Jose Maricris
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen revealed that he paid $130,000 to a former porn star straight from his own pocket. Cohen did this act so that the porn star would shut her mouth about a purported affair that she had with the United States’ leader.
Cohen has stated in some reports that using his own money he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels, whose actual name is Stephanie Clifford way back in October 2016. He did this to stop Daniels from making an appearance on national television to discourse her history with then-candidate Trump.
As a matter of fact, Cohen stated in an interview that: “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,” He further added that the payment he gave to Ms. Clifford was legal, and was not from the campaign contribution or a campaign disbursement from anyone. It is also worth noting that this is the first time that Trump’s lawyer has publicly recognized that he had a part in the payment.
Moreover, the White House has denied the allegations that President Trump had an affair with Daniels in 2006. It can be recalled that this is the time when his wife Melania gave birth to their son Barron. But beyond the understandable scandalous nature of the story, some are questioning whether the payment for Daniels has been illegal and violated the campaign finance laws.
The watchdog group Common Cause already filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department. The group argued that the expenditure amounted to an unreported in-kind contribution to Trump’s campaign. Nonetheless, Cohen stated the accusations in the complaint are truthfully unsupported and it doesn’t have any legal merit. He further added that his counsel already submitted a response to the FEC regarding the protest. In fact, he even called the payment a “private transaction.”
Unluckily, Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of litigation and policy at Common Cause, has stated that Cohen’s proclamation doesn’t make the Trump campaign’s legal complications go away.
Ryan stated that “Any payment by a person such as Cohen on behalf of or in consultation with a candidate to influence an election is an in-kind ‘contribution’ to the candidate under campaign finance law subject to a $2,700 limit and disclosure requirements.”
He even called for the FEC and Justice Department to completely investigate. He further added that the questions about the payment for Daniels and the conditions behind it must be responded, and has to be answered under oath.
For a brief background, Daniels isn’t the only woman that Trump has been reported to have paid off to keep be quiet about a purported affair. In fact, before the 2016 election, there’s a story that surfaced stating that the current US President is having an illicit love affair with another woman. She’s no other than 1998 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Karen McDougal. Based on some news, McDougal has been paid for $150,000 to keep her mouth shut.
Quick Background on Trump-Daniels Affair
It was in January when Cohen, who’s Trump’s long-time lawyer has been reported to have arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels. The said disbursement has been given to the porn actress a month before the 2016 election. She has been paid to keep her from publicly conferring a suspected sexual encounter with Trump. But then, days later a celebrity has published an interview with Daniels which was conducted in 2011. Based on the interview, the porn actress reveals that she had an affair with Trump. Apart from that, she also provided some astonishing details.
After that occurrence, First lady Melania Trump’s activities have been very intriguing. During that time, she decided against escorting the president to Davos, as an alternative she made an unplanned trip to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. She also traveled to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend and toured alone to the State of the Union address.
The rumors about the meeting between Trump and Daniels have been disseminated before the election. As a matter of fact, there were reports suggesting that numerous media outlets like Fox News and Slate had a story and wasn’t published. Furthermore, the Smoking Gun’s William Bastone posted a picture of Trump and Daniels together all throughout a celebrity golf tournament way back in 2006. Also, an author of a gossip website had posted a sparsely sourced item claiming the affair way back in 2011.
As of now, these are the known details about Trump’s lawyer allegedly paid a porn actress using his own money. Stay tuned for future updates regarding this topic.
