MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP BUSINESS: “Documents marked ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDING’ for the first time tie President Donald Trump’s flagship holding company to the continuing effort to silence a former adult-film actress who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump.
At issue is a high-profile battle between Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and Ms. Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, has obtained a temporary restraining order against Ms. Clifford in the arbitration to stop her from talking about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. Ms. Clifford has asked a judge to declare the nondisclosure agreement invalid.
The White House and Mr. Cohen repeatedly have sought to distance the president from the porn-star pact and payment. Mr. Cohen, who was employed by the Trump Organization when he brokered the deal with Ms. Clifford shortly before the 2016 presidential election, has maintained he was acting on his own and has called it a ‘private transaction.’ Soon after Mr. Trump’s electoral victory, Mr. Cohen left the company to establish his own legal practice.”
–Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo, “Trump Organization Tied to Deal to Keep Stormy Daniels Quiet,” The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 14, 2018, 20:11pm