By — Associated Press Associated Press Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-blames-michael-cohen-for-hush-money-liability Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump blames Michael Cohen for hush money ‘liability’ Politics Dec 10, 2018 10:25 AM EDT WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is defending the hush money payments made by his former lawyer to two women during his 2016 campaign as “a simple private transaction.” He tweeted Monday that if there was wrongdoing, it’s lawyer Michael Cohen’s “liability” and not his. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday that Cohen “acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election” and at the direction of Trump when he brokered deals to stop women from going public about their alleged affairs with Trump. ….which it was not (but even if it was, it is only a CIVIL CASE, like Obama’s – but it was done correctly by a lawyer and there would not even be a fine. Lawyer’s liability if he made a mistake, not me). Cohen just trying to get his sentence reduced. WITCH HUNT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2018 Trump has argued that the payments — which he first denied knowledge of — weren’t campaign contributions because his own money and not campaign funds were used for the payments. But federal law requires disclosure of payments made “for the purposes of influencing” an election. MORE: Read Michael Cohen sentencing recommendations from Mueller and federal prosecutors We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Associated Press Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is defending the hush money payments made by his former lawyer to two women during his 2016 campaign as “a simple private transaction.” He tweeted Monday that if there was wrongdoing, it’s lawyer Michael Cohen’s “liability” and not his. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday that Cohen “acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election” and at the direction of Trump when he brokered deals to stop women from going public about their alleged affairs with Trump. ….which it was not (but even if it was, it is only a CIVIL CASE, like Obama’s – but it was done correctly by a lawyer and there would not even be a fine. Lawyer’s liability if he made a mistake, not me). Cohen just trying to get his sentence reduced. WITCH HUNT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2018 Trump has argued that the payments — which he first denied knowledge of — weren’t campaign contributions because his own money and not campaign funds were used for the payments. But federal law requires disclosure of payments made “for the purposes of influencing” an election. MORE: Read Michael Cohen sentencing recommendations from Mueller and federal prosecutors We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now