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[webfact]

Tabloid says it worked with Trump campaign to pay 2016 hush money - prosecutors

By Brendan Pierson

 

Playboy Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal poses at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills in 1998. REUTERS/Files

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper has admitted it paid hush money to a former Playboy magazine model to prevent her from going public ahead of the 2016 election with claims that she had an affair with President Donald Trump.

 

Federal prosecutors in New York said on Wednesday that American Media Inc (AMI) [AMRCM.UL], as part of a deal to cooperate with prosecutors and avoid charges, admitted it made a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal "in concert" with Trump's presidential campaign.

 

AMI said Chief Executive David Pecker met with Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and at least one other member of the campaign in August 2015 and offered to help with negative stories about Trump's relationships with women by buying the rights to those stories, according to a document made public by prosecutors.

 

AMI's admission may support statements made by Cohen, who was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison for his role in the payments, that they were made to influence the election in violation of campaign finance law, legal experts said.

 

Federal law requires that the contribution of "anything of value" to a campaign must be disclosed, and an individual donation cannot exceed $2,700.

 

Trump and his lawyers have argued the payments were a personal matter unrelated to the election.

 

The charges on which Cohen was sentenced include campaign finance law violations relating to his negotiation of payments to McDougal and another woman, adult film star Stormy Daniels. Cohen has said both payments were directed by Trump.

A spokesman for AMI declined to comment.

 

Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, stuck to Trump's position on Wednesday, asserting to Reuters that the president never reimbursed AMI for its payment to McDougal.

 

Legal experts said the deal with AMI strengthened prosecutors' position in any potential case against Trump, however.

Jens Ohlin, a professor at Cornell Law School, said the details about AMI's intentions undermined Trump's claim.

 

A New York-based appellate lawyer, Mark Zauderer, said the deal with AMI was "another arrow in the prosecutors' quiver".

 

Before the AMI deal was revealed, he said, the only known source of information about the payment was Cohen, whom the president has dismissed as a liar.

 

"Now it seems clear that a second source of evidence would be available to the prosecution," he said.

 

McDougal has said she had a months-long sexual affair with Trump years before he took office, and that she sold her story for $150,000 to AMI, but it was never published.

 

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York and Susan Heavey and Karen Freifeld in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-13

 

[Samui Bodoh]

"...Federal prosecutors in New York said on Wednesday that American Media Inc (AMI) [AMRCM.UL], as part of a deal to cooperate with prosecutors and avoid charges, admitted it made a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal "in concert" with Trump's presidential campaign..."

 

Or, put another way...

 

They admitted that they committed a felony "in concert" with Trump's campaign. The only remaining question is whether Trump personally knew and approved the payment, and my assumption is that he did. If he weren't the President of the USA right now, he'd already be indicted and looking at jail time.

 

Finally, we are seeing the beginning of the end...

 

I have said it before and (sadly) need to say it again;

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

God help us all.

 

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Samui Bodoh

[Thailand]

I guess by now Mueller's quiver is quite full. Let's hope the ammo hits the mark bigly time.

[PatOngo]

42 minutes ago, webfact said:

admitted it made a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal "in concert" with Trump's presidential campaign.

 

Now that's expensive sex, it would have cheaper for him to fly to Pattaya!

[Boon Mee]

Not even close to being a felony. 

Small beer. 

Not a crime to pay hush money from your own account. 

[Emster23]

" Not even close to being a felony. "

Apparently real lawyers for prosecution and defense disagree with your legal scholarship ability

Wait for bigger felonies... this will later look like small peanuts IMO.

He may have to shoot someone on 5th avenue (he said he could do that, half joking) for spineless Republican senators to uphold their duties

[attrayant]

43 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Not even close to being a felony. 

 

Not even close to understanding the situation.

[IAMHERE]

I have had several crazies I fondly remember as paying to go away. I have only sympathy with the current President of the USA. 

[ReMarKable]

Is this realty TV show still on the air?  My understanding is it has very bad ratings?

