Stormy Daniels Is Running Rings Around Trumpâs Lawyer
This is quite a crew of miscreants we have running things these days. If theyâd planned the Great Train Robbery, theyâd have left the money behind and taken the coal from the engine. If theyâd burgled the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, theyâd have left the Rembrandt and made off with the fire extinguishers and the Menâs Room sign.
Take it away, NBC News.
President Donald Trumpâs personal attorney used his Trump Organization email while arranging to transfer money into an account at a Manhattan bank before he wired $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence. The lawyer, Michael Cohen, also regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress â whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford â before she signed a nondisclosure agreement, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News. And Cliffordâs attorney at the time addressed correspondence to Cohen in his capacity at the Trump Organization and as âSpecial Counsel to Donald J. Trump,â the source said.Remind me not to hire this guy to set up my money-laundering operation in the Caymans. Or to help me with my parking tickets, for all that.
In a statement last month, Cohen said he used his âpersonal funds to facilitate a paymentâ to Clifford, who says she had an intimate relationship with Trump a decade ago. âNeither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,â Cohen said in that statement. But an email uncovered in the last 24 hours and provided to NBC News by Cliffordâs current attorney, Michael Avenatti, shows First Republic Bank and Cohen communicated about the money using his Trump company email address, not his personal gmail account.
If the Benny Hill theme is running through your head right now, youâre not alone.