Trump says Cohen represented him in Stormy Daniels deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that his personal attorney Michael Cohen represented him “with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal,” after previously denying any knowledge of a payment Cohen made to the porn actress alleging an affair with Trump.

Trump spoke by phone Thursday to “Fox & Friends.” He told reporters weeks ago that he had no knowledge of a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual tryst with Trump in 2006.

Arguing that Cohen was one of his “many attorneys,” Trump said: “He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal,” and added, “From what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going in.” The telephone connection seemed to cut out for a few seconds after Trump mentioned Daniels.

Cohen is under federal criminal investigation in New York into his personal business dealings. Trump said he has been told he was not involved.

Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti responded Thursday: “Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen previously represented to the American people that Mr. Cohen acted on his own and Mr. Trump knew nothing about the agreement with my client, the $130k payment, etc. As I predicted, that has now been shown to be completely false.”

Avenatti told the AP on Thursday, “This is going to add considerable momentum to our effort to depose the president and place him under oath in an effort to discover which version of the facts is accurate.”

Cohen on Wednesday said he would assert his constitutional right against self-incrimination in a civil case brought by Daniels, who is seeking to invalidate the confidentiality agreement.

Cohen has been asking a federal judge in Los Angeles to delay Daniels’ case after FBI agents raided his home and office earlier this month. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is also suing Cohen, alleging defamation.

In a court filing on Wednesday, Cohen said that FBI agents had seized “various electronic devices and documents in my possession” which contain information about the payment to Daniels. Agents also seized communications with his lawyer, Brent Blakely, about the civil case, Cohen said.

Daniels has offered to return the $130,000 and argues the agreement is legally invalid because it was only signed by her and Cohen, not by Trump.

https://www.apnews.com/fe3bf8d177204f888b93393463c24522/Trump-says-Cohen-represented-him-in-%22Stormy-Daniels-deal%22

"When the aging gorilla is confronted with the much more virile, new alpha male, he shows submissiveness by grooming the alpha male, but the gesture is actually a vain attempt by the old gorilla to humiliate his much younger rival." - Jane Goodall

The problem with Trump is... he thinks he's reeeeaaaaaallly smart. He's been allowed to -- he's lived in a carefully-maintained bubble surrounded by sycophants who tell him he's smart all the time, and even when he fouls up (multiple bankruptcies) he's never had to really face the consequences of anything... and his narcissism refuses to absorb the fact that he did anything stupid. He's not just an egomaniac, he's legit mentally ill.

So, he goes on TV and machine-guns himself in both feet and thinks "I'm doing a great job here, I should talk more!" He's been surrounded by people who let him get away with stuff for so long, he thinks he has the world completely fooled.

Unluckily for him, out in the wild he only has his cultists fooled. And they're out there -- they believe in "Trump is great for the economy" the same way they believe "this dude walked on water." It's all faith. But, it's not nearly enough. There are those who just don't give a damn about his wishes and will make him pay for his mistakes. Pretty soon he's going to meet some of them. And it'll be a total surprise for a 71-year-old toddler who's never actually encountered "repercussions" before.

polecat wrote:"When the aging gorilla is confronted with the much more virile, new alpha male, he shows submissiveness by grooming the alpha male, but the gesture is actually a vain attempt by the old gorilla to humiliate his much younger rival." - Jane Goodall

Perfect.