Trump knew it was wrong, Cohen says
WASHINGTON • Shaken and facing a prison term, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer said Friday that Trump directed him to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign because he was concerned their stories of alleged affairs with him “would affect the election.” He says Trump knew the payments were wrong.
Michael Cohen said he “gave loyalty to someone who, truthfully, does not deserve loyalty.” Cohen spoke in an interview with ABC that aired Friday on “Good Morning America.”
Cohen said that “of course” Trump knew it was wrong to make the hushmoney payments, but he did not provide any specific evidence. Federal law requires that any payments made “for the purposes of influencing” an election must be reported in campaign finance disclosures.
Speaking to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Cohen appeared shaken over the series of events that took him from Trump’s “fixer” to a man facing three years in prison.
“I am done with the lying,” Cohen said. “I am done being loyal to President Trump.”
He added: “I will not be the villain of this story.”
Cohen was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. Prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange the payments to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run-up to the 2016 campaign.
The decisions to pay off Daniels, who alleged she had sex with a married Trump in 2006, during the run-up to the 2016 election was made soon after an old Access Hollywood tape surfaced, in which Trump was heard talking about groping women, Cohen said.
“He was very concerned about how this would affect the election,” Cohen said.
The hush money wasn’t initially reported on campaign finance documents and, in any case, far exceeded the legally acceptable amount.
As to whether Trump knew it was wrong, Cohen said, “First of all, nothing at the Trump organization was ever done unless it was run through Mr. Trump. He directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in these matters.”
Trump has denied directing Cohen to break the law and has asserted that Cohen is a “liar” who cut a deal to get a reduced sentence.