Trumps Longtime Lawyer Says He Paid Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Michael D. Cohen, President Trumps longtime personal lawyer, said on Tuesday that he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to a pornographic-film actress who had once claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump.

In the most detailed explanation of the 2016 payment made to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, Mr. Cohen, who worked as a counsel to the Trump Organization for more than a decade, said he was not reimbursed for the payment.

Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly, Mr. Cohen said in a statement to The New York Times. The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.

He declined to answer several follow-up questions, including whether Mr. Trump had been aware that he made the payment, what the motivation was or whether he had made similar payments to other people over the years.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/politics/stormy-daniels-michael-cohen-trump.html

---

When you get right down to it, is this really any different than giving a nice fruit basket at Christmas?

[AJT]

1. Rumor has it Cohn will be the next chief of staff.

[enough]

24. Not after this. NT

[AJT]

25. I would say especially after this.....he has shown the depth of his

loyalty to dear leader.

[Leghorn21]

29. Different guy. Gary Cohn is rumored to be replacing Kelly - this is Michael Cohen,

LOSER45’s longtime mob fixer/lawyer. One shady muthafukkah, too.

[AJT]

34. Thanks!

[oberliner]

35. What does Gary Cohn have to do with this story?

[Iliyah]

2. Can these people just stop lying.

[YessirAtsaFact]

19. Apparently not

The next question is do they even want to stop lying?

[marylandblue]

3. Where can I get a lawyer like that?

[RandySF]

4. So now we Know Trump fucked her

[rzemanfl]

8. Was that in doubt? n/t

[HopeAgain]

5. ive nevrr seen any group of adults

less likely to tell the truth. And th absurdty of the lies is incredible.

[Sam McGee]

23. A lot of the people around Trump are morons

The rest of them are not even that smart.

[world wide wally]

39. Only mobsters can lie that much and live to be old

[cstanleytech]

6. I wonder if he is willing swear to this under oath?

[rurallib]

55. like an oath means anything to these folks

[George II]

7. Lying to cover up a campaign finance violation.

[Julian Englis]

9. If it's not a campaign contribution, then it's a gift or a rebate/kickback.

If it's reate/kickback, then Cohn needed to send a 1099 to Trump and Trump needed a 1099 and Trump needed to report it as income (or reduce his legal expenses deducted). If it's a gift, Cohn needed to file a gift tax return. Also, I would think gifts of that size would violate ethical canons for lawyers.

[Arazi]

47. +1 eom

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Even though nothing happened.

I feel so sorry for Barron. That poor kid. I hope that at the end of the school year, Melania pulls him out of St. Andrew's (or whatever it is) and takes him back to New York to get him away from his father.

[unblock]

11. Ok. Who paid the gift tax? And was this filed as a campaign contribution?

[Gore1FL]

12. Wouldn't a gift tax have to be paid for a sum that large? nt

[Ilsa]

13. But I bet he billed trump for 260 hours of extra work.

At $500 per hour, isn't that about right?

Figures someone else would clean up donald's messes.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

65. In DC, more like 130 hours at $1,000 per hour. NT

[missingm]

68. Somebody reimbursed him, that's for sure

If appears that he is only denying getting paid by the Trump Organization or Trump Campaign. That leaves a whole ton of people who could have supplied the money.

Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly, Mr. Cohen said in a statement to The New York Times

[BigmanPigman]

14. Rachel Maddow just reported this on her show.

It doesn't say whether or not the fucking moron knew about it. "Hush Money 101" is the name of the course in the Oval Office catalogue of required classes.

[missingm]

15. What a swell guy.

Funny how Cohen comes off as a heartless pitbull who would sell his own mother for a buck.

I guess he is really just a softee inside.

[bullimiami]

16. He may be the stupidest lawyer ever.

[TomCADem]

30. No. I Think Its Trump's Other Lawyer, Dowd...

...who claimed that he wrote Trump's tweet admitting that he knew that Flynn lied to the FBI.

[Dave Starsky]

61. They're all dumber than dirt.

I wouldn't hire a Trump lawyer to try to fix a jaywalking ticket.

[Leghorn21]

17. I dont know why Im replying here, cuz I just got no response to this

Well, except for the usual WTF?!?



Okay Mr. Mob fixer-guy, whatever you say

[Ohiogal]

18. They are all disgusting pigs

[YessirAtsaFact]

21. Please dont insult barnyard animals like that

An animal is what it was born to be.

These “people” choose to behave like this if their own free will.

[UpInArms]

20. This guy is a tool with a fool for a client

And he should look good in stripes

[Sam McGee]

22. Just asking . . .

Do you suppose Ms. Cohen knew of this withdrawal from the family's accounts?

If not . . . well . . . it could get ugly around the Cohen household.

[Gothmog]

26. This would be an illegal campaign contribution by Cohen

[dhill926]

27. I'm sure his right wing evangelical supporters are appalled....

uh huh....

