fund Trump's various past, present and future private hush money enterprises--seems slightly more seedy.
1
Just read the breathless breaking news that Rex
is wagging his finger at Trump's untruths at some
commencement do. What a grand laugh.
Rex who only took his job at the white house
to further an oil deal with Russian oigarchs
and quit when he could not remove the Russian
sanctions which stood in the way of Exxon Mobile
handling the drilling chores for cligarchs in
one of those seas over in Ruskyland. And getting
billions for their trouble. So Rex still is pretty sore
at mendacious Trump it seems. God don't any of
the Republicans tell the truth at all? Do they
tell the truth to their wives or husbands or lovers?
Was ancient Rome like this in it's gory and glory
days.
9
Even with this new piece of evidence stated in black and white, Trump will still continue lie about the issue. If that is not brazen then what is.
6
On NPR this morning, the authors of a book were discussing their study on how and why Trump won. Trump voters, especially former Democrats who were disillusioned with the two parties, believed that Trump represented the change they wanted. The authors claimed that this was not an emotional decision but that these people thought hard about it. It was fairly evident from Trump's campaign rallies that emotion played a big roll among his supporters. As this story demonstrates yet again, Trump is a fraud and a liar. How did these people not recognize this in 2016?
19
The more significant tragedy, one that speaks volumes to the state of our Republic is the fact that the daily lies, the systematic corruption of our institutions, & the continued unabated personal profiteering by Trump doesn’t faze his base in the least. In a twisted sort of way it’s as if his base is living life vicariously through him. Visualize 62,979,879 Trump voters ( the actual number of voters that voted for Trump) simultaneously giving everyone else on the planet the middle finger. We know that some of that 62 million profited bigly as a result of Trump’s fake tax reform plan aka: the largest redistribution of wealth to the most comfortable of Americans Act of 2017. And we know that Trump’s evangelical voters are getting what they want ( Embassy to Jerusalem, disenfranchisement of transgender service members ) but what’s the big payoff to the rest of Trump’s voters ? A few coal jobs ?
5
Because the media refused to address his shortcomings squarely. As Michelle Wolf pointed out, Trump was a money-maker for the media. We deserve all of this.
5
KeepCalmCarryOn: No, not a few coal jobs, but many of these trump supporters are people who LOVE his bombast, who love his vulgarity, who love his hate-mongering, who love his encouraging his supporters to "Punch that guy in the nose!" A lot of them hate minorities, and thus, trump validates their racism. A lot of them hate (and want to control) women, so then trump validates their misogyny. A lot of them engage in the very same reprehensible behaviors as trump does, or they would love to, if they could...so he is a mirror image for them. They feel powerful that they have found their avatar. It sounds sick. And it is sick.
A line written by the great poet Gerard Manley Hopkins says all there is to say about Trump now and forever:
No worst, there is none.
17
Trump managers in Panama had to be forcibly removed from the property after being told to vacate. Now they know what it feels like to be evicted. Trump amending disclosure forms is like Jared amending his security clearance form every time he gets caught in a lie. Haven't heard if Jared got his super secret security clearance from daddy-in-law yet?
5
What's really frustrating about all of this mess is that there doesn't seem to be any way out.
VOTE. IT MATTERS!
20
The #s I am reading here - $130,000 here, $26,500 there a few millions here and there makes me wonder. Like a tabloid reader I want to sleazy deals everywhere. And now I really want him pushed to disclose his tax returns - for the billions that are not there. The dominoes are slowing into a forward free fall. Will the complete fall happen? Before or after impeachment?
Frankly, I don't care when. All I'm interested is how fast the dominoes fall.
7
I suspect the next person to be fired by Trump will be Mr. Apol in the Office of Government Ethics. I also suspect that until now, Trump probably was not even aware of Mr. Apol’s existence. And since Trump has no use for ethics, I expect him to quickly nominate another creature from the swamp to take over this Office.
3
'Since he took office, Mr. Trump’s name has been erased from three of his family company’s prized properties. His company has watched its pipeline of deals ebb and flow. And one new line of business it has pursued is limited to quietly managing other companies’ hotels that are unattached to its once-flashy brand.'
This is misleading. Since going into business with his father, Trump has incorporated literally hundreds of limited companies in different jurisdictions within the USA and overseas. Many of those limited companies are now defunct, having been wound up formally in accordance with the rules of the jurisdiction in which the company was incorporated. Other of Trump's limited companies have not been formally wound up but haven't traded in many years.
The so-called 'Trump Organisation' is a catch all phrase used by the media to refer to this nebulous group of hundreds of companies incorporated in the State of Delaware, in the State of New York, in Scotland, in Ireland and all around the world.
In addition to his hundreds of limited companies, which Trump incorporated, there are many limited companies incorporated by others that have licensing agreements with Trump limited companies.
2
Dear Congress (And the America that's still eyes wide shut)
How much more do you need? Is the painting splattered on the wall clear enough or do you need a mural?!
The Swamp at its very best! *rolling eyes*
9
"Filing shows" is more accurately worded "Filing claims", isn't it?
If you have confirmation independently that Mr. Trump paid Cohen, and the filing indicates that happened. Then the filing "shows" that it happened. If you do not have confirmation, and earlier statements by both Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen asserted that payment or reimbursement was NOT made, then the honest way of saying it is to word is as "Filing claims".
3
In this case, I don't think that the parties can agree to disagree. There's enough evidence, and statements from both Trump and Cohen, and now Giuliani, that they're caught both ways. They 've violated this law or that law, maybe both. I can't believe two people who want other people to think that they're smart can end up so entangled.
2
And yet the GOP refuse to call Trump to account for his blatant lies and wrong doing. So much for being a party of values.
17
The greedy hoteliers paid him to put his name on their property, then paid him so they could take it off. Nice work if you can get it.
Many more questions than answers here.
Like from what account in what name did Trump "pay" Cohen and to what account in what name did Cohen "received Trump's payment?
Like did Trump repay Essential Consultants, the company that actually paid the porn actor the hush money?
Like what are the duties and payment arrangements in Trump's retainer agreement with Cohen? When was this retainer agreement signed? Are Essential Consultants actions on Trump's behalf also included in this retainer agreement?
And since Essential Consultants paid the porn actor on Trump's behalf, isn't Trump also obligated to disclose a debt to Essential Consultants?
And what else have Cohen and Essential Consultants done on behalf of Trump using other people's money, like from the Russian oligarch or his cousin or Novartis or ATT or Korea Aerospace or who knows who else?
And exactly through who else or through what other legal entities under what other retainer agreements were payments were using what bank accounts linking Trump to Cohen and Essential Consultants and everybody who paid Cohen and/or Essential Consultants and everybody that Cohen and/or Essential Consultants did and paid for on Trump's behalf?
2
Trump doesn't lie!
The truth just doesn't conform to what he says.
That's not his problem.
Give the man a break!
1
As some wag put it a while back, we should amend Howard Baker's famous Watergate-related rhetorical question thusly: What did the president know, and when did he forget it?
11
It becomes impossible to keep track of multiple versions of an ever changing story. And that's the point. If someone gets caught with one inconsistency or lie, they get in trouble. But if there are so many lies that you lose count, it devalues the importance of the truth. Then Trump becomes less culpable because there is no shaming the shameless.
8
I thought that it would be most appropriate for Mr Cohen to pay Ms. Daniels with a home equity loan on his Trump Towers property. However, this arrangement seems better, somehow. With such acute financial sense, neither of the two esteemed gentlemen should ever find themselves in this kind of predicament. They're damned if they did, and damned if they didn't. I'm glad I'm poor.
2
'I'm Not A Crook'...
22
Anyone outside of the Trump/Fox/Sinclair bubble, including politicians who have plenty of access to real information if they want it, who still hasn't figured out that this president is a pathological liar with shady associates and a long history of skirting laws and accountability that should have made him think twice about running for the highest office in the land, not to mention functionally illiterate, bull headed and abusive has to be willfully deaf, dumb and blind.
The preposterous notion that every single law enforcement and intelligence agency has some reason to lie whereas a documented, serial liar and his tainted minions are telling the truth should cause those who know better -- see above politicians and particularly GOP leaders -- to bow their heads in shame for enabling and in some cases trumpeting it.
By continuing to support this charade, they are actively participating in destroying the country, our democracy and most likely their own, long term careers, and if by some miracle still have a shred of decency should do the right thing and get on the right side of this travesty.
35
Seriously, Trump could push someone off a bridge, laughing as the person falls to their death, all while being videotaped. And he would still come off on top, likely egging his base on to blame the victim, and they would.
26
Isn't it great how Evangelical Christians, who form a large part of his base, are ok with his total lack of morals? Cheats on his wife, pays off a porn star, uses his position for personal gain, lies about everything, bullies and calls people names (including women, the handicapped, his colleagues, immigrants and anyone from another country), and is just a totally disgusting human being. But in the name of Jesus Christ, let's overlook all that because we will get some things that we want, and the end does justify the means! That's from the Bible, right? (sarcasm alert)
47
One step closer to the slammer for Trump.
18
NYT: if it turns out that Trump was on the verge of bankruptcy again and the infusion of cash from Russia that bailed him out can be traced to sanctioned individuals and criminal proceeds, can the government seize the properties connected to the criminal proceeds?
8
JGood, Short answer, unlikely. Longer answer: always ask yourself if you can prove targeted property is either instrumentality of, or proceeds of, a crime. Co-mingling (some tainted funds, some not) makes the question less clear cut, but the real issue is debt remaining on property. When you seize the asset, you accept responsibility for liens on it. Drug dealers use rental cars and highly leveraged cars to forestall seizure. Prosecutors don't want the debt or the innocent third party defense to deal with. Now take that simple rationale and apply it to a highly leveraged piece of real estate with innocent third party partners. I hope this helps you get the picture.
1
When can we all just admit that the "presidency" is simply another vanity project for Trump? He wants to see his name in lights..." period." (to quote Sean Spicer) He knows little about the job and cares less - it's all about his ego. How can this country continue to allow every governmental agency, institution, tradition and its global image to be debased by such a sick clown.
