Poll of the Day > Trump admits to authorizing Stormy Daniels payoff, but denies sexual encounter.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/02/607943366/giuliani-says-trump-did-know-about-stormy-daniels-payment

Updated at 11:22 a.m. ET

President Trump admitted Thursday to reimbursing his lawyer for a $130,000 payment made on the eve of the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels as part of a settlement agreement about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.

Trump, however, denied any sexual encounter and claims the payment was in no way connected with the campaign despite the timing.

Donald Trump Tweeted...

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair, despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.

That admission directly contradicts what the president told reporters less than a month ago. Trump denied knowledge of the payments, telling reporters on Air Force One, "You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael."

Asked if he knew where the money came from to pay Daniels (whose given name is Stephanie Clifford), the president said flatly, "No. I don't."

It was unclear when Trump was made aware of the payment or began repaying Cohen, an attorney and business partner of Trump's. Cohen has asserted that Trump had no knowledge of the payment, which was made through a shell corporation.

But the admission could land Trump in potentially varying degrees of legal trouble, from a felony campaign-finance violation to filing a knowingly false financial disclosure, something that carries up to a $50,000 fine and a year in prison or more.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, one Trump's outside lawyers, contended in television and print interviews Wednesday night and Thursday morning that there were no campaign-finance violations, because this was a personal matter carried out to protect the family not to influence the campaign.

"Just trust me, they're going to find no violations here," Giuliani said Wednesday night on Sean Hannity's show on Fox. (Hannity was revealed in federal court to also be a client of Cohen's.)

But then Giuliani said this: "Imagine if that came out on Oct. 15 in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton," Giuliani said on Fox. "Cohen didn't even ask. He made it go away. He did his job."

That's important, because if the payoff money was for the purpose of influencing the campaign, then it would still have to be reported as a contribution to the campaign.

The payment has drawn complaints to the Federal Election Commission that it was an undisclosed contribution to Trump's campaign. The amount far exceeds the maximum donation one person could make to a campaign.

It would have to be determined if this payment was, in fact, for the purpose of influencing the campaign, but if it is determined that it was, watchdog groups point out, it could open up Trump to a possible felony for "knowingly and willfully" causing his campaign to file an incomplete or false report.

In a string of tweets, Walter Shaub, the former ethics chief of the Office of Government Ethics, points out that "in trying to talk his way out of a campaign finance violation, Trump has admitted to filing a false financial disclosure in 2017."

On Wednesday night, Giuliani said Trump "didn't know the specifics of it [the payment to Daniels], but he did know the general arrangement. That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds, or whatever funds, doesn't matter. The president reimbursed that over a period of several months."

Cohen said he used a home equity loan in order to pay off Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford. He said he was not reimbursed for making that payment. Daniels says that Cohen was acting on behalf of Trump to keep her quiet to avoid a scandal and that he had her sign an agreement not to talk about her relationship with Trump.

Daniels is suing to escape that agreement.

Cohen says he will invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself and will not testify as part of that lawsuit because he is the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.

Cohen was recently the target of multiple search warrants by federal investigators in New York.

Going the same way as Clinton scandal.

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman"
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God I hope there is a tape and this is what they were waiting for and then bam

Krazy_Kirby posted...

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman"

Exactly.

I've often felt the urge to give $100K+ to women I have no connection to whatsoever, so I totally see where Trump is coming from with this. Poor guy. Just trying to help a stranger out and now he has to face all these baseless accusations.
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I live in the Chicagoland area, and on my way to work every morning, I drive by a billboard on I-90 thats advertising Stormy Daniels appearing and performing at a Chicago strip club in June. It just strikes me as weird... people will go to this place to say they got a lap dance from a girl that Trump paid to fuck.

Just thought Id share.
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The Popo posted...

I live in the Chicagoland area, and on my way to work every morning, I drive by a billboard on I-90 thats advertising Stormy Daniels appearing and performing at a Chicago strip club in June. It just strikes me as weird... people will go to this place to say they got a lap dance from a girl that Trump paid to fuck.

Just thought Id share.

So youre going, right?

MICHALECOLE posted...

The Popo posted...

