Tag: Michael Cohen

RNC deputy finance chair steps down after admitting Trump’s lawyer negotiated settlement between him and pregnant Playboy model

The following article by Tom Hamburger, Ellen Nakashima, Beth Reinhard and Emma Brown was posted on the Washington Post website April 13, 2018:

Elliott Broidy, pictured with his wife Robin, acknowledged Friday that he had a relationship with a former Playboy model. Credit: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages/AP

A top GOP fundraiser and prominent backer of President Trump stepped down from his Republican National Committee post Friday after revelations that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a $1.6 million settlement with a former Playboy model the donor had impregnated.

Los Angeles-based investor Elliott Broidy, who has been a top fundraiser for Trump and the party, issued a statement Friday acknowledging that he “had a consensual relationship” with the woman, who got pregnant. He said he retained Cohen after Trump’s personal lawyer told Broidy he had been contacted by the woman’s attorney.

“It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen’s involvement,” Broidy said in the statement. Continue reading “RNC deputy finance chair steps down after admitting Trump’s lawyer negotiated settlement between him and pregnant Playboy model”

Trump’s allies worry that federal investigators may have seized recordings made by his attorney

The following article by Ashley Parker, Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website April 12, 2018:

President Trump’s personal attorney Michael D. Cohen sometimes taped conversations with associates, according to three people familiar with his practice, and allies of the president are worried that the recordings were seized by federal investigators in a raid of Cohen’s office and residences this week.

Cohen, who served for a decade as a lawyer at the Trump Organization and is a close confidant of Trump’s, was known to store the conversations using digital files and then replay them for colleagues, according to people who have interacted with him. Continue reading “Trump’s allies worry that federal investigators may have seized recordings made by his attorney”

Trump fury after Cohen raids prods Hill Republicans to take sides on Mueller

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website April 11, 2018:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on April 10 he doesn’t believe special counsel Robert S. Mueller III will be removed from his office. (The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: 

Every time President Trump threatens to fire Bob Mueller, it gets harder for congressional Republicans to dismiss questions about why they are not protecting the special counsel.

For the better part of a year, GOP lawmakers have tried to straddle the fence — saying Mueller’s investigation should be allowed to run its course while expressing confidence that Trump wouldn’t fire him. Continue reading “Trump fury after Cohen raids prods Hill Republicans to take sides on Mueller”

Trump is So Angry About Mueller, He Mostly Just Eats and Watches TV: Report

The following article by Harriet Sinclair was posted on the Newsweek website April 11, 2018:

Credit: Evan Vucci/AP

Updated | President Donald Trump was so angry about the FBI’s raid on his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, that he spent much of the weekend brooding, eating or just watching TV.

The president has openly expressed his frustration with the Monday raid on Cohen. “Attorney–client privilege is dead! ” he tweeted on Tuesday, following up with another message that simply read: “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!! ” in a repeat of the language the president has previously used to describe the ongoing probe into possible connections between Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign and the Trump team. Continue reading “Trump is So Angry About Mueller, He Mostly Just Eats and Watches TV: Report”

Trump lawyer now claims his statements about Stormy Daniels were just hyperbole

The following article by Melanie Schmitz was posted on the ThinkProgress website April 10, 2018:

Cohen says not to take him literally or seriously.

A longtime lawyer for President Trump argued in a new court filing this week that he was simply being “hyperbolic” when he suggested adult film actress Stormy Daniels was lying about an affair she claimed to have had with President Trump.

Michael D. Cohen, who has worked with the Trump Organization for close to a decade, is currently being sued by Daniels for defamation. Daniels claims she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, one year after Trump’s marriage to his third wife, Melania. Daniels said that she was initially pressured not to go public with her story in 2011, and in 2016, after attempting to speak out about the affair once more, was contacted by Cohen and paid $130,000 to stay silent — weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claimed that the money was part of a non-disclosure agreement she entered into with Cohen, who signed on behalf of the shell company. Trump, however, did not sign the document. Continue reading “Trump lawyer now claims his statements about Stormy Daniels were just hyperbole”

Reacting To Cohen Raid, Trump Delivers Inaccurate And Dictatorial Rant

The following article by Joe Conason was posted on the National Memo website April 10, 2018:

Photo: John Moore

“It is an attack on our country!” exclaimed Donald Trump upon learning that the FBI had raided the office, home, and hotel room occupied by his personal attorney Michael Cohen. “It’s an attack on what we all stand for.”