24
And the FOXnews website even covers this, with the headline "Michael Cohen payment revealed in Trump financial disclosure; source says Giuliani knew it'd go public."
Is this witless or what? FOX news sure didn't need a "source" to know this would "go public," nor did Giuliaini.
Are FOXNews readers so ill-informed or gullible as to think that a public document the President is required to file under penalty of perjury won't "go public?"
Of course there are the obvious questions: did this get any broadcast coverage? Does any Republican think that Republican presidents should not pay off porn stars they had sexual affairs with? Is there a Republican out there who thinks that the lying is embarrassing?
11
A president who lies every time he opens his mouth.. Thanks for not voting.
16
No matter how you look at this, his behavior was unethical and unbecoming of the President of the USA at best, illegal at worst. But will his supporters care? No, they only care when democrats behave inappropriately.
15
Here's what the journalists need to focus on. Not that this is an admission of payment to a porn star. This report has obviously been faked to re-assign the payments. It does not jibe with Michael Cohen's frequent complaints that he was not paid back by Trump for the $130K. So if money was paid -- these installments -- what were they really for? Hope Cohen has already identified this to Mueller.
12
Trump continues to lie to the American citizens. We can't be rid of him soon enough as far as I am concerned. '
But what I want to know is why did Trump decide to go to bat for the Chinese Company XLE which is considered to be dangerous to the US by the CIA and what did that have to do with the 500k that the Chinese Government gave to the Trump hotel in Indonesia?
We need to get Trump out of office any way we can or he will soon be living like a Sheik.
16
Vote GOP out. They should not be at the helm of this country.
POTUS now stands for nothing respectable.
21
So, which credible news organization will be the first to call Donald Trump a Liar? As "The People's Court" Judge Marilyn Milian says, "I wouldn't believe you [him] if your tongue came Notorized."
6
He lied on TV, hundreds of times.
I am sure FBI agents were watching.
It is illegal to lie to the FBI, isn't it?
So can we get him on that?
12
Criminal Trump has been a criminal his entire criminal life.
17
Payment for 'services' Trump received. Thanks to Rudy. Keep on talking!
9
"We are a nation of laws" (but only if you are an immigrant).
8
Does anybody believe that Trump paid back Mr. Cohen from personal funds? Not me! From toilet paper to McDonalds, I believe Trump pays for nothing from his own pocket book. Everything is business because ever since Bernie Madoff exited stage left, Trump portrays himself as the best con artist in the world.
13
It continues to amaze me that Trump supporters are more enraged that Stormy Daniels is an adult film actress then that a married man (Trump) had sex with her a few months after his wife gave birth to his son. How on earth can they overlook his behavior? Stormy Daniels is very honest about what she is. Donald Trump and his supporters are not honest about what he is.
19
Do not those remaining Republicans who have any sense of decency not realize what damage Trump is doing to their party? How can they stand idly by and watch everything they believe in as conservatives be smeared with the Trumpian crime slime?
Do they not realize that Republican leadership has foisted off on the American people an ignorant disgraceful criminal who thinks the US government is just a branch of his corrupt family businesses? It is not a really question of liberal or conservative it is a matter of respect for what this nation stands for.
13
( ( ( ((( GASP! ))) ) ) Who would have EVER guessed?! We are living in times of wonderous revelations, indeed.
4
Anytime you're thinking that the bar couldn't get any lower in the Trump White House, it does just that. The next level down from the swamp is the bottomless sink hole.
12
Whew! No illegal use of campaign funds in this lead. Just adultery and lying from the POTUS. That's a low we can accept.
9
Which ends sooner, Trump's time in office or his marriage?
8
Okay, so now we’re pretty sure the president had a sexual relationship with a porn star. Not illegal. He probably paid her hush money. Not illegal. He probably tried to hide the fact that he paid her, and may even have signed an affidavit that he did not. Yeah, that’s probably illegal, but not such a big deal that it hurts him in any way. What, a fine? Nope, nothing really there except campaign fodder for his opponent in the next election. So how about we put a lid on it for now? We’re gonna get sick of it all over again in a couple years.
36
"Signed an affidavit that he did not. Yeah, that’s probably illegal, but not such a big deal"
That depends on what "is" is.
35
Mr. Schultz... If this --- https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-lea... --- is not a big deal....what is?
30
Another Trump supporter who thinks that lying it's not a problem. What is happened to the moral fiber of this country when a significant portion of the population tolerates lie after lie after lie after lie?
3
Wait...Trump lied to us?
13
You mean... Donald Trump lied?
10
For a couple of years, I had a boss who was SUCH an accomplished liar that he could look you in the eye and tell you something that HE knew that YOU knew that HE knew was UNtrue!
And…then…even if you CALLED him on it…! ! !
As ghostwriter Anthony Schwartz has said of Trump: “lying is second nature to him!”
83
Lying is FIRST nature to him!
8
Look, I get it. Trump lies a lot. Let’s not pretend that Hillary isn’t a liar’s liar herself. Both parties nominated terrible candidates.
3
Midwest Josh, Trump is in a class of his own. Comparing him to Hillary is a disservice to Trump. He's the lying-est POTUS ever. Period.
Hillary was not a great campaigner, but she was the more qualified candidate. Two POTUSes said so.
1
I think it's going to down in history that the electoral college allowed a real sleazebag to enter the Whitehouse as the minority vote recipient.
87
Theoretically, the electors could have switched their votes, but if they had disregarded the instructions of the voters in the several states who deputized them, there might have been a different set of questions about the legitimacy of the outcome.
3
Rella: The Electoral College is PROHIBITED BY LAW from installing anyone who is UNFIT into the presidency. So: They violated the law. If they could not see that trump was unfit when he mocked a disabled reporter, and incited his supporters to violence at his rallies, they are incompetent and complicit.
The guy who was outraged about the Clinton Foundation seems to have discovered its silver lining, a lining that he's incorporated nicely into his own pockets.
36
The one thing that this whole fiasco has taught me is that it's perfectly okay to steal and cheat and lie. This is the age of Trump. Anything goes. Just don't get caught, and when you do just lie, lie, lie. Under Trump, if you tell the same lie enough times, it becomes the truth. If the People are stupid enough to believe, or pretend to believe, they deserve the new world Trump has created.
64
And just keep in mind that 80% of Evangelical Christians approve of this behavior.
9
KS, not only do 80% of Evangelical Christians APPROVE of trump's behavior, they do so because they probably ENGAGE in the same behaviors!
I am shocked, shocked.
31
Donny Trump lie?? unthinkable
Michael Cohen lie?? preposterous
Ohhh, that Donny Trump and Michael Cohen....of course, they lied. Neither is fit to do what they do. Trump is incompetent, uneducated, illiterate, corrupt and so much more. His job as President is to act for the benefit of the country, putting the country before his own interests. This he has failed, repeatedly, to do. He should be impeached for failing to do the job he swore he would do.
When does Cohen get disbarred?
56
When do they go to prison???
7
Trump has two goals in life, first and foremost is to enjoy admiration and adulation from those he considers his lessers (he calls them 'losers' in private).
The second is to expand his eponymous 'Trump' brand while looting the country - all in support of his first goal.
Donald Trump suffers from Dunning-Kruger Effect:
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which an unskilled person makes poor decisions and arrives at erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to realize their mistakes. The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average, much higher than it actually is, while the highly skilled underrate their abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority. This leads to the perverse situation in which less competent people rate their own ability higher than more competent people."
Trump is literally too stupid to recognize he is stupid. These people usually think that they are, counter to the truth, much brighter and more competent than anybody else.
10
For those who say his insane judgment and morals inviting hidden STDs into his marriage (with an infant at home!) doesn't matter - I say it's the same judgment that invited Earthquake Pruitt and Blow-It-Up Bolton into the White House.
Rotten judgment.
35
America's evangelicals will have to come up with a whole new set of Holy Mulligans for the Sinner-in-Chief.
44
Compulsive liar.
30
A private golf-fetish club for the golfiest
Prez and his rich white patrons has zero to do with the White House. But I hear they got the best chocolate cake ever made.
15
I’d rather have an ice cream sandwich.
Under oath, Trump will have to admit that he authorized a hush payment on the eve of the election in order to influence the outcome of the election. That Cohen was repaid at a later date amounts to an unreported campaign contribution on Cohen’s part, per election laws (see tweet of Conway’s spouse). Campaign finance violations and false disclosure statements confirmed. So much for Trump’s solemnly sworn oath to uphold the constitution and our laws.
BTW, I don’t believe an attorney can say the hush payment was an **expense** per professional ethics of attorneys.
35
Wondering if this is strategic disclosure to avoid this info coming out closer to the midterms and destroying republicans. Because so far, these "bombshells" that should sink any candidate or elected official some how blow over or get ignored or explained away (Access Hollywood, anyone). Not predicting any useful outcome of this info.
14
I hope I live long enough to read what serious presidential historians will write about Trump and his administration. I can't imagine that the passage of time will find any redeeming policy or vision to give him credit for. I was blessed with a grandmother who lived to be 3 months short of 103. With a clear mind to the end, it was always interesting to hear her take on the events of her days, like her recollections of the 1st Halley's comet, WWI and II, her 1st t.v., etc. Hope my grandchildren don't ask too many questions about the president who was sued for defamation by an adult movie star or ask how on earth we came to elect this sorry excuse of a president.
65
And yet, it doesn't really matter, does it? I'm sure I'll tune into "Hardball" tonight, watching Chris Matthews and Anthony Scaramucci yukking it up like long-lost fraternity brothers, as the "Mooch" insists that this is just the way of the world for big, important guys like tRUMP.
I'll vote in November, but aside from that, I've come to the realization that the orange buffoon probably could indeed shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and it wouldn't make a difference. We're stuck with this vulgar cretin for the long haul. How disgusting.
65
Could not agree more with this comment! The louder the protests are against Trump the more gleefully his supporters dig in with their support.
1
The avaricious and unlearned Donald envisioned the White House as the ultimate golden trough. Ever delusional, he believed he would function as emperor, with his utterly doltish family members elevated to the royal court. He never imagined being under the glare of the spotlight. He thought he could manipulate the press as he often did in NY and use the FBI as his private detective squad to dig up
the dirt on anyone in his crosshairs.
