WSJ: Trump Played Central Role in Hush Payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal

[Miles Archer]

Donald Trump Played Central Role in Hush Payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal

Federal prosecutors have gathered evidence of president’s participation in transactions that violated campaign-finance laws

By Joe Palazzolo, Nicole Hong, Michael Rothfeld, Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Rebecca Ballhaus

Nov. 9, 2018 1:03 p.m. ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-played-central-role-in-hush-payoffs-to-stormy-daniels-and-karen-mcdougal-1541786601

Taken together, the accounts refute a two-year pattern of denials by Mr. Trump, his legal team and his advisers that he was involved in payoffs to Ms. McDougal and a former adult-film star. They also raise the possibility that the president of the United States violated federal campaign-finance laws.

The Wall Street Journal found that Mr. Trump was involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the agreements. He directed deals in phone calls and meetings with his self-described fixer, Michael Cohen, and others. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has gathered evidence of Mr. Trump’s participation in the transactions.

On Thursday, the White House referred questions about Mr. Trump’s involvement in the hush deals to the president’s outside counsel Jay Sekulow, who declined to comment.

In an Oct. 23 interview with the Journal, Mr. Trump declined to address whether he had ever discussed the payments with Mr. Cohen during the campaign.

“Nobody cares about that,” he said. He described Mr. Cohen as a “public-relations person” who “represented me on very small things.”

[Thomas Hurt]

1. I don't think Trump has any friends, he doesn't know anyone.

[dalton99a]

2. "That makes me smart":

Later that month, after Mr. Trump’s election win, Mr. Cohen met with Mr. Weisselberg to discuss reimbursement for the payment to Ms. Clifford, Mr. Cohen has told federal prosecutors.

While Mr. Cohen waited, he asked Mr. Pecker to lobby Mr. Trump to pay him more money.

Mr. Pecker visited Trump Tower twice during the presidential transition. When he raised Mr. Cohen’s request during a meeting in the first week of December 2016, Mr. Trump demurred, saying Mr. Cohen had plenty of money. During Mr. Pecker’s second visit, in January 2017, Mr. Trump thanked him for suppressing the McDougal story.

Mr. Weisselberg soon completed the reimbursement plan.

It would turn out to be a costly deal for Mr. Trump.

Had he just paid the ex-adult film star himself, Mr. Trump would have been out of pocket $130,000. Instead, Mr. Weisselberg authorized a reimbursement of twice that much, characterized in Mr. Trump’s records as legal fees, to cover the income tax hit Mr. Cohen would take. He also added a $60,000 bonus. Mr. Cohen received the money in monthly installments of $35,000.

[sunonmars]

3. of course he did, he lies, he molests, he's not human. he needs to go to jail.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. does this mean the background billionaires are done with trumpie?

Does this article in WSJ signal that the puppet masters pulling the GOP's strings are cutting TrumPutin loose? Will Mitch be criticizing Trumpie-poo next? Will Fox (Murdoch) get the message and likewise start finding flaws in Cheetolini?

[Julian Englis]

5. Michae Avenatti has a NY Times OpEd piece calling for tRump's indictment

Link to tweet

In light of the sworn testimony and evidence relating to the payment to my client and Trump’s involvement (confirming our allegations), we are calling for the immediate indictment of the president. No one is above the law in the United States.

His NYT OpEd piece: Michael Avenatti: The Case for Indicting the President

Sol Wachtler, a former chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, once famously remarked that grand juries were so easily swayed that they would “indict a ham sandwich” if a prosecutor requested it. Many times, there is truth to this. But an indictment does not end the process of determining guilt or innocence. It begins it.

Following indictment, criminal defendants can question the validity of the charges, the methods used to acquire the evidence and the evidence itself. They can seek to dismiss a criminal indictment and, if unsatisfied with the ruling, appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court.

The grand jury system has been employed in hundreds of thousands of cases involving all manner of crimes committed by all manner of people. All, that is, except one: the president.

[Tom Rivers]

6. CRIMINAL

This should not be excused or downplayed by anyone in the national media (Chuck Toad, looking in your direction).

This is a crime, it's very obviously a crime, the Crimson Clown is an un-indicted co-conspirator and he needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars.