Before we delve deeper into the legal implications of what happened Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, let’s acknowledge the remarkable situation in which the nation finds itself:
We are discussing secret payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars to a porn star and to a Playboy Playmate to hide their adulterous affairs with the president of the United States, and yet somehow, that’s not the real scandal here. In fact, the once-staid Republican Party, the party of family values and Christian morals, is pretending that none of this is even happening, that it sees nothing, knows nothing, and that nothing is out of place.
That said, onto the legal implications. Having read Michael Cohen's plea agreement as well as criminal information filed in federal court by prosecutors, I thinks it's pretty clear that additional charges against additional individuals and entities are likely, including perhaps the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign and people working in the Trump Organization and campaign. More shoes are probably going to fall.
For example:
-- According to prosecutors, the $130,000 hush money paid made by Cohen to Stormy Daniels was principally an attempt to influence the outcome of the election, and thus was an illegal campaign contribution. Cohen has agreed that it was principally an effort to affect the election, and if anyone should know the intent, it’s him. However, prosecutors also allege that in making those payments, Cohen “coordinated with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature and timing of the payments.” Those “one or more members of the campaign” have cause to feel nervous.
-- According to prosecutors, Cohen cut a deal back in August of 2015 with David Pecker, chairman of America Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer. They allege that Pecker “offered to help deal with negative stories about (Trump’s) relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign by identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided.”
-- In August of 2016, and as part of the deal with Cohen, Pecker and AMI paid Karen McDougal $150,000 for her silence about her affair with Trump. Because that payment was intended to affect the outcome of a federal election, prosecutors say, it was an illegal campaign contribution. It was illegal because it came from a corporation; it was illegal because it grossly exceeded the maximum $2,700 contribution limit; and it was illegal because it was not disclosed as the law requires. Cohen has already pleaded guilty to that charge as well, and he can certainly testify about the role that others played in it.
-- Beginning in January 2017, the Trump Organization secretly reimbursed Cohen for the $130,0000 that he paid to Daniels, plus a significant bonus for his work on behalf of the campaign committee. It did so by directing Cohen to file invoices of $35,000 a month as a retainer fee, which it paid. In effect, the Trump Organization was illegally and secretly repaying a debt that had been incurred by the Trump campaign, and doing so through questionable means. “The Company accounted for these payments as legal expenses,” prosecutors explained. “In truth and in fact, there was no such retainer agreement, and the monthly invoices Cohen submitted were not in connection with any legal services he had provided.”
-- In filing its financial disclosure documents, the Trump campaign did not disclose its then-unpaid debt to Cohen, the contribution made by AMI, or the campaign-related payments to Cohen by the Trump Organization. Knowingly filing false documents would be another potential federal crime.
-- In accepting his plea deal Tuesday, Cohen said in open court, under oath, that he had committed those campaign-finance crimes “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” meaning Trump. Trump almost certainly arranged and ordered his company to illegally reimburse Cohen as well.
In short, if Trump had lost the 2016 election, today he would probably be facing multiple felony counts of federal campaign-finance charges. Because he won, he is not facing those charges.
That's pretty screwed up.
About the Author