Thank god for the good people at CREW and career patriots like Walter Schaub, who have been unrelenting in shining a spotlight on his corruption.
And kudos to Stormy Daniels, who has been honest and steadfast. I hope that the many other women who have reported unwanted sexual overtures from the aging playboy Donald will feel newly emboldened to step forward and I hope that their testimony will be taken seriously.
41
the logo script on the national doral property looks like the first word is "Frump"
kerning kerning kerning
9
But where did these bucks come from? How much specifically did he pay Mr. Cohen and for reimbursement for what? Nothing like the inability to answer a question with the full truth. I've got an idea, why don't we look at his bank records, tax returns and compare the same to the financial documents associated with the campaign? Stupid me, I forgot, DJT and his ilk are above the law.
24
How is it that our local New York Republican State Senator Terrence Murphy and Republican Assembly Member Kevin Bryne remain silent about IQ45's lying behavior? Both hypocrites and call themselves the "silent majority". How can they morally not say anything? Brain washed by their own GOP party they seem to have no understanding of the definition of ethics is. Let's hope voters are not silenced and next election cycle both will be removed out of office.
23
Anything I might say is bound to be echoed many times over so I'll just point out that I'm on the side of those who never doubted for a moment that Trump is a born liar; he woudn't know the truth if it was flung in his face unless it was a truth that held him to account.
16
If this were Obama the Republicans would be howling and while convening impeachment hearings at breakneck speed. But its not, it's Trump and all we hear are crickets accompanied by inertia. At least one thing is clear, Trump is not really making money hand over fist through the presidency. Hard to do his usual hustles with so much attention. But it serves a purpose, it distracts the public while congress dismantles our democracy. Would President Pence be any better? Probably not but it could hardly be worse.
26
Buy stock in white wash!
The Republicans have used lots of it so far, I mean here in the comments section alone not to mention the tank farms of the stuff needed at FOX News, Hannity, Lambuagh, evangelicals, etc, and they will need to lots more before all this is over. Lots. I've never seen so much white washing in my lifetime. So what? No big deal. Who cares? Doesn't matter.
15
Money laundering is a major activity of the Trump Crime Syndicate. Whether the laundered money is coming from Russia to Trump or the laundered money going from Trump to pay off one of his many sex partners, it is just a way of life in Trump's sleazy world.
37
It continues to amaze me that by denying culpability and all the misguided attempts to pretend nothing happened it's become an ongoing story that keeps growing and may end up bringing down Trump's House of Cards, while Michael Avenatti outmaneuvers his Keystone Kops lawyers.
14
Who cares...tried of hearing about Cohen and about Russia...the USA needs to get on with its life and continue on the Make America Great again path.
11
Gee, this is really great, isn't it? You so tired of losing yet?
29
Yea, who cares about lying, corruption and pay-for-play that benefitted Trump?! Except that if it was a Democrat or Hillary Clinton you would be bringing in the firing squad amid chants of ‘lock her up’
The hypocrisy never fails to boggle the mind
97
Was America GREAT when our Presidents we're discovered to be non-stop liers? Of so America is great again.
22
How sad it is that the president of the United States can blatantly lie on a daily basis and a portion of the American people, as well as a large part of the Congress, find it acceptable. Ignorance and greed carry the day.
49
The Liar in Chief lied on his financial disclosure, and only disclosed the transaction when he knew he was going to be exposed. Typical, and criminal, for Trump.
19
When is Trump going to disclose his pay to play from China of $500 Million while he claimed to care about jobs in China!
19
The big question is "Did Trump only start paying Cohen once he realized that Mueller had tumbled to his hush-payment account?" If so, doesn't it indicate that Trump's original plan was to NOT pay Cohen... to allow companies like AT&T and Novartis and Korea Aerospace to pay his legal bills in return for access to his office? And wouldn't that be felony bribery?
15
Please don't just prosecute Trump. He is an organized criminal along with ATT, etc. Oh, I forgot, only poor people go to jail.
5
Just follow the money, and it will lead Trump directly to jail.
24
Another example of the soon to be classic idiom - Be Best.
8
That he lied about it publicly doesn't matter, he wasn't under oath. It's the unreported in-kind campaign contribution that matters. A felony to go along with all the many others he lies to us about.
11
Keep crowing, blue-dog Democrats. You're missing forest for trees here.
The payments from Trump to Cohen, and then to Daniels, would seem to severely undercut the issue of illegal campaign contributions. Now, Cohen clearly lied when he publicly said he paid hush money out of his own pocket. But lying isn't illegal.
There's a ways to go, of course, before all this gets sorted out. But this disclosure would seem to help Trump.
2
The fact he lied on AFOne when asked if he knew about the payment. Now he says he reimbursed Michael Cohen for the payment. Can't trust him anyway you throw him.
10
If, as a nation, we have sunk to the point that our new bar for expected presidential conduct is that any conduct short of a crime is perfectly acceptable, all I can say is what a sad and sorry fate for a once great nation.
6
Mark,
Politics is dirty business and always has been. Hillary lied, too, about emails. Not as pants-on-fire as Trump, but a fibber nonetheless.
What good does it do anyone at this point to point out that Trump is a liar? We knew he was a liar before the election. He got elected anyway. And he's told one whopper after the next ever since, just as he did before Election Day. No one who supports him cares that he lies.
The only thing I care about is getting Trump out of office, and pointing out that he's a liar doesn't move us a millimeter toward that goal.
I'm not a pathological liar. I don't view it as a disease. By the way Christ, you can skip the second coming. That position is taken.
6
No shame. I hope he goes bankrupt ...
Again.
13
At what point do the republicans uphold the United States Constitution? Are there still that many trump people who think he intends to make America great again? His plan is to make trump and his merry men rich more!
14
Follow the money, follow the honey.
6
This Administration is exhausting! Wake me up when someone goes to jail!
9
Doesn't the statement in this article that the Trump Organization "has not pursued new deals in foreign countries, cutting off an important stream of business that was projected to provide much of its future revenue" require at least some sort of caveat? Based on reporting, the organization has both advanced and explored deals in India, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic after the President was sworn into office. Is the distinction that some of these deals were already in the works prior to that point? The quoted statement is incomplete if not misleading absent acknowledgment of these facts.
32
Saudi Arabia, Dubai...didn't the taxpayers just pay for Don Jr. & Eric to go over there for openings & weddings & other business meetings? I think they are still doing a lot of foreign business deals.
3
So - Mr.Trump himself documented now that he was constantly lying to the public about the hush money for Stormy Daniels. Why isn't that a scandal anymore? Because there are "other" rules to be applied for this President? We are actually complicit - if we allow that to happen. Candidate Trump called Hillary Clinton "crooked" - so how should we call him from now on for this?
80
So no new news here, trump lied about Daniels. We still need to see TRUMPS TAX RETURNS.
96
"...subjecting all new domestic projects to vetting from an outside ethics adviser, which appears to have had a chilling effect on certain potential deals"
Doesn't this say something about the world of business in the US?
13
If anything it shows that brands can often be destroyed if they are associated with unethical behavior.
No George, it says something about Trump.
2
This disclosure filing is just a technical formality. The whole trump syndicate are grifters and they will remain on the take whether they are in the WH or not. Just their corrupt way of life. They don't know anything else. The saddest form of SAD!
43
First things first. Vote out the Republican Congressmen who embrace trump's authoritarianism and are thereby complicit in covering-up trump's crimes.
Then it's much easier to get rid of the White House criminal and his authoritarianism.
trump's supporters will raise a big fuss, but Democracy's gotta do what Democracy's gotta do.
65
His family must be so proud. Good Lord, I am tired of these people endlessly shaming this country.
71
Turns out the only honest person all along in this mess is the adult film actress.
1022
Well what about Hillary Clinton?
15
Hey Trump -- you keep saying that you beat her,
but heck, you sure didn't defeat her –
it’s Putin who won,
you son of a gun --
you’re nothing much more than a cheater.
1
Of all the characters she is most admirable.
17
And Trump still has the nerve to continue calling Hillary a liar.
121
That's what completely fractures me! "Lyin' Ted" and "Crooked Hillary...." Where on earth does this man get off?
16
Every single time he insults someone else, he's projecting. Crooked Hillary, Lyin' Ted, Little Marco ... Every single time.
17
For someone that hides his hand we sure end up knowing everything we thought from the beginning about DJT.
23
Evidence that former FBI agents Stzrok and Page were right when they texted each other questioning Trump's intelligence.
7
Republicans in Congress, your disreputable leadership in upholding the Constitution will come back to bite you. You are so busy lining your pockets, you have abdicated your responsibility to the country and American people. You are complicit in the moral rot of this country under this mafia regime. Let's make sure that the leadership and the "keeping out of sight" members are well remembered as election come close. Vote (run) them out of office and the sooner the better for the welfare of our country.
103
Well written, thank you for the “moral rot” phrase.
6
AMEN.
3
We all knew that he knew. So why lie and keep lying? Only a very sick individual would keep the lie going. Someone who shows so little respect for the truth and the American people should be thrown out on his ear.
71
He is going to deny ever saying he didn't know about the payment & then he is going to blame Clinton or Obama for filing his financial disclosure with falsehoods. He is going to say he knows nothing about this & never met Stormy Daniels (that's not him in the photo).
2
Trump probably paid of lots of strippers, porn “stars”, hookers, whatever. People that support him don’t care and for people like me, I couldn’t possibly dislike him more.
45
The point is - why LIE about it? If those Trump supporters actually don't care, he doesn't have to lie about it. But he can't help himself. Donald J. Trump is a sick, twisted and vicious being - and I do not consider him human, he's some kind of warped monster and it's terrifying that he is in control of our country and destroying it right down to its core, more and more, every single day.
8
This story is not newsworthy, unless a crime was committed.
No evidence of criminal activity is revealed in this story or any other article on the topic. Instead, the Times and most other mainstream media run stories like this to raise the air of impropriety where none exists.
