ETHICS/LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time that he repaid his attorney Michael Cohen for a payment of at least $100,001 made to a ‘third party’ in 2016, according to ethics disclosures signed by the president that were released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday. Cohen made a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, shortly before the Nov. 8, 2016, presidential election in exchange for her staying silent about an alleged affair she had with Trump. Trump’s new disclosure statement did not describe the purpose or the recipient of the 2016 payment made by Cohen. But the acting director of the ethics office, David Apol, in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said it should have been disclosed in ethics documents that Trump filed in June 2017. Apol’s letter was released with the Trump disclosures. The ethics office is a government watchdog that provides oversight of the executive branch program designed to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest.”
-Ginger Gibson, “Trump repaid attorney Cohen for ‘third party’ expense: disclosure,” Reuters, May 16, 2018 10:42 am