8/22/2018

CAMPAIGN FINANCE/MICHAEL COHEN/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/WOMEN: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [8-22-18] defended hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign to silence two women who claimed affairs with him, saying the payments did not violate campaign finance laws because they were not funded by his campaign. His attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony campaign finance violations surrounding the payments: making an excessive campaign contribution and causing a corporation to make an unlawful contribution — and said he knowingly violated the law at Trump’s direction. Trump claimed on Wednesday he only knew of the payments to the women ‘later on,’ though he did not specify when…Trump for the second time on Wednesday argued a campaign violation by President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign was far more serious, even though that violation involved missed reporting deadlines and involved a civil fine — not felonies as in Cohen’s case…On Twitter, earlier in the day, Trump began attacking the special counsel’s investigation and Cohen — part of a plan among his allies to discredit his former attorney as a liar and a non-credible witness in the aftermath of his bombshell claim that Trump directed him to make illegal payments to women in order to maintain their silence about alleged sexual affairs.”

Kevin Liptak and Jeremy Diamond, “Trump lashes out at Cohen, Mueller probe as allies formulate strategy to protect presidency,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 22, 2018 2:34 pm