Sexual activity between consenting adults is not a crime.
Torture, however, is criminal. Gina Haspel is a war criminal who oversaw torture and secret prisons.
Obama had the chance to put her and other criminals in prison for their actions, and instead he and Democrats decided to abandon the rule of law, moral values of justice and failed to punish torturers.
Now, as a result of his failure to punish real wrongdoing, our next CIA director is a war criminal.
Please focus on real news about important issues, not 10-year-old sex tales that titilate and make your enemy look bad.
Focus on actual badness.
7
Think about this for a moment: now Trump Organization won't be able to write off at least $130,000 of Trump's reimbursement "retainer" to Michael Cohen paid during 2017 on its income tax returns as a business expense. If it does, it's guilty of fraud. Trump will not be happy about that.
This also most certainly does not foreclose the very real possibility that Trump or his campaign could be charged with at least one count of a campaign finance violation, yet more evidence of the absolute rot and corruption of Trump and everything connected to him.
3
You seem to be missing the point. Blatantly lying for months and than in a turn about, trump once again proven as a consummate liar. A shameful "leader" of this great country.
7
"Raise the air of impropriety?" The air is foul my friend and the story illustrates the lie upon lie upon lie, that your man Trump perpetuates until he is forced to reveal the truth.
And pivoting to something Obama should or should not have done is nothing more than another attempt to distract people from the truth.
10
Now that Trump has reported his debt to Cohen, one wonders how he can insist the affair never happened. If not, then he is essentially admitting to being a victim of extortion. Anyone can come forward with an untrue damaging story about Trump and threaten to tell that story unless Trump pays off. There is no suggestion that others have attempted similar alleged extortion. The extortion scenario is not credible. Trump needs to make a truthful statement of the Stormy Daniels affair ahead of revelations from investigations into Cohen's documents. The facts that will emerge may be damaging to Trump, which motivates him to lie. But when the lies are shown to be lies, the lies are worse than the affair.
15
This "genius" level intellect (Donald J. Trump) has also, by his statements and his alone, caused counterclaims of slander and libel to be filed against him by Stefanie Clifford. There's an old concept in American law that goes back to the earliest days of English common law, the rough translation is "the thing speaks for itself." Indeed, the payment to the porn star does speak - volumes - for itself.
4
Why?
Why do you think he has to tell you the truth.
First he did it before he was President.
Even the payment that was made was made before he became President.
It's still extortion even if the story is factual so your point is irrelevant.
To pay someone not to tell something you do not want to be made public is not a crime if this thing they want to say about you is not criminal.
Having sex with this women was not criminal.
Trump was under no obligation to tell the voting public who he had sex with.
You can argue that this would be a reason not to support him in a election but you can't argue this is a reason to impeach him and therefore any facts that emerge will not be damaging to Trump.
So what else is new? Before we are totally enervated by Republican Sewer Gas, will some please make 45 submit his tax returns ?
30
Most of us knew before November 2016 that Trump was a very shady con artist who could not be trusted. Since then, every day more evidence comes to light to prove he is even more untrustworthy and a lower lowlife than we thought.
Republicans in Congress can't be bothered.
Evangelical Christians are thrilled with the deal they've made with this Satan. They are his base and he could kill someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a single one of them.
Thankfully, we have Bob Mueller poking around, under and into the Trump Mafia, we have the New York State Attorney General's office lighting up the Trump Mafia, and we have mainstream "FACTS MEAN SOMETHING" media all the time, all over the Trump Mafia.
Republicans will rue the day they chose to aid and abet the Trump Mafia. Of course the Evangelical Christians will stand by Trump no matter what. But what they are and will suffer more is loss of their reputation, their claim to all decency and that they are followers of Jesus Christ. They are a cult of Trump worshipers.
47
He is a low life.
So how is this knowledge going to help you.
Some facts matter.
Not all facts.
These facts do not matter as they do not prove he colluded with the Russians.
In fact if he paid then it in fact this fact suggest he did collude and investigating these facts are a witch hunt.
Do the lies ever stop?
36
Are we expecting facts, specifically facts produced by Donald Trump himself, to jar the GOP leadership into taking any sort of action to hold Trump responsible for wrongdoings? Nope. Not when you consider that while the Democrats might very well re-take the House, they're extremely unlikely to take 2/3 of the Senate thereby pretty much obviating any chance at a successful Trump impeachment. The GOP knows this and is basking in the knowledge that, as a result, they really don't have to do much about the mess that continue to grows in DC.
17
What wrongdoing are you referring to.
I assume by wrongdoings you mean some kind of action on his part that can be grounds to impeach him.
I believe what he did was morally wrong but can not be used as grounds to impeach him and therefore the fact the Democrats will not take 2/3 of the Senate is irrelevant.
Trump is accepting bribes right in front of us. He is using the presidency for personal enrichment, and using the presidency to obstruct justice for his crimes. He lies to us constantly. He tolerates criminal behavior from cabinet members without consequence. He nominates totally unqualified candidates for federal judge positions on purely political grounds. He gets people killed needlessly because of his totally inept and ignorant foreign misadventures. There is only one reason we can't fire him, and it is called the Republican Party. We need to fire the Republican Party in November. That will straighten Trump right up, and if it doesn't, we can tell the Congress to fire him too.
85
Your comment is a work of art and truth; YOU deserve a parade — not Trump's inane military extravaganza!
5
Lying about this does not prove he colluded or that he is using the Presidency for personal enrichment.
Yes there is one reason we can not fire him.
Its called the Constitution.
It's amazing that this man cannot remember the lie he told in the morning as the lie he tells in the afternoon overshadows the morning lie. I can deal with that, but, what I can't understand is the republican Senators and Congress(men)(women) who all look the other way while he destroys the office of the Presidency, profits from foreign and domestic investments, is vanquishing anything with Obama's name on it, destroying the Nation both at home and worldwide. Have they no decency?
32
Didn't Xi Jinping just give Trump $500,000 for some project in Indonesia? And Trump is relenting on ZTE for that money. Isn't that a 'project'?
36
Trump and Cohen stories smell fishy and smells obnoxious. What Giuliani is talking about " incidental expenses" ? Beside Stormy Daniels , how many women got Hush Money payment from Cohen on behalf of Trump. Hopefully, Melania does not read newspapers or watch TV news in her hospital bed. My heart goes for her. Trump's children know their father's character all along.
9
Wake up, America. Throw all these congressional bums out of office for their total negligence to the rule of law and basic morality. Enough is enough.
42
Trump must have realized by now that running for the presidency was a big mistake.
Look, he has been under investigation for almost two years now, as are close members of his family, namely his boy Junior, and Jared the buttler.
Most of those people who have come within five feet of him had had to hire lawyers to defend themselves, that's not even mentioning the likes of Hope Hicks, Priebus, and Bannon who have already had the pleasure of sitting for an interview with Mr. Mueller.
Trump's businesses are not doing well either, and after his presidency is over, his businesses will be even more intently investigated which will lead to them being either liquidated to pay back taxes, or to compensate the victimes of his sexual assaults.
Kushner should be concerned too as his family's billions will turn into dust as a consequence of his own folly.
I am not sure what will become of the complicit Princess. It's not like she commands anyone's respect. But she won't become destitute, that's for sure.
In the meantime, America's achievements over the past decade in areas like the environment, cunsumer protection, ethics in government, and national unity are going down the tube.
Thank you Rust Belt.
45
Trump lies more than the devil himself. It just boggles the mind that congress doesn't say or do anything about it!
16
And I thought it was the Weekend White House..,
4
Here is what I've learned from the Trump Administration and it's something I never thought possible.
Bankers are a more reliable judge of character than citizens.
They rejected, citizens accepted.
16
Banks can do the math. As for citizens...
2
Donald, just show us your Tax Returns!
16
What a shock! Not that the porn star was paid by Cohen, but that Trump actually paid his lawyer back! From everything one hears about Trump it is that he usually stiffs people he owes money to.
14
But still stiffed his lawyer, underpaid.
3
Who cares about Stormy Daniels and her lawyer. The world is falling apart. There are so many issues we should be reading and hearing about in the media.
If this were Obama or any other President Stormy Daniels would never get two words in the media.
So Trump has been caught red handed lying to the public. Are there no consequences for this? Why does Trump get away with things that no one else would or should?
644
There are consequences for lying to the public.
Around here, we call them "losing an election".
28
The article said the purpose of the payment was not specified but rather assumed. I think we all heard the many stories about Trump and women before the election and voted with as clear idea of es who he is.
4
Trump is a rich white man in America.
15
Trump's propensity for mendacity knows no bounds. He's consistently denied the affair with Stormy Daniels, claims he knew nothing about any payments made to her ("Ask my lawyer!"), lied to reporters and to the American people, and unsuccessfully attempted to shield himself and his family from the likely opprobrium associated with his extramarital dalliances. He is completely untrustworthy. I'm embarrassed to live in the same country — even on the same planet — as this raunchy, substandard lech. No world leader or member of Congress or anyone associated with Trump should ever trust him. He's a total embarrassment who has sullied the office of the presidency. How many days until he's out?
17
I personally volunteer to pry Trump's name off of any and all things with his name on it. Including history itself. I have my own crowbar.
73
Trump's denials of the affair aside, he cannot be sure that Daniels did not keep some article of clothing with his DNA on it, like the infamous stained blue dress Monica Lewinski kept and turned over to Starr...
And it would be just like Avenatti to hold back such a card and to play it at just the right time.
12
Whatever Trump filed yesterday in his disclosure, this disclosure was at least a year late and this explanation is what he and his attorneys thought would get him into the least amount of trouble. He has not shown any contemporaneous proof of this - cancelled checks, loan agreement, etc., so journalists should not take it at face value. It seems he only discloses things after they already become public; which is why we can expect more "corrected" disclosures to come.
16
This is nothing compared to Hillary's emails, said the Republican House and Senate.
14
It doesn't matter, Trump's supporters may argue. But the majority of concerned Americans, who love this country and honor its core cultural values, never forget General Rex Tillerson's farewell comments about the mean-spirited town. Best wishes, Senator John McCain. The old veterans still remember your heroic life, especially the dark days at the Hanoi Hilton. The old soldiers never die. They're just fading away, as said Gen McArthur.
