This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/26/donald-trump-michael-cohen-stormy-daniels

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Trump admits Michael Cohen was his lawyer in Stormy Daniels matter Trump admits Michael Cohen was his lawyer in Stormy Daniels matter
(about 3 hours later)
Donald Trump admitted on Thursday that lawyer Michael Cohen represented him in the “crazy Stormy Daniels deal” – despite having previously denied knowing about a $130,000 hush payment paid by his lawyer to the adult film star, who claims to have had sex with him. Donald Trump has acknowledged for the first time that his lawyer Michael Cohen represented him in the “crazy Stormy Daniels deal” – despite having previously denied knowing about a $130,000 hush payment arranged by Cohen to silence the adult film star, who claims to have had sex with him more than a decade ago.
“As a percentage of my overall legal work, [he did] a tiny, tiny little fraction,” the US president said of Cohen. “But Michael represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal.” “He represents me, like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me,” Trump said in a half-hour interview with the morning TV show Fox & Friends. “From what I’ve seen, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this, which would have been a problem.”
Daniels sued last month to release herself from a non-disclosure agreement that she signed in 2016, arguing that it was void because Trump never signed it. Within hours, the admission prompted a fresh court filing from federal prosecutors in New York investigating Cohen’s business dealings, arguing that the president’s comment undermines Cohen’s claim that records seized by the FBI in that case should be protected by attorney-client privilege.
In April, Trump was asked by reporters on Air Force One if he knew about the payment Cohen says he made. He replied: “No.” When asked why Cohen made the payment, Trump said: “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael.” The admission and filing came ahead of the latest court hearing in Cohen’s criminal case in New York on Thursday afternoon. The events represented the latest twist in the drama that has been playing out since Daniels sued Trump in March in Los Angeles, alleging that Cohen paid to silence her during the election campaign, and then the FBI raided Cohen in April.
On Thursday, he distanced himself from Cohen, whose office, apartment and hotel room were raided by FBI officials earlier this month. On Wednesday, Cohen said he plans to plead the fifth amendment in the civil case and asked the LA court for a delay while the parallel case plays out in New York.
“Michael is a businessman. It doesn’t have to do with me … He also practices law I would say the big thing is his business,” Trump told Fox News. Earlier this month, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he did not know about the payoff or where Cohen had got the money. When asked why Cohen made the payment, Trump said: “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael.”
He added: “I have many attorneys. Sadly I have so many attorneys you wouldn’t believe it.” But during the interview with Fox & Friends on Thursday morning, Trump appeared to reveal that he was aware of Cohen’s payment to Daniels.
The concession came during a wide-ranging telephone interview on Fox & Friends, one of Trump’s favorite news shows, in which the president unloaded on a litany of grievances – old and new – that ranged from the “witch-hunt” Russia investigation to the accusation that Hillary Clinton had received a question in advance of a presidential debate in 2016. Cohen reportedly paid Daniels the money to keep her quiet about claims she had an affair with Trump. Daniels has sued to release herself from a non-disclosure agreement that she signed in 2016, arguing that it was void because Trump never signed it.
A day before the interview, Cohen invoked the fifth amendment in a lawsuit filed against the president by Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Trump, meanwhile, on Thursday sought to distance himself from Cohen, his lawyer and fixer for over a decade.
The White House has denied that Trump had an affair with Daniels. She alleges that she and Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006. “Michael is in business, he is really a businessman, a fairly big business, as I understand it,” Trump said. “I don’t know his business, but [the investigation] doesn’t have to do with me.”
Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Stormy Daniels, called Trump’s comments a “backtrack” and said they help burnish their case. He added that Cohen “also practices law” but handled only a “tiny, tiny little fraction” of Trump’s “overall legal work”.
The hush-money payment to Daniels is reportedly a focus of a federal investigation into Cohen’s private finances and business interests. Investigators are likely to examine whether the payment was legal under election campaign finance laws and whether Cohen disclosed the true reason for borrowing the funds.
Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Stormy Daniels, called Trump’s comments a “hugely damaging admission” and said they help to burnish her case.
“He now has backtracked and now admits that Michael Cohen represented him in connection with the Stormy Daniels matter and that directly contradicts what he said,” Avenatti said on MSNBC.“He now has backtracked and now admits that Michael Cohen represented him in connection with the Stormy Daniels matter and that directly contradicts what he said,” Avenatti said on MSNBC.
Trump also touched on his cozy relationship with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. On the issue of Iran, a top priority for the talks, Trump said of his French counterpart: “He is viewing, I believe, Iran a lot differently than he did before he walked into the Oval Office.” Following Trump’s interview, federal prosecutors hit back afresh against claims by Cohen that records seized by the FBI should be off-limits. Fox News host Sean Hannity, who was also revealed in court as one of Cohen’s clients, has made a similar argument.
Before departing the US, Macron conceded that he had probably failed to convince the US president to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. But he betrayed no signs of coming around to Trump’s point of view on the issue. “These statements by two of Cohen’s three identified clients suggest that the seized materials are unlikely to contain voluminous privileged documents, further supporting the importance of efficiency here,” Robert Khuzami, the deputy US attorney for the southern district of New York, wrote in a letter filed on Thursday.
“My view – I don’t know what your president will decide – is that he will get rid of this deal on his own, for domestic reasons,” he said, adding that such frequent changes in the US position on global issues “can work in the short term but it’s very insane in the medium to long term”. Lawyers for Trump and Cohen have sought to restrict what prosecutors are able to review based on a claim of attorney-client privilege.
Trump also repeated that there was “no collusion with me and the Russians” and that “nobody’s been tougher to Russia than I am”. In the same, wide-ranging interview with Fox on Thursday, Trump turned once again to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, and took contrary views in quick succession.
Trump began the interview by wishing his wife a happy birthday and said he specifically chose the date for the Fox interview in honor of the occasion. Asked what he got her, Trump demurred because “maybe I didn’t get her so much”. He then added: “I got her a beautiful card. You know I’m very busy.” “Because of the fact that they have this witch-hunt going on … I‘ve taken the position – and I don’t have to take this position, and maybe I’ll change – that I will not be involved with the justice department,” he said, then later added: “Our justice department, which I try and stay away from but at some point I won’t” should not be focused on the “nonsense of collusion with Russia”.
Trump also wished his wife, Melania, a happy birthday and said he chose the interview datein honor of the occasion. Asked what he got her, Trump said he had better not say because “maybe I didn’t get her so much”, adding: “I got her a beautiful card. You know I’m very busy.”
Donald TrumpDonald Trump
Stormy DanielsStormy Daniels
Michael CohenMichael Cohen
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content