In a telephone interview with Fox News on Thursday morning, President Donald Trump revealed for the first time that he did indeed know about his lawyer Michael Cohen’s payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels.
“Michael represents me, like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me,†Trump said to Fox & Friends. “And from what I’ve seen, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this.â€
Daniels’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, weighed in a few minutes later on MSNBC and said that Trump had made a “hugely damaging admission.â€
As we reported earlier, the back story for Trump’s shocking admission is this:
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- Cohen has admitted paying $130,000 to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, before the 2016 election to secure her silence about a sexual relationship she said she had with Trump. Daniels has sued to end her nondisclosure agreement.
- On Wednesday, Cohen said in a filing in Los Angeles federal court that he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in connection with the civil lawsuit filed by Daniels.
- Prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank and tax fraud, possible campaign law violations in connection with the payment to Daniels, and perhaps other matters related to Trump’s campaign, a person familiar with the probe has said.
Even though Michael Cohen has been a lawyer and fixer, dealing with Trump’s most sensitive affairs for at least ten years, Trump said in the Fox interview that Cohen is a “businessman” which he thought would make everything OK.
“This doesn’t have to do with me,†Trump said. “Michael is a businessman. He’s got a business. He also practices law. I would say, probably, the big thing is his business. I have nothing to do with his business.  I have so many attorneys you wouldn’t believe,†Trump added.
Then Trump said: “As a percentage of my overall legal work, a tiny, tiny fraction,†as if that would make any difference.
Avenatti appeared this morning on the popular MSNBC show “Morning Joe†and said that Trump’s comment about Cohen is a “gift from the heavens” and he wanted to “send a shout out to Fox & Friends.”
“That’s a hugely damaging admission by the president, because according to what he said on Air Force One a few weeks ago, he didn’t know anything about the agreement,†Avenatti emphasized.
“He’s now just admitted, and he tripped himself up, he’s just admitted that in fact Michael Cohen’s represented him in connection with the Stormy Daniels situation,†the lawyer added.
Avenatti also tweeted about Trump’s interview, saying that the revelations were, “Very informative.”
Thank you @foxandfriends for having Mr. Trump on this morning to discuss Michael Cohen and our case. Very informative.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 26, 2018
This proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump is a liar.
Avenatti also comments on this in another tweet:
“Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen previously represented to the American people that Mr. Cohen acted on his own and Mr. Trump knew nothing about the agreement with my client, the $130k payment, etc. As I predicted, that has now been shown to be completely false. #basta”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen previously represented to the American people that Mr. Cohen acted on his own and Mr. Trump knew nothing about the agreement with my client, the $130k payment, etc. As I predicted, that has now been shown to be completely false. #basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 26, 2018
Trump should just shut up and quit shooting himself in the foot, but his ego won’t let him do that. And is adversaries’ legal counsel are loving every minute of it. Trump is his own worst enemy, just as he is an enemy of the American people.
What would be best for all concerned is for Donald Trump to ride off into the sunset and resign from the presidency before his legal troubles get even worse.
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.
