Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY); Congressional Democratic Women’s Working Group Chair Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Vice Chair Brenda Lawrence (D-MI); Judiciary Subcommittee Ranking Members Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA) and David N. Cicilline (D-RI); as well as Judiciary Vice Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), sent a letter to President Donald Trump’s lawyers raising legal concerns about payoffs to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and others.
The concerns were heightened today after reports revealed that Trump’s private attorney, Michael Cohen, used a Trump Organization email account to arrange for a transfer of the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. As a result of these concerns, the Members posed a number of questions to Trump’s private attorneys, Michael Cohen and Marc Kasowitz, as well as David Pecker, the Chairman of American Media, Inc., which made a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal, preventing her from publicly discussing her affair with Trump.
The Members’ questions included: (i) whether Mr. Cohen was or expects to be reimbursed for the $130,000 hush money payment to Ms. Clifford, and when and whether Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization was informed of the payment as well as the restraining order Mr. Cohen recently obtained with respect to Ms. Clifford; (ii) when and whether Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization was informed of the $150,000 hush money payment by American Media, Inc. paid to Karen McDougal; and (iii) whether these individuals are aware of any other hush money payments, as well as the purpose and tax status of all of these payments.
In their letter, the Members wrote, “We write to you to follow up on a series of recent revelations concerning payments made to Stephanie Clifford, a former adult-film star known as Stormy Daniels; Karen McDougal, a former Playboy “Playmate of the Year”; and potentially others in an effort to avoid disclosures of their relationships with Donald Trump. We can assure you we have no interest in Mr. Trump’s personal relationships in and of themselves. However, as the senior Democratic leadership of the House Judiciary Committee and leadership of the Democratic Women’s Working Group, we believe we have an obligation to inquire regarding such matters to the extent they raise questions relating to possible violations of law. These matters raise questions relating to potential violations of federal campaign finance and income tax laws, legal ethics and other laws; bear upon the credibility of Mr. Trump’s denials of past non-consensual sexual misconduct; and may pose risks of future efforts to extort or otherwise influence the President in his official capacity.”
Judiciary Democrats & Congressional Democratic Women's Working Group Demand Answers About Trump Hush Money... by Beverly Tran on Scribd
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