12
Of course, even if Trump himself offered proof of his own lies as he did in this instance, it makes no difference to the worshippers of the "Cult of Trump."
16
The guy even lies when he breaths. My America, the America I want to respect, will NEVER accept this as the new normal. Lock him up.
25
It has become painfully clear that Trump and his family has been using the Presidency as an unique opportunity to make millions upon millions of dollars.
I absolutely cannot understand for the life of me why his "base" thinks that the cash will somehow benefit them, too. These people aren't going to see any benefit, while a rich man gets even richer. Frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach.
29
This doesn't establish whether the agreement to pay was made to Cohen at the time of the NDA, or whether Trump later paid Cohen in a panic to cover up a 3rd party (Columbus Nova, Russian oligarch) payment.
Cohen's firm Essential Consultants LLC looks like a slush fund, with mystery money flowing in and out.
At any rate, the payment was either an illegal campaign contribution, or an illegally undisclosed campaign expenditure.
13
So, was this article supposed to be about a disclosed payment OR Profit/Loss on properties Trump owns/ed?
5
The information reported here is based on Trump's financial disclosure .... but it is Trump's disclosure so heaven only knows if it is truthful.
12
Trump: I never thought I would get elected, none of this was suppose to be found out, who knew there would be so many investigations, and I would have to lie in overdrive gear. Now KIm Jong, the North Korean leader is making me look foolish, not that I need any help in that area. I mean I did say I was the smartest person in the room and I know more than the Generals, I alone can fix everything. It must be true I could play both parts in the movie "Dumb and Dumber", I would be a natural. Oh well I am President and your not!
13
Once again both Trump and Giuliani lie about the Stormy payment. Recall Trump insisting he knew nothing about the payment and to see Michael. Oh well, Donald will soon be able to bask in the glow of his Nobel Prize. Oops.
14
I am very disappointed in Trump's deal making abilities. Trump said he didn't even know this Stormy person. Yet he paid her over $100,000. To someone he never even met. I think she got a good deal!! Litttle Kim can't wait to "negotiate" with Donald!
16
...'we have the best properties in the world, no one violates the emoluments clause, and article 2 section 4 like we do'.
12
Why are we not reading about Trump and his entire administration being kicked out of Washington by an outraged American public, which values honesty and integrity in their government officials? Oh, wait...
13
There is nothing wrong or unusual about a client reimbursing an attorney for out-of-pocket expenses.
1
If the fact that he lied repeatedly about it doesn't bother you.
7
Hi Mike,
You said "There is nothing wrong or unusual about a client reimbursing an attorney for out-of-pocket expenses."
Alrighty then. So why lie about it?
Just Curious:)
9
Then why have Trump and his people lied numerous times about it?
4
We have a third-world dictator in the White House who makes "policy" according to whoever will grease he and his family's palms. This "China thing" that happened yesterday is a quid pro quo for The Don doing business there. Now we have a "Russia(r) Thing" and a "Jhina Thing." He is an equal opportunity thug. This man is so scary, yet at my grandson's graduation last weekend, a big SUV went through the streets of OKC flying a huge Trump flag. Trump's cult following either doesn't get it, or gets it and doesn't care. I don't know which is scarier.
19
Aha! At last, the smoking gun. Cohen paid Stormy and Trump, re-paid Cohen. And maybe, just maybe, depending on the accounting, this may all add up to a campaign finance law violation.
A high crime or misdemeanor? Probably not, but the definition for an impeachable offense is not spelled out in the constitution.
But after spilling endless digital ink on this story it turns out to not be much of a story.
Let's shift to some real journalism. Trace the many corporations that got on the Trump bandwagon during the campaign and see how many are getting benefits from his policies. We all know about the tax giveaway, but what about all the regulatory changes?
If we are really looking for pay to play politics one doesn't have to look at Russia. The game has been honed to a fine art right here in our own backyard.
12
I think at the end of the day, Donald's just sort of been raised (if that's the right word) such that he really doesn't know or care much personally about peeling off $100K here and there. I think he finds it absurd that there are even other humans who care one way or another about pathetic, insignificant $100K expenditures. I think he finds it "sad" that anybody would care.
5
My only hope is that the level of sleaze in this administration and in the Republican party will force some change in the way we run elections, in the way we regulate campaign funding and advertisements, and in the way we run our government.
But the problem is that we'll need a very strong president to do that, and I fear that this is the one area where a majority of elected Republicans and Democrats agree: we can't have that. Corporations, banks, and the wealthiest among us must be a top (Republican) or high (Democrat) priority.
And this is why candidates who favor enacting meaningful change that's good for the nation but bad for Big Wealth are smeared by both sides. My biggest fear is that the opinion is really just that Trump goes too far.
8
Rudy Guiliani was once revered as America's Mayor..He had an outstanding career as a lawyer.He was with a fine law firm in his sunset years.How hungry for the spotlight must he have been to get involved in the Stormy Daniels case upon behalf of Trump in order to use up his credibility by telling bald faced lies or at least demonstrating he knew few facts or little law? How sad that he railed against whether there were campaign finance violations when a first year law student could have figured out there were in about 20 minutes if he knew the facts..The last hurrah as an American icon...ending in ignominy when he is fired by Trump..to be replaced by Dershowitz..
16
Unless the goal was to damage Trump and run against him in 2020:))
1
The citizens of NYC know only too well the sordid story of Guiliani. His professional & 'private' lives mirror the donald's.
9
What's the big deal about this? Don't we already know this?
23
Well we know Trump lies about almost everything. We knew he wasn't truthful.
30
Someone needs to spell it out, apparently. He's taking bribes to fund his hush money slush account.
24
It proves he's vulnerable to blackmail by foreign adversaries.
This isn't rocket science.
25
I did a quick search and didn't find a definitive answer as to whether Mr. Mueller or other law enforcement authorities have Trump's tax returns. I wonder if Cohen had copies of them among the materials in his (raided) office. I also wonder if Trump, from his perch in the White House, would have been able to affect the disposition of the returns by the IRS, an Executive Branch agency. And I notice that nobody has raised the question of how truthful and complete those returns were in the first place.
Meanwhile... "'We have the best properties in the world; they’re doing extraordinarily well,' Eric Trump said." And the best steaks and flights and real estate education and...
I'd be interested in a *reliable* analysis of the business, particularly as it's considered key brand collateral by those people who still profess support for this "president."
14
On one thing Trump told the truth- he loves debt!
13
interesting how all of a sudden there were 100s of millions of dollars to pay cash for properties - a while back.
4
It means he did pay it as incidental expenses. As a landlord I get bills all the time even to pay off bad tenants to move. My lawyer pays me and I pay her. If I welched she would make me pay directly. It is an incidental expense in addition to monthly bill. It means that cohen did not make an illegal campaign contribution. It probably means that trump had the affair but we knew that already
2
under your reasoning, it appears as if Trump is the one who made the illegal campaign contribution . . .
5
And like what most people seemed to be offended by Bill Clinton was the lie not the action.
So he lied and on camera to the American People.
The amusing thing is I am sure if he said yes I did have the affair most people would have moved on a very long time ago as they are aware of his past.
This is a problem with an invenerate liar and will be his Waterloo.
5
Nonsense!
Trump denied paying money to Daniels or even knowing that Cohen had paid money to her. Now we know that Trump lied (what a shock). Since he wasn’t under oath, he didn’t commit perjury. Republicans impeached Clinton for lying about oral sex in the Oval Office. If they want to be consistent, they should impeach Trump for lying about paying off Daniels.
8
Illegal no matter how you slice it. And no way he paid with his own money. He NEVER pays with his own money.
But there is that $500,000 check from Russia with love that went into that account.
Assume that cohen is telling prosecutors exactly where that money came from, and evidence uncovered in discovery by Michal Avenatti will contradict any hogwash the crime syndicate attorneys put out.
So add another count of obstruction to the list.
38
If a $500,000 check came into one's account as a "consulting" fee, then why would one have to take out a loan on their home to make a $131,000 payment? Obviously, either Cohen handed the half million over to Trump or Cohen has quite a gambling problem.
14
This confirms my suspicions that this will eventually prove out to be that he basically cheated during the election, however don't believe this will matter to his supporters. I'm sure they have already written this off as him just doing "business". It will still be some time before his day of reckoning comes...
29
This reminds me of Governor Rowland insisting he had paid for work done on his lakeside cottage only to have his wife send a check to the renovator about a year later. That didn't end too well for him, either. I guess they never heard the axiom about the coverup being worse than the crime. How could you not assume that, at some point, people will figure out where the money came from ? Having umpteen conflicting story lines isn't helpful, either. Looking forward to Mueller or Avenatti setting the record straight.
30
"Stormy" did not allege that she had an affair with President Trump. When she was interviewed by Anderson Cooper, she stated clearly that she slept with him once. I believe there are other names for this transaction that are more accurate. The repeated use of the word affair seems disingenuous, or even dishonest. Let's be clear about the things we can be clear about.
32
I think “affair” applies to “one night stands” as well longer arrangements.
8
How many nights are needed to constitute an "affair"? I wasn't aware there was a number.
12
Really? We're reduced to parsing the most accurate description of the President's philandering and hush money? Oh, please...
10
And the tax returns are next.
20
This means nothing to his supporters. Another deep state effort to undermine his credibility. The fact that his story keeps changing, bit by bit, should matter greatly, but it does not. The Republican leadership shrugs implicitly supporting him, the horror and outrage saved for another Democratic leader in the future. Plus, he's been given plenary indulgence by the evangelical pastoral leadership- one more mulligan for a guy who's cheated through his entire game of life!
Does anyone know where Stormy is with Melania hospitalized ?!
23
Trump's having flings with the wives of evangelicals...and it still doesn't matter as long as he pushes along their theory that he was sent by God to usher in their all-important end times. Revelations of devilry everyday. Who stays in the hospital for a whole week for simple kidney op? She can't stand to be around him.
