Trump is the liar, insists his former lawyer Cohen
‘I will not be the villain of this story’
DONALD Trump knew that making hush payments to two women during the 2016 presidential election was wrong, his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen said yesterday.
Cohen swept aside the US president’s claims of innocence for campaign finance offences that helped earn the lawyer a three-year prison sentence.
‘The people of the United States of America, the people of the world, don’t believe what he’s saying,’ the 52-year-old told ABC News.
‘The man doesn’t tell the truth. And it’s sad that I should take responsibility for his dirty deeds.’
Mr Trump denies asking him to pay porn star Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal.
Cohen has said Mr Trump directed him to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign because he was concerned about how their stories of alleged affairs would affect the election.
He said Mr Trump knew the payments were wrong.
The lawyer – who for more than a decade was a key player in the Trump Organisation and a fixture in Mr Trump’s political life – said he ‘gave loyalty to someone who, truthfully, does not deserve loyalty’.
Cohen said ‘of course’ Mr Trump knew it was wrong to make the hush-money payments, but he did not provide any specific evidence or detail in the interview.
Under US federal law 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 swiftly took him from being Mr 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. I will not be the villain of this story.’
Cohen was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison after admitting several charges, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress.
Prosecutors said Mr Trump directed him to arrange the payments to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal before the 2016 campaign.
The decision to pay off Daniels, who alleged she had sex with a married Mr Trump in 2006, was made soon after an old Access Hollywood tape surfaced in which Mr Trump was heard talking about groping and trying to have sex with women, Cohen said.
‘He was very concerned about how this would affect the election,’ Cohen said.
The hush money was not initially reported on campaign finance documents and, in any case, far exceeded the legally acceptable amount for in-kind contributions.
As to whether Mr Trump knew it was wrong to make the payments, Cohen said: ‘He directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in these matters.’
The US president has denied directing Cohen to break the law and has claimed in tweets that Cohen is a ‘liar’ who cut a deal to get a reduced prison sentence.