Hush-money Trump probe appears dead

NEW YORK — The federal probe of hush money paid to cover up former President Donald Trump’s alleged extramarital affairs hasn’t been restarted, even though he no longer has the legal shield of the presidency, The Associated Press has learned.

Trump’s exit from the White House last month prompted speculation that U.S prosecutors might revive the investigation that sent his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to prison.

But several people involved in the case say the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has made no such move and is unlikely to do so.

An attorney for one key witness described the investigation as “dead,” adding prosecutors have even returned certain evidence they collected, a likely indication no one else will be charged. The attorney spoke on the condition of anonymity because prosecutors have not discussed the case publicly.

One current and one former law enforcement official told the AP that factors beyond presidential immunity prevented Trump from being charged for his role in buying the silence of Karen McDougal and porn actress Stormy Daniels, who said they’d had extramarital affairs with him.

Trump’s departure from office has not altered that equation, said the officials, who weren’t authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Cohen told the AP that he has not heard from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan since late 2018, when he was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging the payments.

The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

Trump has said the payments to Daniels and McDougal were a private matter and did not amount to campaign finance violations.

Federal prosecutors referred to Trump as “Individual-1” in charging Cohen with skirting campaign contribution rules by arranging six-figure payments to Daniels and McDougal, a former Playboy model, to keep them quiet about yearsold affairs that Trump consistently denied.

The investigation turned up evidence that Trump himself had been aware of the payments, despite his initial public claims he knew nothing about them.

Prosecutors said “Individual-1” directed Cohen to make the payments, which they said should have been subject to campaign finance laws because they were made for the purpose of helping Trump win the election.

Trump’s lawyers maintained during his presidency that he was shielded from prosecution while in office, raising questions about his legal exposure following his tenure.

But prosecutors harbored other concerns, particularly over the reliability of Cohen as a witness, the former enforcement official said, adding it was “not likely for new witnesses to emerge.”

As part of the same case, Cohen was also charged with lying to Congress about a Trump project in Russia.

At the time, Manhattan prosecutors said in court filings that Cohen had been “forthright and credible” but added that he “repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge.”

Prosecutors also believed it was far from clear that Trump could be convicted of a campaign finance crime, even if a jury believed Cohen’s allegations that he directed the hush-money payments.