Trump-Cohen documents detail contact over hush money
The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Newly unredacted court records show a series of contacts between Donald Trump and his former lawyer during his 2016 presidential campaign that the FBI believed related to an illegal hush money scheme.
The contacts between Mr Trump and Michael Cohen, then his personal attorney, shed new light on why prosecutors believed the president directed Cohen to make payments to two women who alleged affairs with him.
Cohen is serving three years in prison for crimes including campaign finance violations linked to the payments. When he pleaded guilty last year, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Cohen committed the violations “in co-ordination with and at the direction of” Mr Trump.
The latest disclosures came after a federal judge had ordered prosecutors to publicly release the material related to their investigation which centred on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of the women.
The investigation into the payments by the southern district of New York is now “effectively concluded”, prosecutors told the judge overseeing Cohen’s case this week. No other individuals other than Cohen have been charged. Under justice department policy, the president cannot be indicted while he is in office.
“We are pleased that the investigation surrounding these ridiculous campaign finance allegations is now closed. We have maintained from the outset that the president never engaged in any campaign finance violation,” said Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr Trump, in a statement on Wednesday after the judge disclosed the end of the probe.
In a statement on Thursday, Cohen called Mr Sekulow’s comments “completely distorted and dishonest”.
“As I stated in my opening testimony, I and members of The Trump Organization were directed by Mr. Trump to handle the Stormy Daniels matter; including making the hush money payment,” he said. “The conclusion of the investigation exonerating The Trump Organization’s role should be of great concern to the American people and investigated by Congress and The Department of Justice.”
Cohen in 2016 made a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump. He also helped arrange a $150,000 payment from American Media Inc, the publisher of the National Enquirer, earlier that year to Karen McDougal, who also alleged she had an affair with the president. Mr Trump has denied the claims.
In September, AMI admitted the payment was “to ensure [Ms McDougal] did not publicise damaging allegations” that would influence the election. The admission came as part a non-prosecution agreement with the justice department.
US federal election laws prohibit campaign donations of more than $2,800. In an April 2018 search warrant released on Thursday, an FBI agent said Mr Cohen’s payment to Ms Daniels was “an excessive in-kind contribution to the presidential election campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump”.
The warrant, for several of Cohen’s properties, had been previously disclosed, but portions relating to the campaign finance investigation were previously redacted.
It showed that Mr Trump and Cohen spoke several times in October 2016 as Cohen was attempting to negotiate the deal to stop Ms Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, from talking to the press about her alleged affair with Mr Trump.
“I believe that at least some of these communications concerned the need to prevent Clifford from going public, particularly in the wake of the Access Hollywood story,” the agent wrote, referencing the infamous tape of Mr Trump talking about grabbing women without their consent.
One of the contacts, on October 8, 2016, was a three-way call between Mr Trump, Cohen and Hope Hicks, then press secretary for the Trump campaign. The warrant states that Ms Hicks told another FBI agent she did not learn of Ms Daniels allegations until the following month, though she was not asked specifically about the call.
The communications between Mr Trump and Cohen came at times within minutes of separate contacts, or attempted contacts, between Cohen and executives at AMI, including its chairman, David Pecker, and a lawyer for Ms Daniels.
The warrant also reveals a phone call between Cohen and Kellyanne Conway, then Mr Trump’s campaign manager, on the evening of November 1, the day the transaction with Ms Clifford was completed.
A lawyer for Ms Hicks could not be immediately reached. Ms Conway did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The documents released on Thursday included a status report from prosecutors to the judge in Cohen’s case that revealed an additional investigation — which has also concluded — into “whether certain individuals . . . made false statements, gave false testimony or otherwise obstructed justice in connection” with the hush money probe.
The names of the individuals, along with at least one other person named in connection with the campaign finance violations, remained redacted.
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