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Posted On: 05/02/2020 12:12:32 PM
Post# of 124263
But none on the list you've posted matter to those who've ignored the bus tape and, subsequently, Trump's name on checks paying for the silence of two women he cheated with.
Honesty, morality, ethics are the talk that sanctimonious Trump supporters simply cannot walk. Which is why everyone they disagree with politically needs to be 'locked up'.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/...649011.php
Among the many bombshells presented by Michael Cohen in his Wednesday testimony to Congress, there is an exhibit that points directly to possible criminal conduct by President Donald Trump.
Trump's former personal lawyer presented to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform a copy of two checks addressed to him for $35,000. It appears to be signed by Trump; Cohen said the check came directly from the president's personal bank account and was a partial reimbursement for hush-money payments to "cover up" an alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
"I am providing a copy of a $35,000 check that President Trump personally signed from his personal bank account on August 1, 2017 — when he was President of the United States — pursuant to the cover-up, which was the basis of my guilty plea, to reimburse me — the word used by Mr. Trump's TV lawyer — for the illegal hush money I paid on his behalf," Cohen testified. "This $35,000 check was one of 11 check installments that was paid throughout the year — while he was President.
"The President of the United States thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws. You can find the details of that scheme, directed by Mr. Trump, in the pleadings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York."
Cohen also presented a similar check dated March 17, 2017. Cohen later testified the installment payments were meant to hide the nature of the payments and make them look like retainer payments.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006 while Trump was married to current wife and First Lady Melania Trump. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Cohen says he was instructed by candidate Trump to pay Daniels for her silence.
Cohen says he subsequently paid Daniels $130,000; a copy of the wire transfer was also included among Cohen's exhibits Wednesday. Both Daniels and Cohen signed non-disclosure agreements, but the story broke in Jan. 2018 with a Wall Street Journal exposé.
"Cohen's public testimony directly implicates Trump in serious campaign finance violations," former FEC general counsel Lawrence Noble told the Washington Post. "Assuming Cohen is telling the truth about the purpose of the checks, the checks are documentary evidence supporting the allegation that Trump had Cohen pay Daniels $135,000 in hush money and then reimbursed Cohen."
"Cohen's advance of the hush money was an illegal excessive campaign contribution and should have been reported by the campaign," Noble added. "Trump's reimbursement of Cohen was a campaign expenditure which should have also been reported."
Both of those actions would constitute a violation of campaign finance law by the president.
The president's story regarding the payment has changed over time. He initially denied the affair and the existence of the $130,000 payment. In May 2018, Trump's new personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on Fox News that the president was aware of the payment and had repaid Cohen.
"Nobody got killed, nobody got robbed ... This was not a big crime," Giuliani told The Daily Beast in Dec. 2018.
Cohen worked as Trump's fixer for a decade. He was sentenced to three years in prison last year after pleading guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud, campaign finance law violations and lying to Congress.
Honesty, morality, ethics are the talk that sanctimonious Trump supporters simply cannot walk. Which is why everyone they disagree with politically needs to be 'locked up'.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/...649011.php
Among the many bombshells presented by Michael Cohen in his Wednesday testimony to Congress, there is an exhibit that points directly to possible criminal conduct by President Donald Trump.
Trump's former personal lawyer presented to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform a copy of two checks addressed to him for $35,000. It appears to be signed by Trump; Cohen said the check came directly from the president's personal bank account and was a partial reimbursement for hush-money payments to "cover up" an alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
"I am providing a copy of a $35,000 check that President Trump personally signed from his personal bank account on August 1, 2017 — when he was President of the United States — pursuant to the cover-up, which was the basis of my guilty plea, to reimburse me — the word used by Mr. Trump's TV lawyer — for the illegal hush money I paid on his behalf," Cohen testified. "This $35,000 check was one of 11 check installments that was paid throughout the year — while he was President.
"The President of the United States thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws. You can find the details of that scheme, directed by Mr. Trump, in the pleadings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York."
Cohen also presented a similar check dated March 17, 2017. Cohen later testified the installment payments were meant to hide the nature of the payments and make them look like retainer payments.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006 while Trump was married to current wife and First Lady Melania Trump. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Cohen says he was instructed by candidate Trump to pay Daniels for her silence.
Cohen says he subsequently paid Daniels $130,000; a copy of the wire transfer was also included among Cohen's exhibits Wednesday. Both Daniels and Cohen signed non-disclosure agreements, but the story broke in Jan. 2018 with a Wall Street Journal exposé.
"Cohen's public testimony directly implicates Trump in serious campaign finance violations," former FEC general counsel Lawrence Noble told the Washington Post. "Assuming Cohen is telling the truth about the purpose of the checks, the checks are documentary evidence supporting the allegation that Trump had Cohen pay Daniels $135,000 in hush money and then reimbursed Cohen."
"Cohen's advance of the hush money was an illegal excessive campaign contribution and should have been reported by the campaign," Noble added. "Trump's reimbursement of Cohen was a campaign expenditure which should have also been reported."
Both of those actions would constitute a violation of campaign finance law by the president.
The president's story regarding the payment has changed over time. He initially denied the affair and the existence of the $130,000 payment. In May 2018, Trump's new personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on Fox News that the president was aware of the payment and had repaid Cohen.
"Nobody got killed, nobody got robbed ... This was not a big crime," Giuliani told The Daily Beast in Dec. 2018.
Cohen worked as Trump's fixer for a decade. He was sentenced to three years in prison last year after pleading guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud, campaign finance law violations and lying to Congress.
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