[world wide wally]

43. Maybe it came from the collection plates

[TomCADem]

28. ABC: Trump's lawyer says he wrote the president's tweet about Flynn's dismissal

This is just ridiculous...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-lawyer-wrote-presidents-sloppy-tweet-flynns-dismissal/story?id=51541650

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, says he drafted the president's Saturday morning tweet that stated he fired former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for lying not only to Vice President Mike Pence but also to the FBI.

"I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI," Trump tweeted at 9:14 a.m. on Saturday. "He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!"

Dowd told ABC News he wrote those words. A second source who corroborated that Dowd had written the tweet called it "sloppy."

It's unclear who actually sent out the tweet, but Dowd said he gave the drafted message to the president's social media director Dan Scavino.

[machoneman]

49. I don't doubt that his lawyer drafted that statement. But....

I'm sure trumpenfueher edited it to his liking before it went out. Trump doesn't ever like to be told what to do or say as many in the WH have leaked to reporters. That's a good thing btw as he's always undercutting good advice even from his lawyers.

[OhNo-Really]

31. From HIS RETAINER duh

Why do they keep perpetuating this story......Oh diversion from ___________[fill in the blank]

[Leghorn21]

32. Some comments on Kyle Griffins tweet about this:

Link to tweet

?s=20

Link to tweet

?s=20

Link to tweet

?s=20

https://mobile.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/963603448305471488

[Maeve]

33. And if you believe that....wanna buy a bridge? eom

[iluvtennis]

36. LIAR.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

37. Now I know what I can do the next time I have an extra $130,000 laying around...

...spend it on a porn star.

[FailureToCommunicate]

41. On her silence you mean. And if her silence cost that price, gotta wonder the cost of

well..you know...the main event(s)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

38. You can be sure he got a $130K benefit from Trump another way; maybe tRump paid bogus legal billing.

[world wide wally]

40. Yeah right

I'm sure we all believe that line of bullshit

[DoctorJoJo]

42. Lying Comes So Easily For An Attorney, ...

... especially one corrupt enough to service The Orange Buffoon, the vilest human on the planet.

[gopiscrap]

44. I want this guy for my lawyer

I have several library fines and a couple of parking tickets he can pay

[briv1016]

45. Just think, if this is the news they want us to talk about, what story are they trying to hide?

This wasn't a gaffe. This was a prepared statement from a lawyer.

[angrychair]

46. Soooooo

Trump did have sex with her and the campaign did pay for it. That’s an in-kind contribution if I ever heard one.

[SWBTATTReg]

48. Yeah, right, we believe you, really, we believe you. Liar, liar, liar, pants on fire! NT

[Owl]

50. Dotards personal lying lawyer.

How nice.

[bullimiami]

51. So is this extortion or bribery or both they are confessing? None of which is legal.

[raging moderate]

52. "Yeah, that's it. My own pocket."

"Yeah, my own pocket. Nothing to see here."

[dreamland]

53. So this makes it okay?

I don't believe it. Is there a way to check their campaign books?

[lanlady]

54. So why the shell company in DE?

When this story first broke, it was reported that Stormy got paid through a shell company. Why, if Cohen paid her out of the milk of human kindness, did he take that route?

[underpants]

56. Damn. I duped you.

I did look first.

The pic with this article cracks me up

[MGKrebs]

57. Hey, maybe this is the guy who can come up with the way that Mexico

is going to pay for the wall.
He could say something like " Well, they already paid for it. They sent me a check and I have a special account just for that." Or something just as plausible.

[Paladin]

58. Well, isn't that nice.

I know that I always appreciate it when my attorney foots the bill for the consequences of my sport fucking.

I sincerely hope that trump's reverse Midas touch is in place, and that Cohen loses his law license over this.

[turbinetree]

59. Hell whats a bribe here or there .........................its still a bribe

November 2018 cannot get here fast enough

[bluestarone]

60. $130,000 straight from Russia to Cohen then to the TRAMP!!!!

with full knowledge of tRUMPY!!! BUT DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE, WITH THESE LYING FUCKERS?? Just hope Mueller can UNRAVEL this shit.

[treestar]

62. How else should it have been paid?

Makes no sense. Who should reimburse the Idiot for his settling of such a case?

[treestar]

66. Oh wait, the lawyer paid?

And Donald did not reimburse him? OMG. What an idiot. Has he met his client?

[bluestarone]

63. if he truly did pay her, my next question is

WHY?????????????????????????????????????????????????

[NCjack]

64. Time for a watchdog group to move to have him disbarred. nt

[C_U_L8R]

67. Isn't this the sort of thing...

that gets lawyers disbarred? Any lawyers here appalled by this devilishness?

[Akoto]

69. That would seem to be an in kind contribution the campaign never reported. n/t