Time: The Latest Twist in Trump's Involvement With Stormy Daniels Could Be the Most Legally Problematic

Date
Expert

President Donald Trump’s legal team is taking a new tack, admitting that he repaid longtime attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star during the election while arguing that there’s nothing wrong with that.

...

“Trump’s tweets about Michael Cohen’s retainer do not change the fact that Cohen’s payment to Daniels was made just days before the election,” said Corey Goldstone, media strategist at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. “A reasonable person might think that the payment was made to protect Trump from bad headlines that could damage his standing in the 2016 election. There are still questions that have to be answered about whether the payment constitutes an illegal in-kind contribution.”

...

Trevor Potter, the President of the Campaign Legal Center, said in a subsequent lengthy statement that these comments proved the political relevance of the failure to disclose the payment, strengthening the argument about a violation of campaign finance laws. “…that is an admission that the confidentiality agreement and the timing of the payment influenced the 2016 elections,” he said.

Read the full article