In this episode of Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News, the summary delves into the financial activities of the Trump Organization, uncovering the manipulation of payments made to Stormy Daniels, handled by Michael Cohen. It explores how Cohen created a shell company to facilitate the payment to Daniels, using personal funds from his home equity line of credit.
The summary also examines the implications of these actions, including potential campaign finance law violations. It discusses the scheme to protect Donald Trump's presidential bid from negative stories, highlighting the 'catch and kill' strategy employed by Cohen, David Pecker, and AMI to manipulate the 2016 election. The legal quandaries faced by prosecutors in proving intent to conceal crimes such as tax fraud, election law infringements, and federal campaign finance law violations are also explored.
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An exploration into the Trump Organization's financial activities uncovers the manipulation of payments made to Stormy Daniels, particularly handled by Michael Cohen. Cohen claimed an additional profit of $50,000 on top of the original payment to Daniels, raising the sum from $130,000 to $180,000. Subsequent bookkeeping tricks inflated this figure to $360,000, which after accounting for taxes, led to the issuance of invoices totaling $420,000 by the Trump Organization. These were falsely recorded as legal service fees within the company's books.
Michael Cohen created Essential Consultants LLC and subsequently opened a bank account for the entity in Manhattan. Using personal funds, Cohen transferred $131,000 from his home equity line of credit to the shell company's bank account. He then wired $130,000 from Essential Consultants LLC to Stormy Daniels' attorney to prevent the disclosure of her story.
Recent admissions have revealed a scheme to protect Donald Trump’s presidential bid from negative stories, implicating campaign finance law infringements. Cohen and David Pecker aimed to delay payments meant to suppress stories of Trump's alleged extramarital encounters until after the election, highlighting an attempt to conceal damaging information and avoid payment contingent on the election outcome. The actions by Cohen, Pecker, and the involvement of AMI demonstrate a concerted 'catch and kill' strategy to manipulate the 2016 presidential election outcome in favor of Trump. These maneuvers pose a legal quandary for prosecutors like Alvin Bragg, who must prove that there was intent by Trump to obscure such crimes, potentially encompassing tax fraud, New York election law infringements, and federal campaign finance law violations.
1-Page Summary
An examination of the Trump Organization’s financial practices reveals how payments made to Stormy Daniels were manipulated within their accounting.
Michael Cohen, involved in the payments to Stormy Daniels, claimed an additional profit from the Trump Organization beyond the initial sum given to Daniels.
Cohen asserted he was to receive an extra $50,000 from Trump, which increased the total sum to $180,000. This amount was inclusive of the original $130,000 paid to Daniels.
Ledger manipulations inflated the $180,000 figure to $360,000, following a doubling that Cohen co ...
Arrangement of Trump Organization Invoices
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Michael Cohen established Essential Consultants LLC and opened a bank account in Manhattan for this newly-created shell company.
Cohen secured a personal home equity line of credit (HELOC), from which he transferred $131,000 into the shell company’s bank account.
Personal Funds Used for Payment
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The acknowledgment of illegal actions by key players affiliated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has surfaced, revealing coordinated attempts to prevent negative stories from affecting his campaign and potential violations of federal and state election laws.
Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to two federal crimes involving illegal campaign contributions, and David Pecker admitted his liability in an agreement with prosecutors. The coordinated scheme they engaged in sought to prevent Woman 1 from publicizing an alleged sexual relationship with Trump that could damage his candidacy.
The defendant directed Lawyer A, identified as Cohen, to delay a payment to another individual, Woman 2, to suppress her story as well. The strategy was to postpone the payment until after the election because if Trump won, the need to silence the story might be deemed unnecessary. In essence, the instruction was to avoid the payment altogether if it could be deferred until post-election, showcasing a blatant attempt to evade the repercussions of potential negative information surfacing.
Furthermore, AMI was involved in this concealment, admitting to orchestrating a payment to Woman 1 as part o ...
Concealment of Campaign Finance Violations
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