4
Open and transparent government, as those who work within its labyrinth are held accountable to maintain as our standard. Or are we already living in a Putin regime where it's do whatever you can get away with?
14
So, both Trump and Cohen lied. As did Sarah Sanders. As did the entire WH Press Office. As did Junior and Eric. As did Giuliani. This is beginning to get old real fast. It was never funny. Now it's downright appalling. And we are quickly damaging the nation's reputation. We've already tumbled badly. We must send a blue wave over this nation in November -- or we have no one to blame but ourselves. Sad days. It's unbelievable people actually voted for this terrible man.
121
Trump - Making China great again and collecting graft. Emoluments clause. Why is no-one in Congress standing on the floor and refusing to stop speaking or leave until something is done? Lock Trump and all his admin up, for the love of country.
41
And to think that when he became president, Jimmy Carter was forced to sell his peanut farm.
The Republican party has turned a blind eye to Trump and his crime family. It makes me think that they too, have something to hide.
91
Jimmy Carter did not sell his peanut farm when he became President
And what about the emoluments clause?
24
Currently in litigation regarding DC hotel.
5
The claim is that the money was paid - does it show as received?
8
I guess we will need to look at Cohen's tax returns.
1
TAX RETURNS! Congress should insist on thorough financial disclosure, including tax returns. Also, something should be done so that impeachment isn't the only avenue to oust a lousy, lying, criminal from the Oval Office. Presidents should be subject to criminal indictment and prosecution, just like any other American citizen.
28
If Democrats are successful in obtaining Congressional majorities in the Fall, one of the top five pieces of proposed legislation should be requiring all presidential candidates and siting presidents to release their federal personal income tax returns. And in Trump's individual case, it must be made retroactive. Americans are entitled to know how much income this Fake President derives from his assortment of properties, particularly those implicating the Constitution's Emoluments Clause. What has the dishonest Trump been hiding from us?
23
I think it's time for Congress to propose a constitutional amendment that requires:
All candidates for the presidency and all presidents in office to release full financial records (including tax returns) for some period prior to running for president and annually during their time in office
To keep all investments in a blind trust
To earn no wage income (other than their government salary) or collect any other fees or payments during their time in office
25
“We have the best properties in the world; they’re doing extraordinarily well,” Eric Trump said
Like father son, no lie too big this unethical family.
16
In case anyone was wondering why we need Mueller? It's the web of lies, shell companies, structured payments, money laundering, bribes and extortion.
This has to go to a grand jury!
29
So, after Cohen paid off Stormy to protect Trump, Cohen was first reimbursed with money from a Russian oligarch's pet investment house.
Then, when it became clear that the President was letting Russians pay his bills (in exchange, we presume, for something of value), Trump belatedly paid Cohen himself.
Still no explanation for why a company that is paying Trump's bills is itself being paid (for nothing of value except influence with Trump) by foreign interests and companies who want something from the federal government.
Sorry, but this guy is not only corrupt; he's guilty of treason.
24
This story is not fake news. The story is not about presidents having sex with women other than their wives. At this point, who cares? The big picture of this story is that it is about lying. Everybody lied. Trump lied. His attorneys lied. His press secretary lied (or people lied to her). Rudy lied. That is the story. And the preponderance of everything — from tweets to GOP “investigations” in the House — adds up to a current regime that lies about everything. Enough already. The midterm elections can’t happen soon enough.
46
Not clear how if revenues at his properties are shrinking from pre-presidency levels how DJT is "profiting" from the presidency . . . .
1
His Mar A Lago and other properties are getting enormous fees for events that were not held at such properties prior to his being president. Many are looking for access to Trump and so use his properties as a vehicle to do so. So it is the potential access and resulting revenues part that profits Trump, not whether his properties are also losing some money at the same time. Plus he paid extraordinarily high rent to Trump Tower during the campaign to house his campaign and transition teams there.
5
Take your pick: either Trump broke campaign finance laws by paying for this payoff, or Cohen was running an illegal slush fund for Trump, taking bribes, and paying women out of that.
The really interesting story here is that whatever Cohen was involved in through his shell company was so sketchy that Trump is now willing to expose himself to accusations of campaign finance violations in order to distract from the bigger story of Cohen's bribery operation. That means that the Cohen bribery story is probably the riskier story for Trump -- because Trump always only admits to the less illegal version of events.
21
I believe that he’s grabbing all the cash that he possibly can, no matter how crude or obvious or illegal the methods, for two reasons. First, money, and only money, is what he worships. Secondly, he knows that the handcuffs are coming.
15
Stop calling it the “Winter White House” unless the next and all future presidents will be able to stay there and use it.
22
Now we know what it means when they say, "Money talks." Here is another admission of Donald Trump's infidelity, lying, and failed attempt to cover it up. Now we also now know that even "Hush money talks." Let's hope we soon here other money speak up.
8
The disclosure form should end the furor over the Stormy Daniels affair. The issue is whether the nondisclosure agreement is valid. If it is invalid, Stormy can tell her story without restraint. If the court rules it is valid, Stormy may have to pay Michael Cohen for violating the agreement. The affair does provide another reason for not voting for Trump if he runs for reelection, but there seems to be no shortage of reasons not to vote for Trump.
17
Dammit!
Where are his tax returns?
26
So it was not a donation, not paid for from borrowing, and if I owe my lawyer some money that say he has not billed that is not a debt either. This paper will make up whatever they want no wonder some call it "fake news".
6
It could be deemed a campaign expenditure (intended to influence the election). It's a federal crime to reimburse someone for a campaign expenditure that person (Cohen) makes.
15
so if everything was completely legit and, then why did both Trump and Cohen lie about this payment? Both Trump and Cohen said that Cohen just did this on his own and that Trump didn't know about it. This isn't fake news, this is a fake presidency.
13
Paying somebody to pay somebody off so that person doesn't ruin your chances of getting elected in two weeks??????
Yeah right! Nothing to do with the election for sure! How's the sand in Tennessee?
16
I thought just yesterday it was revealed the the financing for a NEW Trump hotel in indonesia was backed by the Chinese. That is in contradiction to this article which says no new businesses have been opened.
86
Good point but I'm sure Trump et al have creative ways of defining the word "new."
6
I suspect the deal was struck prior to the inauguration.
2
The Chinese are backing the development of a theme park, which will include a Trump Hotel and golf course. The Trump Organization is not the developer.
I'm so glad we didn't elect that dishonest Hillary.
697
An entirely different story. Hillaey was not elected because she was dishonest—at least in the sense of rhe way Trump is characterized. Hillary brought with her a sense of entitlement and arrogance that was not at all appealing.
Yeah, Trump makes the Clintons look like babes in the woods on the "corruption" front.
64
Men are often intimidated by smart women like Hillary.
50
I would really like to know if the payment(s) to Cohen were taken as a business deduction on his income tax return. Would this be part of the reason he wouldn't reveal his tax returns?
181
Also curious if the payment is taxable income for Stormy
6
The probably reason Trump doesn't release his tax returns is that they show he is losing money or not making as much as he pretends. He also probably used deductions to play little or no income taxes.
12
In my experience with narcissistic psychopaths, there is never just one reason only. That's what gives them so much power.
They obstruct and deflect and cloud everything in a smoke screen that drives others to just give them what they want, just to end the pain of trying to sort it all out and make rational sense of it.
Not showing the tax returns is a gaming play. He ain't gonna show his cards if he can avoid that. Thank goodness we have Mueller and Stormy. They are less likely to give in.
25
Today's "bizness marketing" tip: Being widely hated is bad for "style" brands. #MadeInChina
18
As always, the question remains, when did the lying president know about the fact that he tried to obscure with a lie. No one should be surprised to find that this belated admission turns out to be a half-lie, in that the lying president actually exchanged much more money -- in both directions -- with Cohen, but that the lying president will only admit to those facts after they are proven true by third parties.
This is a pattern with Trump (and Kushner). Lying isn't just something he does, it defines who he is. He is a compulsive liar.
Even when there is no advantage to lying, Trump lies. Apparently he believes that lying makes him dangerously unpredictable and, thus, more powerful. More powerful than, say, being trustworthy and able to win the cooperation of other powerful people. It's just one of the many lies that the lying president tells himself in between lying to everyone else.
253
"Even when there is no advantage to lying, Trump lies." Doesn't that make it pathological?
6
You hit the nail right on the head, Hugh. Good job.
4
Not relevant if the thing he is hiding was a affair he had before he was President.
He lies then lies about his lies, gets caught in his lies, then sometimes admits his lies and life goes on. That this corrupt, shady "businessman" is in the White House is still shocking and surreal. His daughter and son-in-law blithely open the US Embassy while scores of Palestinians are killed, Scott Pruitt is shamelessly unethical yet keeps his job, Trump's lawyer does shady million dollar deals with shady people. Trump bullies his perceived enemies (and cabinet members) via Tweet while Melania creates some vague anti-cyber bullying thing. It's all overwhelming yet his base, his Christian base loves him and I don't get it. It can't be about jobs or the economy. It has to be about something else, but what? Certainly not Trump's intelligence or moral rectitude. He has none.
359
If you lie about a lie then is it the truth? Well, in any case no lie is an orphan.
6
The televangelists are willing to sell their souls and deny the teachings of Christ for Supreme Court spots..nothing else..They abandon the sick and lame, their duty to children and the least among us, our duty to help strangers and to reject those of wealth, the followers of Mammon.. Jesus would weep !
47
@Anne
Don't forget the latest atrocity: to wit, Donald Trump fails to condemn (and, ipso facto, condones) the mocking of a dying, brain cancer patient.
He condones this.
NOT my president
42
Trump should have said long ago; "I paid her off, so what!" He is just too stupid and self protective to do anything but lie about it. Nothing illegal about it, but shows a deeper level of personal ethical ineptitude.
226
Perhaps he was trying to save his family from embarrassment. It doesn't concern me.
16
Nothing illegal about an election campaign donation.? You need a new lawyer.
46
Democrats electing Obama, the first black president, made them too self-righteous for their own good. They need to be taught that it takes far more than simply punching a ballot to deserve that.
