New Legal Problems For Michael Cohen Revealed By ADLF Investigation Request Filed Today With The FEC
A new complaint from the American Democracy Legal Fund filed with the Federal Election Commission today reveals a new avenue of potential legal woes for Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, and the Trump campaign related to Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. ADLF is alleging Trump, his campaign, and Cohen, along with Trump Campaign Treasurer Mr. Bradley T. Crate, violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by using campaign funds to pay for Cohen’s legal fees—fees unrelated to the Trump campaign or Trump’s official duties as President.
ADLF’s complaint is the first to ask for an investigation, with the premise that Mr. Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult entertainer Stormy Daniel was not related to the 2016 Election, as Cohen has repeatedly insisted.
“The more Michael Cohen and Donald Trump speak, the more trouble they put themselves in,”said Brad Woodhouse of ADLF. “For months they maintained this hush money was unrelated to the 2016 Election as a desperate effort to stave off the obvious questions about their dishonest and potentially illegal behavior. Now, even if we take all these con artists at their word, they are still up to their eyeballs in legal problems — all stemming from an effort to silence a woman with whom Donald Trump had an affair.”
An excerpt from the complaint reads, “If we are to take Mr. Cohen at his word, and believe that the $130,000 payment was made irrespective of the Trump Campaign, then payments by the Trump Campaign to McDermott, Will & Emery for Mr. Cohen’s legal defense blatantly violate the Act and Commission regulations to the extent those costs are related to the ongoing Stephanie Clifford matter. Unless the three payments totaling $227,936.31 were entirely unrelated to Ms. Clifford, the use of campaign funds to pay Cohen’s legal fees qualifies as an impermissible conversion of campaign funds to personal use by Respondents, and blatantly violates federal law.”