Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen admitted on Tuesday that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money in 2016, right before the election, so she wouldn’t blab about her 2011 extramarital affair with the married Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen says the payoff came out of his own pocket, and not from Mr. Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump businesses.
That doesn’t mean it’s legal. Even if Mr. Cohen didn’t coordinate his pre-election payoff with the candidate or the campaign, it could be considered an unreported in-kind campaign contribution in excess of the $2,700 individual cap. Common Cause has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to that effect. The FEC has a Republican majority and reports violations to Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice for enforcement, though, so that dog won’t hunt.
That doesn’t mean Mr. Trump is out of the woods. Stormy Daniels claims that Michael Cohen’s payoff revelations invalidate their nondisclosure agreement, so she’s free to talk about the president’s adulterous romps.
More:
“The Coming Storm? Hush Money and the Federal Election Campaign Act,” Thomas Frampton, Harvard Law Review blog
Related:
“Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity,” Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker
“The latest alleged Trump affair coverup is a damningly familiar tale,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post
“Alleged Ex-Trump Paramour Says ‘Catch And Kill’ Practice Kept Her Quiet,” Amy Held, NPR
“Tools of Trump’s Fixer: Payouts, Intimidation and the Tabloids,” Jim Rutenberg, Megan Twohey, Rebecca R. Ruiz, Mike McIntire and Maggie Haberman, New York Times
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Tags: adultery, Donald Trump, election law, FEC, hush money, Michael Cohen, NDAs, porn star, sex, sex scandals, Stephanie Clifford, Stormy Daniels, Trump
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