Trevor Potter Reaction to Michael Cohen Pleading Guilty to Campaign Finance Violations in Coordination With Trump Campaign

Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) President Trevor Potter, a former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) released the following statement in response to news that Trump attorney Michael Cohen plead guilty on two counts of illegal campaign contributions related to the 2016 election:

“Michael Cohen admitted today that he made or facilitated hush money payments to women in coordination with the Trump campaign to keep them silent about affairs they had with Trump. Cohen admitted to making a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels for the benefit of and in coordination with the Trump campaign, and appears to have done so at the behest of Trump himself, which constitutes an excessive and unreported in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign. It also appears that the Trump campaign itself violated the law by accepting this contribution in excess of legal limits and failing to report it.”

“If Trump himself knowingly and willfully violated the law, or engaged in or directed a conspiracy to do so, he too could be facing criminal penalties. Even if his violation is not knowing and willful however, the campaign could be subject to civil penalties, such as fines.”

“In a separate charge, Cohen pled guilty to causing American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, to make an illegal coordinated $150,000 payment by the publisher of the National Enquirer to silence former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Cohen admitted that the payment was part of an agreement entered into by AMI to influence the 2016 Presidential election by using corporate resources to prevent rumors about Trump’s affairs from becoming public by paying off women who were threatening to go public.”

Trevor Potter appeared on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper in March to talk about this issue and the importance of the FEC enforcing campaign finance law.