I live in the Chicagoland area, and on my way to work every morning, I drive by a billboard on I-90 thats advertising Stormy Daniels appearing and performing at a Chicago strip club in June. It just strikes me as weird... people will go to this place to say they got a lap dance from a girl that Trump paid to fuck.

Just thought Id share.

So youre going, right?

Isnt the going rate $130,000? Maybe if I lay off the faberge eggs for a few weeks, Ill have enough cash.
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No the going rate to keep her quiet is 130,000$

Itll probably only take like two grand tops

Here is the thing about Trump and his administration. They just won't stop lying. There is nothing to be gained here (that I can see) from an obvious lie. So why is he doing it?

The Popo posted...

I live in the Chicagoland area, and on my way to work every morning, I drive by a billboard on I-90 thats advertising Stormy Daniels appearing and performing at a Chicago strip club in June. It just strikes me as weird... people will go to this place to say they got a lap dance from a girl that Trump paid to fuck.

Just thought Id share.

Not a Trump fan but Trump never paid the porn star for sex. Years later he arranged for Cohen to give the porn star 130 grand and sign a NDA. I grant you that yes Trump cheated on his wife, while she was home with their newborn son but Trump wasn't a John. (I just remembered that Trumps middle name is John and he named his son Barron. One of Trumps fake name was John Baron. Weird!) Trump is innocent of paying for sex, he didn't commit a crime, it was simply adultery with a porn star, unless adultery is a criminal offense.

Right before I was going to post, I checked to see if adultery was a crime. I guess it is in certain states. Does anyone know where Trump committed adultery with Stormy?

wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adultery#United_States
As of 2017, adultery remains a criminal offense in 21 states, but prosecutions are rare.[164][165] Although adultery laws are mostly found in the conservative states (especially Southern states), there are some notable exceptions such as New York and Massachusetts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adultery#United_States

It's truly one of those headlines that makes you go, "What?"

In general, it's not like it matters all that much whether he did or didn't have sex with her (some of the stuff that happened afterward might be relevant). And, even if he actually didn't, it's not like many people are going to believe him anyway especially given that he was caught on audio joking about having multiple affairs. Frankly, the knowledge that Bill had sex with Monica actually raised his approval rating >_>
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So Trump gave her a nice chunk of change just out of the kindness of his heart eh?

Yeah.... completely believable it was like when Bill O'Reilly paid off a woman that he either sexually harassed or something $32 million in a settlement. Do you have any idea how bad of something you have to do to have a $32 million settlement look like a reasonable sum?
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Honestly, I don't care about the affair. What I care about is if he used campaign funds for this. It'd be easy to prove otherwise, if he'd release his tax returns - which we all know he never will.

Trump should've just admitted he did this from day 1. It's not like most people would really care, especially not his supporters. It's not like anyone really believes he's some shining beacon of morality

WastelandCowboy posted...

Honestly, I don't care about the affair. What I care about is if he used campaign funds for this. It'd be easy to prove otherwise, if he'd release his tax returns - which we all know he never will.

Not sure what your obsession is with his tax returns, but there are doubtless other more direct and easier ways to gain that confirm whether he did or didn't use funds. It's also a little silly to automatically suspect that somebody used campaign funds when they have many other sources. And, quite frankly, if it were to have illicitly come from anywhere, I would expect it might come from his charitable foundation.
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Zeus posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Honestly, I don't care about the affair. What I care about is if he used campaign funds for this. It'd be easy to prove otherwise, if he'd release his tax returns - which we all know he never will.

Not sure what your obsession is with his tax returns, but there are doubtless other more direct and easier ways to gain that confirm whether he did or didn't use funds. It's also a little silly to automatically suspect that somebody used campaign funds when they have many other sources.

There's also the fact that Trump was already a billionaire and 32 million would be chump change to him

Zeus posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Honestly, I don't care about the affair. What I care about is if he used campaign funds for this. It'd be easy to prove otherwise, if he'd release his tax returns - which we all know he never will.

Not sure what your obsession is with his tax returns, but there are doubtless other more direct and easier ways to gain that confirm whether he did or didn't use funds. It's also a little silly to automatically suspect that somebody used campaign funds when they have many other sources. And, quite frankly, if it were to have illicitly come from anywhere, I would expect it might come from his charitable foundation.