3
What's really shocking in this scandal is Trump actually paid a debt.
509
However if the debt to Stormy was $130,000 (as has been reported) and he stiffed Cohen for ~$30,000, would anyone be surprised?
7
You alway have to pay the guy who has the goods to bring you down. The contractor you hired to paint your hotel not so much.
4
The real news : Trump actually PAID a Bill. This Presidential Apprentice gig is going gangbusters, for the Trumps. For the rest of us, not so much.
90
As they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Mr Trump, show us your tax returns.
330
What this shows is that unless Trump is forced to he will not disclose anything about his business dealings and if he hadn't run for public office I would be good with that.
However he is in a public position now and all of his business dealings should be disclosed as well as his taxes so that we can see that there is no conflict of interest from his past, present or future.
156
Mar-a-Lago has certainly not "become known as the Winter White House" anywhere other than in Trump's imagination. If there were such a thing as the "Winter White House" it would be a government facility, not a for-profit entity controlled by the President. Shame on you for failing to distinguish the office from the occupant.
149
Ike summered with the rich folks in Newport, RI - at the Newport Navy base.
Truman was able to find "winter ("little") white house" lodging in swanky key west, FL - at a Navy (submarine) base (the first president to so visit was Taft, a thrifty republican).
when it comes to private, so-called "winter white houses" in FL there is only key biscayne - how richly appropriate.
2
George Washington not only used his estate as a center of office (no White House then), he billed Congress for his expenses. Business as usual.
2
Wasn’t Key Biscayne owned by Nixon’s friend Bebe Rebozo? I don’t remember Nixon bragging that it was his house.
Mr. Trump cannot keep his stories straight. As a nation, we must come to think of him as the Liar in Chief. He does not know the meaning of the word "integrity." As a result, we cannot trust anything emigrating from this White House. This is a very sorry state of affairs.
41
... emanating... Although if anyone "emigrates" I think it will most likely be Melania.
1
So, he lied, then he lied about lying, then he lied about lying about lying, and now it turns out that he lied about lying about lying about lying.
Sad!
724
FDR, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Clinton, Bush, and Obama all lied. Why are we surprised?
No one is claiming past presidents haven't been untruthful. Dishonesty is human nature, but in Trump's case, it seems to be his only characteristic.
They all lied but not to the level of this liar. I guess you believe its acceptable for someone to borrow millions of dollars from the Russians and use that money to run for president. After all, DJT will sell America so that he can repay the Russian loan providers at a severely discounted rate. Remember this liar knows how to rob the folks who worked for him. Let's see if he can satisfy the Russian mafia by stealing their money. Mr. Mueller, please move to indict DJT, his ilk, his unqualified cabinet and VP Pence and return America back to the democracy we all deserve.
1
How do you spell relief?
Capital N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r, November!
24
At this point it's criminal.
Lock him up. Lock him up!
74
Any indications on that form of how much money has flowed back to Trump through Cohen? Not a chance.
Of course not, but that information is coming from the Southern District investigation, rattling Trump and crushing Cohen.
20
Trumps business is so wide in scope, he has monies moving in thousands of directions. With comments like "follow the money" I am not even sure I know what it means. I want to hear about the crime hear.... What is it, where is it? Money moving around seems mundane.
7
Well, historically we have forced our presidents to entirely divest from ownership of any of their companies to prevent just these kinds of problems. Is it criminal? Hard to say. What if some of those monies paid to his businesses are from Chinese who then have a hand in asking for favors? Is it illegal for the Chinese to rent out a Trump property for a week, or a month? It's arguable. However, it presents an ethical problem that we don't know why Trump is making certain concessions such as the ZTE turnabout. Why did he do that? If he didn't have all of these businesses pulling in money from who knows where, personally benefiting him and his family, then we would have no reason to doubt his interests are America's interests. Because he refuses to do what all other presidents have done (for the most part), we don't know why he makes some of his decisions.
Was there a crime? Hard to say. Is there a lot of potential for quid quo pros funneled through his many businesses? Yes. Has Trump already exploited those, it is my opinion that he has, but I have no proof other than basing my opinion of him on his entire history as a business person who's willing to do whatever it takes to benefit himself.
4
Knowingly failing to report a debt on this disclosure form is a crime. Trump failed to report his debt to Cohen in his 2017 form. Giuliani says he knew about the debt.
So for at least several months, mob lawyer Cohen has owned 'dirt' on our beloved president. While he has been Trump's putative lawyer, he has also been a facilitator of Russian investment in the Trump empire. Are Cohen's loyalties divided between Trump and Russia? Even if not, is Cohen sufficiently stupid to cross the Russians? Ultimately, I must wonder whether this is all part of an Russian oligarch scheme to protect their investment?
25
Cohen did have that interesting cigar smoking session with a bunch of shady people following the raid of his office. That felt like a tip off to...to someone. I'm not well-versed on the fine details of all the bullshit these people pull to understand what exactly was happening there, but it didn't feel like an innocent hang with some upstanding buds.
3
A small step on a long road to impeachment. unfortunately, impreachment is as much a political action as it is a legal procedure, and it isn't clear that this offense is enough to influence Trump's supporters that he should be removed
20
Just as it is illegal to make excessive contributions to a candidate, it is also illegal to make a similarly sized loan to a candidate... even if the candidate pays it back in full (which is what you do with a loan; you pay it back. Otherwise it's a gift). So the question is; Does Cohen's expenditure count as a loan? If the case can be made that it does, then what we are looking at is an ironclad criminal case against Cohen and Trump.
47
There is no way that a lawyer who has not billed his time or expenses is a "loan". You are living in a fantasy alternative reality, or don't understand basic accounting. It might be a payable with a time limit on it as all bills you might get are, they are not "loans".
10
It is a loan if there is an agreement (probably legally binding best in writing) to pay the amount of the loan back within a specified time (and/or re-payment plan) and at a specified interest rate, and if that repayment on the loan obligation agreement is adhered to. Is it illegal to loan a public official money? I have no idea, And was Trump a candidate when Stormy Danials was paid off. No idea. That aside, loaning money to public officials has been a general practice for thousands of years. Both Octavian and Anthony as well as 99 percent of the Senate in Rome were heavily in debt, and/or heavily loaning out money (in those cases, mostly for favors in return, and in many of those cases with money they borrowed). Of course, a simpler way to obtain funds was to murder your enemies (generally other rich citizens) and confiscate their property. Might work today. Possibly not so well. Well, even then under SPQR it was the Senate before the People. That much has not changed.
Interesting. So you are agreeing that rather than the "gift" that Cohen claimed, these payments were actually in-scope services? I like where this going.
1
It's interesting that Trump let this be revealed, given how tightly he holds on to his other financial information.
I would suspect that he thinks this will help his defense about how he violated campaign finance laws with Michael Cohen's illegal payoffs to Stormy Daniels to cover up the affair she had with him while his third wife Melania was having his child.
I can't wait to see how Giuliani tries to spin this!
22
Giuliani and Trump are made of the same substance. A few absurdities, a couple of linguistic incomprehensible twists and 45% of gullible voters would solve the problem. It works very well.
5
Worst hush money "incidental expense" of all time. He just keeps winning!
24
Democracy has lost for a generation, at least. Thanks to a complicit House and Senate, along with ignorance by design.
187
Two generations. This mess started in earnest with the Reagan misadministrations.
4
All else aside, an American president blatantly lies to the public on multiple occasions. This one is particularly galling. And 40% of the population still supports him? At what point does this unconditional devotion begin to erode?
108
There is no point when that will happen. The self deception and hypocrisy is complete and total w 85% of republicans support and overwhelmingly so by Christians.
there is clearly nothing he can do or has done that will move their hearts and minds.
Character and ethical behavior mean nothing to them. They know the tax cut is a joke. They know he lies constantly. They suspect he was stupid enough to try to get Russian info on HRC. They know rich white guys like him sold their jobs to China. And yet, because he’s not obama and he’s not hrc, good to go.
15
"As part of a voluntary ethics plan, the Trump Organization has not pursued new deals in foreign countries, cutting off an important stream of business that was projected to provide much of its future revenue."
How can the NYTimes make the statement given above, when we just heard about a minor loan by China for a development in Indonesia, which includes hotels and a golf course to be branded "TRUMP"?
If memory serves, the minor loan was for a mere US $500 million.
584
Their excuse on this is that the Indonesia project was already started before Trump became president. And obviously, his policies towards China would not be swayed by a piddling loan of $500 million, right?
11
I thought Mr. Trump specifically said on Air Force One that he did not know anything about the payment to Stormy Daniels and that you would have to ask Michael Cohen -- now he knew and accounted for it in his ethics statement -- Ethics and Donald Trump should never be used in the same sentence.
131
Wait! The president said he didn’t know about any payment to Michael Cohen for the Stormy One.
He told the working media aboard Air Force One “No!,” when asked about it.
Whoever would have thought that he would try to lie his way out of this? Oh, I forgot: the Republican Congress and “the base.”
271
"Just a standard retainer. No idea what these rich lawyers are charging for. I just pay 'em like the Honest Abe I am and have always done to anyone I owe money to." - Around how the guy who is our president right now will try to spin it.
8
Doesn't the IRS require detailed invoices for such huge payments? I know from personal experience in Germany that every Euro payment and receipt has to be documented in detail. One cannot simply write "repayment or expenses" or give some other vague reason.
So why isn't the IRS on his case?
56
I'd bet they are. Things take time.
16
Maybe the "audit" excuse for Trump not releasing his taxes was because of this payment?
7
What about the time period before Trump was President.
Obama was President
Trump was investigated on many occasion and no charges were made.
That is the proof that these invoices prove nothing criminal.
And Trump said that Giuliani should get his facts straight before rushing to speak. Trump ought to follow his own advice.
49
@NM -- speaking of Rudy, where's he been lately?
10
"Looks like a campaign finance violation, no matter what kind of lipstick you put on the pig."
- Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney
77
Monitored for politeness: Trump prevaricated yet again in his previous statements to the press. No surprise there. The question remains: can he even tell truth from the fiction he spins about his activities?