What he meant by that deranged statement remained unclear as he rambled on about the “witch hunt” his own law enforcement officials are supposedly perpetrating against him. But the real meaning is all too obvious: He believes that any action against him, no matter how lawful, is an action against the nation. That is the mindset of a would-be dictator. Continue reading “Reacting To Cohen Raid, Trump Delivers Inaccurate And Dictatorial Rant”

‘A bomb on Trump’s front porch’: FBI’s Cohen raids hit home for the president

The following article by Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey and Robert Costa was posted on the Washington Post website April 9, 2018:

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, is under federal investigation. The Washington Post’s Tom Hamburger explains what you need to know. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump has howled in all caps for nearly a year as the Justice Department has delved deeper and deeper into his orbit. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III indicted his former campaign chairman. Then he secured a guilty plea from his former national security adviser. All the while, Mueller and his investigators have spent hours questioning White House officials about whether the president had sought to obstruct justice.

But the FBI’s seizure on Monday of privileged communications between Trump and his private lawyer, Michael D. Cohen — as well as documents related to a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress who has alleged a sexual affair with Trump — was a particularly extraordinary move that opens a whole new front in the converging legal battles ensnaring the administration. Continue reading “‘A bomb on Trump’s front porch’: FBI’s Cohen raids hit home for the president”

Trump attorney Cohen is being investigated for possible bank fraud, campaign finance violations

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Devlin Barrett was posted on the Washington Post website April 9, 2018:

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, is under federal investigation. The Washington Post’s Tom Hamburger explains what you need to know. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Michael Cohen, the longtime attorney of President Trump, is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, according to three people with knowledge of the case.

FBI agents on Monday raided Cohen’s Manhattan office, home and hotel room as part of the investigation, seizing records about Cohen’s clients and personal finances. Among the records taken were those related to a 2016 payment Cohen made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump, according to a fourth person familiar with the investigation. Continue reading “Trump attorney Cohen is being investigated for possible bank fraud, campaign finance violations”

Why The Stormy Daniels Case Matters

The following article by David Cay Johnston was posted on the DCReports.org website March 9, 2018:

The adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had an affair with Donald Trump. Credit Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Important national security, political and other issues are embedded in the lawsuit that a porn actress filed against the president this week. Treating it as mere entertainment would be a serious mistake.

Further, the inept and dishonest way the White House and Trump’s personal lawyer have handled the matter underlines the many facts that establish this administration is a kakistocracy, a government of the venal, the corrupt and the incompetent. Instead of the best and the brightest, the Trump administration draws on the worst and the dullest.

The porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is just one of many people who know dark secrets about Trump. Like Clifford, these people have solid evidence—photographs, text messages, outtakes from Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice and other evidence. The secrets Clifford knows are for sure not the darkest. Continue reading “Why The Stormy Daniels Case Matters”

Longtime Trump attorney says he made $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels with his money

The following article by Mark Berman was posted on the Washington Post website February 14, 2018:

Here is what we know about the allegation that an adult-film star reportedly was paid to remain silent about a sexual relationship with Donald Trump. (The Washington Post)

A longtime personal attorney for President Trump said Tuesday that he paid $130,000 to an adult-film star who had told people she had an affair with Trump a decade before he won the presidency.

Michael Cohen, who had previously dismissed reports about the payment, said he paid Stormy Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — using his own money, rather than involving the Trump Organization or the Trump presidential campaign. His comments came after a watchdog group argued that the payout should be viewed as an unreported campaign expense, which Cohen denied. Continue reading “Longtime Trump attorney says he made $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels with his money”