Yes, Michael Cohen actually used his email address in the Trump Organization itself to make all the legal and payoff arrangements with Stormy Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford). At least that’s what happened according to a new report from NBC News.
It’s hard to fathom why a lawyer would think it was a good idea to leave this kind of electronic evidence or paper trail. But when it comes to brazen stupidity nothing should surprise us about Trump and his team of “the best people†anymore.
Cohen is Trump’s personal lawyer, and he said he paid the $130,000 hush money himself, and was not reimbursed by Trump. Which nobody believes. But now there is electronic evidence because he used the same Trump Organization email to wire the money to the bank for the payoff.
According to NBC News, the former porn star’s attorney at the time of the payoff sent emails and other correspondence to Cohen in his capacity at the Trump Organization and as “Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump.â€
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
This is important because Cohen said he was acting on his own with respect to the negotiations and the payoff.  He has tried to get people to believe that Trump wasn’t involved and didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t even have his client, Donald Trump, sign the legal contract in which Clifford/Daniels promised to never talk about her affair with Trump.  (The contract is called a Nondisclosure Agreement, or NDA.)
“Neither 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,” Cohen said in a statement.
With respect to the newly discovered emails, Clifford/Daniel’s attorney had a lot to say himself:
“I think this email document seriously calls into question the prior representation of Mr. Cohen and the White House relating to the source of the monies paid to Ms. Clifford in an effort to silence her,” said Michael Avenatti. Â He is representing Clifford/Daniels in the lawsuit she has filed against Trump to free her from the NDA because he never signed it.
Although Clifford/Daniels is suing Trump, maybe Trump should be suing Cohen for malpractice because he seems to have bumbled his way through every part of this transaction. Â
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