[Tug]

Yup it’s getting started 2 felonies so far and mr Muller has more the man baby will be trying to negotiate a plea deal soon kinda looks like stormy might get the last laugh as well god what a screw up!

[GroveHillWanderer]

3 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Not even close to being a felony. 

Small beer. 

Not a crime to pay hush money from your own account. 

You don't understand much about legal matters, do you? It has been irrefutably established as a point of law, that these payments constituted a felony, by virtue of the fact that a court has found Michael Cohen guilty of (and sentenced him to three years in jail for) "intentionally violating portions of the following federal election laws on behalf of Donald Trump: 52 U.S. Code § 30116 ; 52 U.S. Code § 30118" 

 

So the payments most definitely were felonies, the main question left is whether Trump himself is equally culpable, which has yet to be established.

 

Since one of the requirements for such campaign finance violations to be considered as a felony, is that (in addition to being a "major violation") they must have been committed "intentionally," that could be a little tricky to prove - unless, like Cohen, a person actually confesses to it, which I'm assuming Trump probably won't do. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by GroveHillWanderer

[mtls2005]

If trump did nothing wrong why lie about it?

 

And if it was not about stealing an election, why not pay Ms. McDougal, Ms. Daniels, others, off years ago?

 

Well, it looks like Mr. Pecker did not get hit by a truck, or if he did it was the Mueller Beer Truck.

 

Where is the "safe"? And how much "stuff" got turned over to Mueller?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by mtls2005

[farcanell]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

I have said it before and (sadly) need to say it again;

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

God help us all.

 

 

Nah... you don’t have to say it again.... although it’s funny every time you do ????????????

 

meanwhile.... if not collusion, definitely a conspiracy to deceive.

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, IAMHERE said:

I have had several crazies I fondly remember as paying to go away. I have only sympathy with the current President of the USA. 

So I'm guessing that these people were "crazies" because delusional. It seem to me that the only one denying reality in this case is Trump who maintained for a long time that he had never paid Daniels off and didn't have sex with her.

[mtls2005]

PECKER PICKLE PROMPTS POTUS PROBE

 

-Patton Oswalt on Twitter

 

 

 

 

[roobaa01]

first russia, russia ....russia but to no avail a collusion was found by tax money waster mueller, now the new hysteria paying ex girls out of its own pocket to be a crime what a legal crap.

 

did nt a judge porny daniels to pay compo of $300k to donald.

 

did nt obama pay a fine $ 375 k fine on $ 2 million illegal campaign payments.

of course partisian legal experts tell any fairy tales especially on cnn, nbc or prawda new york times which sees the us with the axis of evil.

 

wbr

roobaa01

 

wbr

[GroveHillWanderer]

23 minutes ago, roobaa01 said:

did nt obama pay a fine $ 375 k fine on $ 2 million illegal campaign payments.

No, he did not. The Obama campaign had to pay a $375K fine for reporting violations, which included missing the filing deadline on a number of totally legal campaign contributions, totalling $1.8 million. The payments were not illegal, they were just not reported within the required 48 hours of being received.

 

There is a world of difference between administrators on a campaign missing a reporting deadline for receiving perfectly legal campaign contributions (with absolutely no suggestion that the candidate even knew about it) and Cohen making illegal payments with the intent of influencing an election campaign, "in coordination with and at the direction of" the candidate.

[Mac98]

8 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Not even close to being a felony. 

Small beer. 

Not a crime to pay hush money from your own account. 

It's illegal for a publication to pay money to sway an election, and it's illegal for a candidate to actively support that action.

[bristolboy]

5 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

You don't understand much about legal matters, do you? It has been irrefutably established as a point of law, that these payments constituted a felony, by virtue of the fact that a court has found Michael Cohen guilty of (and sentenced him to three years in jail for) "intentionally violating portions of the following federal election laws on behalf of Donald Trump: 52 U.S. Code § 30116 ; 52 U.S. Code § 30118" 

 

So the payments most definitely were felonies, the main question left is whether Trump himself is equally culpable, which has yet to be established.

