Trump discloses payment to Michael Cohen, lawyer who paid Stormy Daniels $130,000
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Version 0 of 2. New financial disclosure forms filed by President Donald Trump acknowledge that the president reimbursed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for more than $100,000 expenses during the 2016 campaign. The new financial forms don't explicitly say that the payments were for the $130,000 in hush money paid to Stormy Daniels by Mr Cohen, but Mr Trump's lawyers have previously acknowledged that the president reimbursed his personal lawyer for the payment. "In 2016, expenses were incurred by one of the Donald J Trump's attorneys, Michael Cohen," the new financial disclosure forms, which were released to the public by the Office of Government Ethics, reads. "Mr Cohen sought reimbursement of those expenses and Mr Trump fully reimbursed Mr Cohen in 2017," it continues. "The category of value would be $100,001-$250,000 and the interest rate would be zero." Mr Trump's representatives repeatedly say in the filing that the president was not required by law to disclose the payments, and said that they were doing so in the form "in the interest of transparency". Shortly after the forms were made public Wednesday, the US Office of Government Ethics said the payments should have been disclosed in mr Trump's financial filings from last year. All told, the financial disclosure form is 92 pages long. Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006, shortly after Melania Trump, the first lady, gave birth to Barron Trump. Mr Trump and the White House have denied the affair took place. Members of Mr Trump's legal team have offered various accounts as to whether Mr Trump personally reimbursed Mr Cohen. Mr Cohen has admitted a payment to Daniels was made but has not articulated what it was for. |