3/7/2019

CAMPAIGN FINANCE/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [3-7-19] revived his past defenses that he did not violate campaign finance laws, rejecting testimony from his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who said the president reimbursed him for an illegal hush-money payment…It is unclear what prompted the president’s defense. Cohen, the president’s longtime fixer, testified last week before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill, where he spoke about illegal hush-money payments that he had arranged. Cohen also claimed that Trump repaid him for a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with the president. The president’s former lawyer also testified behind closed doors before other committees across two days last week and again on Wednesday [3-6-19]. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison last December for tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign-finance violations connected to the hush-money payments and is scheduled to report to prison May 6.”

Rebecca Morin, “Trump says he didn’t violate campaign finance laws,” Politico, March 7, 2019 10:34 am