Trump lawyer says he paid porn star $130,000 with his own money

[webfact]

Trump lawyer says he paid porn star $130,000 with his own money

 

FILE PHOTO - U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting on trade with members of Congress at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A private lawyer for President Donald Trump says he paid $130,000 (£92,825) of his own money to adult film star Stormy Daniels who once claimed she had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago.

 

The payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was made during the 2016 presidential election campaign but the lawyer, Michael Cohen, said he was working alone and that it was not a campaign expense.

 

"Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly," Cohen said in a statement issued on Tuesday night.

 

Daniels was quoted as saying in a 2011 interview with In Touch Weekly that she had an affair with Trump after they met at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament in 2006.

 

Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

 

The Wall Street Journal first reported in January that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen had paid $130,000 to Daniels in 2016, the year Trump won the presidential election.

 

In his most detailed account yet of what happened, Cohen said in his statement that the payment was a "private transaction". He did not explain why he made the payment or say whether Trump was aware of it.

 

The White House referred questions about the payment to Cohen.

 

Cohen's statement was in response to a complaint filed at the Federal Election Commission by the Common Cause watchdog group.

 

Common Cause argued in its complaint that the payment amounts to a campaign contribution well in excess of the $2,700 limit to the amount any individual can give, and it has asked the FEC to enforce campaign finance laws.

 

"The complaint alleges that I somehow violated campaign finance laws by facilitating an excess, in-kind contribution.  The allegations in the complaint are factually unsupported and without legal merit, and my counsel has submitted a response to the FEC," Cohen said.

 

"Just because something isn't true doesn't mean that it can't cause you harm or damage. I will always protect Mr. Trump," Cohen said, adding that he would not comment further.

 

Common Cause said on Wednesday that the timing and circumstances of the payment "make it appear that the hush money was paid to Daniels in an effort to influence the election." It called on the FEC to conduct a full investigation.

 

The FEC confirmed it received Common Cause's complaint and declined to comment on the case.

 

Daniels' manager, Gina Rodriguez, told Reuters that by issuing the statement, Cohen was in violation of a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels about the matter and that Daniels believes she can now talk about it publicly.

 

"Yes, Stormy is going to talk," she said via direct message on Twitter. She did not immediately respond to a question about when and where Daniels would be speaking publicly.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Ginger Gibson in Washington, and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; editing by Kieran Murray)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-15

[Carib]

Wish I had a lawyer like that.. must be a first, usually lawyers rob you blind, this one pays your bills even if the isn't supposed to be a bill. 

[saakura]

130000 usd would have given Trump a lot of "love you long time" in Pattaya

[samran]

Trump not paying people who work for him? Who would have thunk? 

[tonray]

In spite of my allegations about an affair with Trump my Paypal account still shows zero balance. I don't believe him

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Michael Cohen, said he was working alone and that it was not a campaign expense.

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"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,"

As typified by the Trump administration, nothing can be taken at face value.

According to FEC reports the Trump campaign made 14 rent payments to the Trump Organization in 2016.  One of the extra payments was made in October 2016 was for $130,000.  sizable payments marked “rent” were made to Trump Tower Commercial LLC in the months before and after December 2016, though no other “rent” payments were for $130,000 specifically. The Trump Organization further made a payment of $130,888.33 in December 2016. 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-usd130-000-rent-payments-does-it-add-up.html

Was the extra $888.33 interest on a principal of $130,000 essentially borrowed from Cohen?

Hopefully Cohen's use of his personal funds "to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford" will be fully investigated.

[soalbundy]

He seems to be a very nice boy

[DM07]

President of the party of family values...and the value in question is 130.000 $....

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Daniels' manager, Gina Rodriguez, told Reuters that by issuing the statement, Cohen was in violation of a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels about the matter and that Daniels believes she can now talk about it publicly.

 

"Yes, Stormy is going to talk," she said via direct message on Twitter. She did not immediately respond to a question about when and where Daniels would be speaking publicly.

Stock up your popcorn reserves. This should be fun. Especially when then asked what the religious groups think about Trump. 

 

 

[stevenl]

They did very well to keep this away from the campaign, could have cost him the election.

[stevenl]

7 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Stock up your popcorn reserves. This should be fun. Especially when then asked what the religious groups think about Trump. 

 

 

Not really. She will talk they had a stormy affair, he will deny, either in person or via his lawyer, slap a law suit on her for violating the agreement, and that will be it.

[Berkshire]

13 minutes ago, stevenl said:

They did very well to keep this away from the campaign, could have cost him the election.

