What of ‘Individual-1’? Feds’ Trump campaign case ‘dead’
NEW YORK — When Donald Trump lost the legal shield of the presidency last month, some pundits speculated federal prosecutors might revive an investigation that implicated him in possible campaign finance crimes during his 2016 run for office.
But several people involved in the case say the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has made no move to restart the hushmoney probe that once dogged Trump’s presidency and sent his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to prison.
In fact, 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 Associated Press that factors beyond presidential immunity prevented Trump from being charged for his role in buying the silence of Karen McDougal and adult films actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed 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, who has cast himself as a potential star witness against his former boss, told 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. A message seeking comment was sent to Trump’s attorney; his legal team is preparing for Tuesday’s scheduled start of his second impeachment trial.
Trump has said the payments to Daniels and McDougal were a private matter and did not amount to campaign finance violations.
Federal prosecutors infamously 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 years-old 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, including a recording in which he can be heard speaking to Cohen about efforts to buy McDougal’s continued silence.
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 — and even the prospect he would preemptively pardon himself.
But prosecutors harbored other concerns, particularly over the reliability of Cohen as a witness, the former enforcement official said.
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.
Campaign finance prosecutions are fraught with challenges, as evidenced by a similar case over hush-money payments to a woman that the government brought — and ultimately dropped — against former Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat from North Carolina.