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Trump Lawyer’s 2016 Payoff to Stormy Daniels Could Violate Federal Election Law

HeadlineMar 07, 2018

Adult film star Stormy Daniels is suing President Trump after his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, tried to pressure Daniels not to talk publicly about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006 and 2007. Stormy Daniels’s lawsuit says Trump never signed the 2016 non-disclosure agreement, making it null and void. Michael Cohen has said he paid $130,000 of his own personal money to Daniels to keep her quiet. The Wall Street Journal reports this money transfer was received on October 27, only 12 days before the presidential election. The Journal also reports First Republic Bank flagged the transfer as suspicious and reported it to the Treasury Department. This could amount to a violation of federal election law. As California Congressmember Ted Lieu tweeted, “Hush agreement & side letter attached to Stormy Daniels’ filing essentially shows coordination between @realDonaldTrump, Cohen & Daniels. That means the $130k payment from Cohen to Daniels to silence her during the campaign violated federal election law. Penalty is 5 year felony.”

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