Not so sure about that....maybe his marriage might have been strained (like it is now).  But seriously, this tactic is so typical Trump.  It's legal nonsense to get around campaign finance rules.  But since Trump is the POTUS, the press is going to dissect it.  And it makes no logical sense.  No lawyer is going to put up his own money to protect a client from something that allegedly didn't even happen.  It makes absolutely no sense.  But of course, Trump supporters will believe every word. 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

 

As typified by the Trump administration, nothing can be taken at face value.

According to FEC reports the Trump campaign made 14 rent payments to the Trump Organization in 2016.  One of the extra payments was made in October 2016 was for $130,000.  sizable payments marked “rent” were made to Trump Tower Commercial LLC in the months before and after December 2016, though no other “rent” payments were for $130,000 specifically. The Trump Organization further made a payment of $130,888.33 in December 2016. 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-usd130-000-rent-payments-does-it-add-up.html

Was the extra $888.33 interest on a principal of $130,000 essentially borrowed from Cohen?

Hopefully Cohen's use of his personal funds "to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford" will be fully investigated.

 

If there are any facts about this case, that are true, the one you can count on, is that Trump covered this expense somehow. No lawyer pays that kind of money for a client, without getting reimbursed. This was hush money, and there is no doubt that this is not the only instance of hush money paid. Trump is filthier than the Alaskan Highway, five days after a snow storm. He has more skeletons in his closet than a Papuan Highlander cannibal. Hopefully, Mueller will be able to expose some of these skeletons. Unfortunately, the only thing scarier than a Trump presidency, is a Pence presidency. Maybe they will both go down with the ship, and Ryan will be president. 

 

Donald Trump. The art of I cannot make a deal to save my life. The art of demeaning everything he touches, debasing America and the world, and not making America great again. It is never going to happen.

 

The problem with his behavior, is that the more inane, silly, ridiculous, non-presidential, petty, vengeful, hateful, and racist he appears to be, as time goes on, the more toxic he becomes. He is not changing. It is just that who he really is, is becoming more apparent by the day. He has always been a hateful racist. He has always been a vengeful misogynist. That is who he is. It is just being revealed to us, as the layers of this poisonous onion are being peeled off. There is so much more to be revealed about this guy. My guess is that all of the stories about the Russian orgies, and Orgy Island, with Jeffrey Epstein, and the stories of sex with underage girls aboard Epsteins jet, with Trump on board, are all true. He is a freak. There is documentation that he was on 22 of these Epstein flights, and visited Orgy Island that many times. Does anyone really think it is even possible that he was not getting busy with underage girls the entire time? It appears that the commander in chief, is a serial statutory rapist. No wonder why he is defending Moore, and the staff members that were just dismissed, over allegations of sexual abuse. 

 

It is just that alot of people just do not know the full extent of it yet, and alot of his supporters were willing to go along with all of that, as they despised Clinton, who was a horrific candidate, and a terrible choice for the dems. Tim Kaine was even worse. 

 

I used to be in commercial real estate in New York. I met a few people who had direct dealings with this creep. They all said the same thing. After walking away from the closing table, they felt as if they had just spent 6 years in a federal penitentiary, and had been abused by every inmate, every day. This man was so abusive, so hostile, so unwilling to leave even one dollar on the table. They said if they did not really need to do the deal, they would have just walked away. That is who this man is. An absolute pig. He has always been this person. He will always be this person. It is just who he is. 

 

Things are only going downhill from here. It has become obvious, that even with a man as competent and strong as Kelly on board, nobody can control Trump, nor his staff. And it does appear that Kelly has sold out. He might have had some integrity, and some conviction at some point. But, he has been turned by the toxic nature of the White House, where absolute loyalty to the super pig is demanded. They are all out of control. The ship is sinking. It is fun to watch. Get used to saying President Pence.

 

Nearly 60 congresswomen have urged Congress to investigate claims against Mr Trump of sexual harassment and groping. Mr Trump said Democrats were seeking to capitalise on "the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!" Funny. You met them. They met you, when you were reaching your hand up their skirts, in an attempt to fondle them, or stick your tongue down their throats. Remember, it was you who said it. You said when you saw a beautiful woman, you could not help it. You had to try to kiss her. And you said that you could "grab them by the pussy", since you were famous. You said you could do anything. Remember, Don? It was caught on tape. You cannot dismiss this one. It is not going to go away. And you dared to criticize Franken for posing with his hands in front of a woman's breasts? Did he even touch her?

 

Epstein was famous for having underage girls both on his plane, and at the mansion on the island. There is virtually no doubt, that the president of the US participated. Anyone who knows about his past, simply has to come to this probable conclusion. 

