Ex- lawyer implicates Trump in porn star hush- money scandal
A NEW book by Donald Trump’s former lawyer provides a detailed account of the US president’s alleged role in a hush money scandal involving a porn actress that once overshadowed his rise to office.
In the book Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J Trump, Michael Cohen makes the case that President Trump is “guilty of the same crimes” that landed the lawyer in a federal prison.
Cohen, who is still under house arrest, writes that of all the crises he confronted in working for Mr Trump, none were as vexing as that surrounding porn actress Stormy Daniels and her claims of an extramarital affair with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump, despite his later protestations, approved the $ 130,000 (£ 98,000) payment to silence Ms Daniels ahead of
the 2016 election, reasoning he would “have to pay” his wife Melania a far greater sum of money if the affair became known, Cohen writes.
He added the president later reimbursed him with “fake legal fees”.
“It never pays to settle these things, but many, many friends have advised me to pay,” Mr Trump said, according to Cohen. “If it comes out, I’m not sure how it would play with my supporters. But I bet they’d think it’s cool that I slept with a porn star.”
The White House called Cohen’s memoir “fan fiction”.
“He readily admits to lying routinely but expects people to believe him now so that he can make money from book sales,” White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern responded in a statement.
The book is scheduled to be released tomorrow.
Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other crimes, including lying to Congress, calls himself the “star witness” of a hush- money conspiracy that still could culminate in charges for Mr Trump after he leaves office.
He described his new book as a “fundamental piece of evidence” of the president’s guilt.