ITP: I have an obsession over something that I only mentioned once, maybe twice.

Come on Zeus. Really?

Monopoman posted...

So Trump gave her a nice chunk of change just out of the kindness of his heart eh?

It's not that unusual actually for someone of wealth, usually a company or corporation, to pay off an annoyance in a settlement of some kind rather than go to court over it for example, even if they were guaranteed to win, because of the reputation hit they would take for the alleged scandal.

Not implying innocence or guilt on Trump's part, I'm just saying this is how business works.
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botsrule posted...

Not a Trump fan but Trump never paid the porn star for sex. Years later he arranged for Cohen to give the porn star 130 grand and sign a NDA.

Thats fair. I definitely misworded that.
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Zeus thinks he knows more than Mueller because he listens to talk radio
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The Popo posted...

botsrule posted...

Not a Trump fan but Trump never paid the porn star for sex. Years later he arranged for Cohen to give the porn star 130 grand and sign a NDA.

Thats fair. I definitely misworded that.

I was afraid that I was going to come off slightly 'shallow and pedantic'. lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yetwdpsiM8Q" data-time="

TigerTycoon posted...

Monopoman posted...

So Trump gave her a nice chunk of change just out of the kindness of his heart eh?

It's not that unusual actually for someone of wealth, usually a company or corporation, to pay off an annoyance in a settlement of some kind rather than go to court over it for example, even if they were guaranteed to win, because of the reputation hit they would take for the alleged scandal.

Not implying innocence or guilt on Trump's part, I'm just saying this is how business works.

Doesn't paying those people off just encourage more to do that though? So, I mean if this is true and lets say Trump was 100% innocent won't we see more porn stars alleging affairs with Trump at different periods, waiting for that sweet settlement payday.
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WastelandCowboy posted...

Zeus posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Honestly, I don't care about the affair. What I care about is if he used campaign funds for this. It'd be easy to prove otherwise, if he'd release his tax returns - which we all know he never will.

Not sure what your obsession is with his tax returns, but there are doubtless other more direct and easier ways to gain that confirm whether he did or didn't use funds. It's also a little silly to automatically suspect that somebody used campaign funds when they have many other sources. And, quite frankly, if it were to have illicitly come from anywhere, I would expect it might come from his charitable foundation.

ITP: I have an obsession over something that I only mentioned once, maybe twice.

Come on Zeus. Really?

Once or twice lately, perhaps. However, it's still a weird thing to request when, once again, there are easier ways to get the information. Keep in mind campaign disclosure laws are a thing.

In general, the buzz for Trump's tax return is mostly a glorified fishing expedition.

Mead posted...

Zeus thinks he knows more than Mueller because he listens to talk radio

Mead knows stuff; after all, he once read some political memes on Facebook. -_-
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Zeus posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Zeus posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Honestly, I don't care about the affair. What I care about is if he used campaign funds for this. It'd be easy to prove otherwise, if he'd release his tax returns - which we all know he never will.

Not sure what your obsession is with his tax returns, but there are doubtless other more direct and easier ways to gain that confirm whether he did or didn't use funds. It's also a little silly to automatically suspect that somebody used campaign funds when they have many other sources. And, quite frankly, if it were to have illicitly come from anywhere, I would expect it might come from his charitable foundation.

ITP: I have an obsession over something that I only mentioned once, maybe twice.

Come on Zeus. Really?

Once or twice lately, perhaps. However, it's still a weird thing to request when, once again, there are easier ways to get the information. Keep in mind campaign disclosure laws are a thing.

In general, the buzz for Trump's tax return is mostly a glorified fishing expedition.

I think you have me confused with someone else. I can't recall mentioning the tax return in recent history, aside from this topic.

Wanting Trump's tax return is just like Obama's birth certificate.

Zeus posted...

Once or twice lately, perhaps. However, it's still a weird thing to request when, once again, there are easier ways to get the information. Keep in mind campaign disclosure laws are a thing.

In general, the buzz for Trump's tax return is mostly a glorified fishing expedition.

That thing that might help explain his connections with Russia?

Totally nothing.

Mead knows stuff; after all, he once read some political memes on Facebook. -_-

Im the one who makes the memes
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Zeus is POTD's Official Victim, ok?
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ClarkDuke posted...

