By Robert Weiner and Ben Kearney
With Donald Trump's hush money trial to begin on April 15th, the question that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg must ask in the trial beginning after the April 15 Jury selection is, Did Donald Trump have Michael Cohen, his "fix-it" lawyer, also pay off the multiple (CNN reported on May 8, 2018, "at least fifteen") other women who made allegations against the former President? Action on these accusations is an important "pattern and practice" Bragg could use for the trial on Trump blocking negative information before November's election.
In fact, the trial should not be called a "hush-money trial" but an "election hush-money trial". Tying the word "election" to the trial gets at Trump's objective to impact the election with what were essentially bribes to the women to shut up so people would not vote against Trump. That additional connection and legal violation is what gave Bragg the basis to charge felonies.
Rudy Giuliani, attorney and friend of Trump, once responded to a question by George Stephanopoulos in a 2018 interview about whether Cohen paid off these other women with: "I have no knowledge of that, but I would think if it was necessary, yes. He [Cohen] made payments for the President or he's conducted business for the President, which means he had legal fees, monies laid out and expenditures." Giuliani also said that the agreement with Cohen, was "a longstanding agreement" that Cohen takes care of situations like the one with Daniels, "then gets paid for them sometimes".
What Cohen may say to Bragg during the trial is "I can't comment on that, it's a lawyer-client relationship", which quite likely could mean it's true. Or, he can say, "Yes, I paid them all." The prosecution has a right to ask.
It's not just lies about adult film star Stormy Daniels, who was paid $130,000 by Cohen in 2016; it also includes "Playmate of the Year" Carroll McDougall, already in the Bragg case but the fame of Daniels is all the media keeps reporting. Bragg points out that McDougall was allegedly paid $150,000 the same year.
But there is also Rachel Crooks, the former Bayrock Group receptionist who accused Trump of kissing her on the mouth without her consent back in 2006. Karena Virginia and Amy Dorris, two women whom Trump groped at the U.S Open in the late 1990s. How about Jessica Leeds, who accused Trump of grabbing her chest and attempting to move his hand up her skirt like an octopus on a flight over thirty years ago?
The accusations aren't out of the blue; many of these women spoke out for sexual abuse by Trump. Jessica Drake, a former adult film star like Daniels, accused Trump of kissing, grabbing, and offering her $10,000 to come to his penthouse hotel room in 2006. Mindy McGillivray said back in 2017 that Trump groped at Mar-a-Lago during a Ray Charles concert in 2003. Natasha Stoynoff, a former People Magazine writer, said Trump assaulted her in December 2005 while she was at Mar-a-Lago to interview him and a then-pregnant Melania Trump for a story. Why aren't these women, who announced their accusations seven or eight years ago, in the public eye ahead of the trial? Probably because they were paid off by Cohen for their silence as he was instructed to do by Trump.
Let's not forget that Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 for admitting he violated federal campaign finance laws with the payment to Daniels, which exceeded contribution limits, and lying before Congress. Cohen is seen as a key witness against Trump, with a February 2024 Reuters article stating "Prosecutors say his [Cohen's] payment to Daniels was part of a broader 'catch-and-kill' scheme to prevent allegations that Trump had extramarital affairs from coming to light ahead of the 2016 election."
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