 

Since one of the requirements for such campaign finance violations to be considered as a felony, is that (in addition to being a "major violation") they must have been committed "intentionally," that could be a little tricky to prove - unless, like Cohen, a person actually confesses to it, which I'm assuming Trump probably won't do. 

Conspiring with AMI in the matter of payments constitutes a big step towards showing that this wasn't just about protecting his reputation but rather about promoting his election. You don't need a confession to establish intent.

[bristolboy]

20 minutes ago, Mac98 said:

It's illegal for a publication to pay money to sway an election, and it's illegal for a candidate to actively support that action.

I don't think it's a question of it being a publication. A law like that would obviously violate the first amendment.  Rather, as a business it may have run afoul of campaign laws.

"The payment covered a nondisclosure agreement related to the alleged affair but also purported to hire McDougal as a contributor to AMI properties; as you can see above, the company is now attesting that its true purpose was simply to prevent McDougal’s story from harming Trump’s effort to become president. As such, the law dictates that it should have been disclosed publicly as a campaign contribution. (Trump has called the payment a “private transaction,” implying that it was made for personal rather than campaign-related reasons, and blamed Cohen for setting it up improperly.)"

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/national-enquirer-admits-trump-campaign-finance-crime.html

Edited December 13, 2018 by bristolboy

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

51 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

No, he did not. The Obama campaign had to pay a $375K fine for reporting violations, which included missing the filing deadline on a number of totally legal campaign contributions, totalling $1.8 million. The payments were not illegal, they were just not reported within the required 48 hours of being received.

 

There is a world of difference between administrators on a campaign missing a reporting deadline for receiving perfectly legal campaign contributions (with absolutely no suggestion that the candidate even knew about it) and Cohen making illegal payments with the intent of influencing an election campaign, "in coordination with and at the direction of" the candidate.

Totally correct. And Obama immediately admitted the mistake, he did not lie about it for over a year then keep changing his story. 

It's good to see some people know the facts.

It is shocking that so many other choose to ignore them and believe the lies that support their ideology. 

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

1 hour ago, roobaa01 said:

first russia, russia ....russia but to no avail a collusion was found by tax money waster mueller, now the new hysteria paying ex girls out of its own pocket to be a crime what a legal crap.

 

did nt a judge porny daniels to pay compo of $300k to donald.

 

did nt obama pay a fine $ 375 k fine on $ 2 million illegal campaign payments.

of course partisian legal experts tell any fairy tales especially on cnn, nbc or prawda new york times which sees the us with the axis of evil.

 

wbr

roobaa01

 

wbr

Tax money waster Mueller????

at least 16 of Trumps closest associates have been indicted for lying about their involvement with the Russians. 

Dozens of other indictments

Many of Trumps closest associates including the national security adviser pleading guilty!!!

Get you head out of your rear exit!!!

This is treason at the highest levels.

How can you not see what's going on here?

There has been no leaks from Mueller so you have no idea what he knows. But it is pretty clear from the court filings he knows a lot.

I would love to sit down and have a beer with your once all is revealed. If Mueller has nothing then I will pay for your drinks all week long.

If he shows Trump for the lying criminal that he is, then you just need to buy me one local beer.

Are you in?

And the losing party needs to admit they were wrong.

[Ulic]

I am no Trump fan and I think he is guilty of a lot in life but this is not a big deal as far as I am concerned. Chump change and standard for Trump and politicians who value reputation. As for his philandering and carrying on with porn stars and Playboy bunnies I am sure 90% of males who are billionaires have similar skeletons in the closet. Mine would walk in closet-sized if I had 1% of his wealth. Look at his tax filings and business practices never mind this and Russian collusion.

[mtls2005]

In addition to killing stories detrimental to trump, the National Enquirer "broke" many "news" stories which painted his opponent in a less than favorable light.

 

 

[bristolboy]

15 hours ago, Ulic said:

I am no Trump fan and I think he is guilty of a lot in life but this is not a big deal as far as I am concerned. Chump change and standard for Trump and politicians who value reputation. As for his philandering and carrying on with porn stars and Playboy bunnies I am sure 90% of males who are billionaires have similar skeletons in the closet. Mine would walk in closet-sized if I had 1% of his wealth. Look at his tax filings and business practices never mind this and Russian collusion.