Zeus is POTD's Official Victim, ok?

I'm pretty sure Republicans need to remain in a perpetual state of victimhood to justify various beliefs.

Trump is completely and totally devoid of morals or ethics? "It's the deep state they are out to get us!"

Lol democrats claiming the Republicans are the victimhood party is hilariously ironic

Not really. A party that consists almost completely of rich "Christian" white males, claiming they are victims? That's the irony right there: the single most privileged demographic in existence feeling as though they are being oppressed. It's a contradiction in terms.
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Honestly the fact he did sleep with increases my respect for him because I'm a complete moron
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Andromicus posted...

I'm a complete moron

You're right about that

OhhhJa posted...

Andromicus posted...

I'm a complete moron

You're right about that

I'm mentally ill please don't insult me
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ChaoticCentury posted...

A party that consists almost completely of rich "Christian" white males,

See this is where the irony is... you're accusing them of victimhood culture in the same breath that you're pointing to their race and religion as some kind of boogeyman that oppresses all the other victims

OhhhJa posted...

Trump should've just admitted he did this from day 1. It's not like most people would really care, especially not his supporters. It's not like anyone really believes he's some shining beacon of morality

Yep. The access Hollywood tape that the leakers probably thought would tank him did nothing, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that his numbers went up.

Much of the appeal of trump for his supporters is that he is rich/influential enough to do and say whatever he wants and get away with it. Trump lives the life that many people who feel invisible wish they could.

By the way, the dirty money episode on trump is really funny and really sad. The producers and directors from The Apprentice talk about how they created this fiction for the show that Trump is successful, that it was supposed to be campy and kitschy, they thought people knew that and didn't expect people to believe it was true to life.
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BlackScythe0 posted...

Zeus posted...

Once or twice lately, perhaps. However, it's still a weird thing to request when, once again, there are easier ways to get the information. Keep in mind campaign disclosure laws are a thing.

In general, the buzz for Trump's tax return is mostly a glorified fishing expedition.

That thing that might help explain his connections with Russia?

Totally nothing.

If the claim is that he was secretly taking money from Russia, he's not going to report it on his tax return. The guys who were actually arrested for taking money from the Russian government didn't put it on their tax return. Like I said, it's a pretty transparent (and stupid) fishing expedition and, in all likelihood, has no purpose other than campaign trail ammo.

ChaoticCentury posted...

Not really. A party that consists almost completely of rich "Christian" white males, claiming they are victims? That's the irony right there: the single most privileged demographic in existence feeling as though they are being oppressed. It's a contradiction in terms.

What?

User Info: ChaoticCentury
Icon User Since: Jan 2001Karma: 1236Active Posts: 1Total Badges: 10

Oh, makes sense. You'd have to be trolling to think that a major political party is "almost completely" rich. (Guess all of those blue-collar workers are secret millionaires, right?)

MacrossSpecial posted...

Much of the appeal of trump for his supporters is that he is rich/influential enough to do and say whatever he wants and get away with it.

>_>

Politicians are influential no matter what and it's not like his wealth (which a lot of politicians have as well) affords him any special protection, especially in regards to politics. Frankly, in many ways he's at greater risk for blowback for his behavior since it can tank deals whereas the average guy on the street isn't going to see any real material impact for his behavior most of the time because nobody cares who he is.
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He dosent actually have any money thats why, he kites checkes between hotels and islands and large parts of siberia..... im sure his son in law handed over large bags of cash to get the campaign going, and russians and middle eastern states.. and anyone else who could get in on it, started living off that "cos im freakin teflon don" and laws do not apply as such to me....

edit: and oh yeah her paid he for sex, she aint trash, he is...
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Oh goodie! That'll surely prove that this man is not fit to lead the country he was elected to lead, by a majority of the electorate who determined that his baggage was of less concern than the economic implications he's brought to the table.
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BlackScythe0 posted...

ClarkDuke posted...

Zeus is POTD's Official Victim, ok?

I'm pretty sure Republicans need to remain in a perpetual state of victimhood to justify various beliefs.

Trump is completely and totally devoid of morals or ethics? "It's the deep state they are out to get us!"

Hillary lures young republicans into pizza chain basements, ok?
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