 

I do have friends who are having heart attacks over this guy. Frankly, I do not take him seriously, on any level. Even though I disagree with nearly everything he says, does, or stands for, I take it all with a grain of salt, and keep it pretty lighthearted. It does not effect me much. But, he does invite scrutiny, and he does invite criticism and mockery. So, I am having some fun with it. The circus freak deserves that. He has earned that. So has his entire family. It is a circus family. The original Barnum and Bailey family.

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by spidermike007

[KKr]

not the sharpest tool in the shed.
probably better to say "it is true, tasty bit, and the wife knows about it, but since he was out of town does understand because he is such a strong man !!"

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Not really. She will talk they had a stormy affair, he will deny, either in person or via his lawyer, slap a law suit on her for violating the agreement, and that will be it.

Maybe not

 

Stormy Daniels 'free to tell her story' after Trump lawyer statement

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43055995

Edited February 15, 2018 by Bluespunk

[stevenl]

10 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Maybe not

 

Stormy Daniels 'free to tell her story' after Trump lawyer statement

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43055995

That's what her manager said. Somehow I think Team Trump will not agree with that statement and will slap a law suit on her.

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Not really. She will talk they had a stormy affair, he will deny, either in person or via his lawyer, slap a law suit on her for violating the agreement, and that will be it.

The agreement has already violated and has become void because Trump lawyer talked about it.

[Bluespunk]

12 minutes ago, stevenl said:

That's what her manager said. Somehow I think Team Trump will not agree with that statement and will slap a law suit on her.

Yeah, maybe...maybe not. 

 

Lets wait and see, but if the trump side has indeed violated the agreement with this revelation, it’s hard to see how they’ll win. 

 

I’m not too interested in the details of what happened, to be honest, but the admission of payments to her, in itself further damages his credibility, it’s all good. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Bluespunk

[Sydebolle]

So much to the world's police on democratic values 

[stevenl]

24 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Yeah, maybe...maybe not. 

 

Lets wait and see, but if the trump side has indeed violated the agreement with this revelation, it’s hard to see how they’ll win. 

 

I’m not too interested in the details of what happened, to be honest, but the admission of payments to her, in itself further damages his credibility, it’s all good. 

They don't have to win, all they have to do is slap so many and expensive law suits on her that it is not attractive for her to continue with it.

[Bluespunk]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

They don't have to win, all they have to do is slap so many and expensive law suits on her that it is not attractive for her to continue with it.

As I said, let’s wait and see. 

 

No matter what happens it’s all going to reflect negatively on trump. 

 

It’s  all good. 

[worgeordie]

I suppose the only fake news,is the organism that Trump

thought she had.

 

regards worgeordie

[tonray]

We're entering the lies to cover up other lies phase..  Won't be long now

[Jingthing]

5 hours ago, Carib said:

Wish I had a lawyer like that.. must be a first, usually lawyers rob you blind, this one pays your bills even if the isn't supposed to be a bill. 

Yep.

Because he didn't.

Lawyers don't do that.

As "trump" is fond of saying -- everyone knows that.

[Srikcir]

36 minutes ago, stevenl said:

They don't have to win, all they have to do is slap so many and expensive law suits on her that it is not attractive for her to continue with it.

There might be the "Melanie" effect.

If it's proven that Clifford had sexual relations with Trump, any prenuptial agreement between Trump and Melanie might be unenforceable assuming it favored Trump. Melanie would then have the financial resources to assure justice is done.

There may be legal flaws in the nondisclosure agreement itself - nondisclosure agreement was not co-signed by Melanie, possibly used to hide a crime and in itself did not use real names. 

"They don't have to win" but the public disclosures and depositions under oath might in themselves destroy the Trump presidency.

 

[connda]

It seems that the US has evolved into a country full of people living in glass houses who hoard rocks and dislike everyone around them who don't live in the same style of glass houses as do they. 

[Credo]

Here's a little about how the money may have gotten back to Cohen:

 

Trump’s Lawyer Says the Trump Campaign Didn’t Reimburse Him for His $130,000 Payment to Stormy Daniels. But …

There’s one catch, though: While rent is typically paid monthly, the Trump campaign, according to its FEC reports, made 14 rent payments in 2016. The dates of those payments:

 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-usd130-000-rent-payments-does-it-add-up.html

[atyclb]

jfk is one lucky dude not to have been around in the era of pc and internet justice

 

 

 

i'm just "the young man from the twentysecond row"

[JOC]

Meanwhile more than 1000 civilians were killed in Syria last week.....

[dunroaming]

Well I am sure Melania will be pleased to have it confirmed that Trump did pay off the hooker he was screwing behind her back.  The divorce lawyers must he banging on her doors by the truckload