So, if in fact Trump conspired with a foreign power to illegally subvert an election that is less important than possibly corrupt business dealings?

[attrayant]

19 hours ago, roobaa01 said:

did nt obama pay a fine $ 375 k fine on $ 2 million illegal campaign payments.

 

of course partisian legal experts tell any fairy tales

 

WaPo:

 

“Overall, this is a very clean audit report for the Obama campaign. The FEC spent two years picking over $750 million in contributions and expenses and found one violation,” former Republican FEC chairman Michael Toner told Reuters at the time.

 

I guess former Republican FEC chairman Michael Toner is one of those partisans you're talking about?

 

 

[attrayant]

16 hours ago, Ulic said:

Look at his tax filings and business practices never mind this and Russian collusion.

 

Why not look at everything?  Why are you excusing it just because it's "standard" for politicians?  White collar crime is the precursor of corruption, which is itself an aggressive cancer upon an otherwise law-abiding nation.  

[Berkshire]

16 hours ago, Ulic said:

I am no Trump fan and I think he is guilty of a lot in life but this is not a big deal as far as I am concerned. Chump change and standard for Trump and politicians who value reputation. As for his philandering and carrying on with porn stars and Playboy bunnies I am sure 90% of males who are billionaires have similar skeletons in the closet. Mine would walk in closet-sized if I had 1% of his wealth. Look at his tax filings and business practices never mind this and Russian collusion.

In regards to your last sentence, yes, Mr. Mueller is doing just that.  As for the philandering, no one would care about his affairs with parades of bimbos or his non-stop lying if he was just a private conman...ehhh, business man.  But he's the freakin President.  The guy is in charge of law enforcement in America.  Surely he needs to be held to a higher standard.  As for the "90% of male billionaires...," Lordy.  I do understand that if YOU were a billionaire, you'd be getting some nooky on the side.  But I'm not so sure about the 90%. 

[mtls2005]

The Trump Organization's CFO, Allen Weisselberg - mentioned in the trump-Cohen-Pecker tape - is said to be cooperating with Mueller and the SDNY (and perhaps NYS) investigations, plural.

 

A big question looming over Trump just got bigger: What is Allen Weisselberg spilling about?

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/13/big-question-looming-over-trump-just-got-bigger-what-is-allen-weisselberg-spilling-about/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b2fdac06d4d7

 

 

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

 

 

 

[GroveHillWanderer]

17 hours ago, Ulic said:

I am no Trump fan and I think he is guilty of a lot in life but this is not a big deal as far as I am concerned. Chump change and standard for Trump and politicians who value reputation.

So, not a big deal, huh? The US Government's Department of Justice would vehemently disagree with you. Here's what their lawyers said about the nature of these payments and why they're such a serious matter:

 

Quote

The government argues Cohen's "offenses strike at several pillars of our society," including "transparent and fair elections."

 

"First, Cohen's commission of two campaign finance crimes on the eve of the 2016 election for President of the United States struck a blow to one of the core goals of the federal campaign finance laws: transparency. While many Americans who desired a particular outcome to the election knocked on doors, toiled at phone banks, or found any number of other legal ways to make their voices heard, Cohen sought to influence the election from the shadows. He did so by orchestrating secret and illegal payments to silence two women who otherwise would have made public their alleged extramarital affairs with Individual-1. In the process, Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election."

 

The government writes that, though campaign finance crimes are "difficult to identify and prosecute," they "erode faith in elections and perpetuate political corruption."

 

"Cohen's crimes are particularly serious because they were committed on the eve of a Presidential election, and they were intended to affect that election."

Everything that the Government lawyers say there, although they reference mainly Cohen (because this was part of their sentencing memo for him) would apply equally to Trump's part in this, assuming he directed and coordinated these payments, as stated in the same sentencing memo.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by GroveHillWanderer