This column contains a correction.
There is now strong, public evidence that the president of the United States committed a felony.
In June 2016, former Playboy model Karen McDougal began attempting to sell the rights to a story about an alleged affair with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Her attorney reached out to American Media Inc. (AMI)—the parent company of the National Enquirer—which in turn contacted Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer. The CEO of AMI had a previous relationship with Trump and Cohen, having met with them in 2015,* and offered to help purchase and kill negative stories. In August 2016, during the height of the presidential campaign, Cohen convinced AMI to pay $150,000 for McDougal’s story, promising that he would later reimburse the payment. According to federal prosecutors, “The agreement’s principal purpose was to suppress [McDougal’s] story so as to prevent the story from influencing the election.”
Two months later, in October 2016, adult film actress Stormy Daniels informed the editor of the National Enquirer that she intended to go public with allegations of an affair with Trump. The editor again contacted Cohen, who negotiated an agreement with Daniels’ attorney to purchase her silence for $130,000. Cohen made the payment through a shell company, presumably to help mask his involvement, and was later reimbursed by Trump’s real estate company—which paid him an additional $290,000 in monthly installments.