Watchdog group files complaint against Trump campaign over reported payout to Stormy Daniels
The confidentiality settlement reportedly paid to an adult-film star who said she had an affair with Donald Trump years before he became president may have violated campaign finance laws, a watchdog group alleged Monday.
In a pair of federal complaints, Common Cause, a nonprofit government watchdog group, argued that the settlement amounted to an unreported in-kind contribution to Trump's campaign. The group called on the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission to investigate.
These complaints focused on the Wall Street Journal's report earlier this month that Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, had negotiated a secret $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, the porn star, not long before the presidential election in 2016. The Washington Post has not independently verified that settlement, which is said to have been finalized as Trump was facing numerous accusations of sexual misconduct from women during the final weeks of the campaign.
This settlement should have been considered a campaign expense “because the funds were paid for the purpose of influencing the 2016 presidential general election,” Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert at the group, said in a letter addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.
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