24
On the surface then it appears as if Trump is trying to comply, if only anyone would let him. But we know the darkness in his heart is there, all the reports and disclosures in the world can’t change that. Trump just can’t just seem to get it that he’s evil. Thank goodness he has us and Robert Mueller to enlighten him.
15
“The Trump Organization is also subjecting all new domestic projects to vetting from an outside ethics adviser, which appears to have had a chilling effect on certain potential deals:”
aka
Criminals and corrupt officials that need their money laundered don’t want the extra scrutiny
39
Is Michael Cohen the "outside ethics adviser"?
4
Just curious: Can a President be punished if he lies in his financial disclosure? How?
20
The fact that there are two ongoing investigations into the President and his higher-ups is very concerning, especially as both are continually getting new leads.
21
Can anyone keep track of the amount of times this man has changed his story? Or his agents, Cohen, Giuliani, Sanders, to name a few?
36
What disturbs me so much about Trump is his incessant LYING. I don't know what to say about the guy.
35
Nothing, as should have Trump. About the only thing said that can’t be misquoted . . . I think. But where there’s a will there’s a way, so I don’t know anymore.
What is disturbing is this man is our president and the Republican Party supports him and his shenanigans. He is your President, America. What are you going to do about it? Do you even care?
15
The morning started out with "no collusion here."
Then by lunch time, Trump has to admit to having an affair and paying back his lawyer so he can say "I did not use campaign money!"
36
"And Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which has become known as the Winter White House, saw revenues of $25.1 million."
Really NYT? No one calls it the "Winter White House" except Donald Trump. Are we Tsarists now?
148
Making up stupid nicknames for his properties is one thing our so-called president can indulge in with impunity. Let's concentrate on the fraud, the self-dealing, the lies and the treason.
5
This was probably the reason all along that Trump didn’t reveal his tax returns in 2016nin order to avoid a divulgence of a payment to a former trysting partner.
12
Likely partners. Stormy may only be one of many.
9
No, Bruce — the tax returns would reveal far worse, possibly even treason.
5
to Neal
Obama and the justice department had access to the tax returns you refer to.
If these tax returns would reveal he was a traitor he would have been in prison a long time ago.
The tax returns most likely prove nothing.
And yet, his supporters, including so-called Christians, and the GOP members of Congress will either ignore or sanction his behavior because they just can't enough of the "winning."
48
It is astonishing how pervasive, one might even say required, hypocrisy is in republicans and conservatives. I do not think I know any true believers, they are all self deluded hypocrites.
9
Lying to the American people about having sex with a porn star while wife #3 is home taking care of the baby...
There it is folks, the leader of the party of "family values."
1218
Wait...! He is supported by evangelists.
43
So he is releasing this now “as required” after denying for months any knowledge of any payment to anyone for any reason? Time to close the barn door because that horse left quite some time ago.....
41
It is beyond my comprehension how it can be legal for Trump to have such outlandish income from properties, that despite his so-called divestment of his business, and yet we, the taxpayers (i earn less than $25K and pay between state and federal an 18%in taxes) are paying for his down time or business he does at these locations when there are already in place (Camp David, Blair House) government funded entertainment venues. And what could be wrong about dinner at the White House? Shameful, and equally beyond my comprehension how many of his base are suffering financially and educationally, yet stand strongly behind him.
416
But don't you remember? He showed us a table full of file folders, which were full of blank paper, to show us how hard he was working on divesting!
36
His base: lust for power blinds to a multitude of sin.
1
It isn't legal. The republicans in congress just refuse to address it.
2
This is what we have come to:A family Kleptocracy in charge of our once great country!
315
reply to TMS:
Let's not forget that our government is currently in the hands of a kakitocracy.
9
Joan Bee, perhaps no relation to Samantha Bee, thank you for today's new word: Kakistocracy.
So much for respecting the Emoluments Clause. The president's love of money, the root of all evil and, in this case presidential malfeasance, will be his undoing. He couldn't lie about his payment to Cohen but he avoided making public his tax records, and for good reason. He's a tax fraud.
151
Why, we might just call Trump "Crooked," right? ;)
50
@NM - go for some alliteration: the Dishonest Don.
Every one of the insulting "nicknames" Trump uses to demean his "enemies" is a description of his own shortcomings or behavior. This type of projection is actually a known psychiatric disorder.
Crooked, low-energy, failing, lyin', sloppy, little, cryin', leaking, crazy, wild, heartless, sanctimonious, slippery, shady, Sleepin', sneaky, flakey, puppet, sham, cheatin', fake, goofy, wacky, Mad, animal, dumb as a rock, psycho, dopey, very fake, dishonest, etc.
All show consciousness of his personal qualities - so . "Crooked" is definitely available!!
"Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which has become known as the Winter White House..."
There is no such thing as a Winter White House. Mr. Trump calls it that. The Times should not support Trump's business by calling his private property a WWH. The White House is government owned, not his personal property. The Times is supporting his business by giving in to the "lie" that Mar-a-Lago is a WWH, and therefore making it more attractive to potential paying guests and members.
924
Not only is Trump making money off of Mar-a-Lago taxpayers are paying a fortune for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago triavel and security.
60
Previous presidents took time off on weekends at Camp David (government owned) or went home at "their" personal expense.
Trump has ripped off taxpayers with excessive trips to "his" properties not to mention frequent campaign stops for love and kisses from his fanatical base.
30
How about the NY Times doing some reporting on the cost to the American taxpayer as to the cost of Trump's trips to his own properties? I am sure it is a small fortune- and like everything else- the money flows through to him.
9
The needle on his popularity rating will not budge for all the reasons that have been stated ad nauseum. The only solution is to vote.
45
I'm shocked that a president with such high ethical and moral standards would pay hush money to a porn star to keep his adulterous affair quiet said no one EVER.
65
Please stop calling it the "Winter White House." It has not become known as that - that's what he calls it! It's a money-making operation, not a personal retreat.
878
The entire Trump administration is nothing but a money-making operation, and it's our money they're after.
28
More like the Winter Bribe House.
17
It's a mafia den.
Calm down. In case anyone missed it - TrumpCo just openly took a half billion dollar bribe from the Chinese, and Republicans? Crickets. Good luck seeing them throw him out of office over StormyGate. A sideshow of a sideshow.
466
Money being a major motivator, maybe if he loses enough of it, he'll resign. One can hope.
30
Sorry, no hope npsapere.
Probably his liabilities are much much bigger than his assets, liquid or not. Trump is so much under water, that his only hope is to leverage the presidency to find financial daylight. If it works he may get greedy and want more. The presidency maybe the last trick that Trump can attempt to avoid one final bankruptcy, that will land him in the pauper house for good, or more probably in the jailhouse.
3
hey, at least this is proof he paid one of his outstanding bills...
90
From now on, we have to require that presidential candidates release their tax returns. Also, if elected, they must fully divest from any businesses they own.
Trump and his family are getting rich off of the presidency, which is corrupt and a violation of the Emoluments clause of the Constitution.
1278
I thought it madarory that any pressidental candiadate running for office to reveal their tax returns. Also thought it mandatory to put one's businesses, bank accounts and any investments in a blind trust.
I was wrong.
72
I agree it should be mandatory from now on, and from now on I mean for anyone that wants to remain President for the rest of 2018 and beyond.
74
"Trump had inked a deal with Tony Robbins, the frighteningly upbeat motivational speaker, by which Robbins would pay Trump $1 million to give ten speeches at his seminars around the country. Crucially, Trump had timed his political stops to coincide with Robbins’ seminars, so that he was “making a lot of money” on those campaign stops. “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it,” Trump said. "
WaPo Philip Bump June 21, 2017
Trump's goal is to trump other famous people because famous and rich is the ultimate goal. Winning the pot. Gamblers with addictions this advanced usually either do the 12-steps or ...go bankrupt, in their souls, or financial well being.
54
With all this amazing income and gain to the Trump organization, I wonder if they will finally be able to pay back the hoards of people they have been in debt to through the decades.
74
I've always said I'd like to have enough money to buy an elephant. That doesn't mean I'd buy one.
9
@flenzy - No, that's what bankruptcy is for.
2
Instead of breadcrumbs, it's cash.
21
I loathe Trump and his band of gloating thieves. That said, although I care about the White House and candidates following the law, I find that I don’t really care about this Stormy Daniels hush money. What I care about is if a foreign government collaborated to get the President elected.
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The conduct of private affairs differs from that of public concerns only in magnitude. -Socrates
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If nothing else, it would be nice to see our Bankrupter-In-Chief and his family's business empire go bankrupt to match the moral, intellectual and economic bankruptcy this cretin has brought to the Oval Office.
In the meantime, Robert Mueller and his dedicated team of patriots are reviewing "a lot of money pouring in from Russia" to the Trumps, as Donald Trump Jr. said in 2008.
A Russian-Republican mafia is no way to run America.
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While I agree with your sentiments, DTJ’s statement is a full eight years before the election, so there’s probably no relation.
6
Bejamin....the long-term relationships formed between 2008 and 2016 between Russian oligarchs and TrumpWorld are directly related to the 2016 election.
Don't be so naive.
2
I was going to say, with @Socrates, that Trump's involvement with the Russian government is not one specific financial transaction. It's, uh, habitual.
And underlying Trump's M.O. is his lack of transparency, including, of course, his recalcitrant reluctance to reveal his tax returns. It leads to distrust and suspicion from inquiring minds.
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Follow the money. All roads lead back to Trump.
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...and continued violations of the Emoluments Clause.
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That's a non sensical statement, it's his money of course it leads back to him. why is anyone surprised that a married man, with money, would want to keep an affair quiet. This is not relevant to his other financial interests that may be relevant if we could see his tax returns it may clear many questions up.
8
You know that Trump will never voluntarily disclose his tax returns, but that both Putin and Mueller have them.
It doesn't surprise me that THIS "married man with money" would want to keep an affair quiet, but it is loathsome to tell someone with whom you are having an assignation that they remind one of his own daughter--huge yuck!!! factor!
The only ones to whom Trump's heart belongs are himself and Ivanka.
1