It appears to be a cold case: A potential federal prosecution of President Donald Trump over alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels has not been revived and is reportedly unlikely to go forward, according to several unnamed purported law enforcement sources and one attorney involved in the case, who pronounced the probe “dead.”
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who served jail time in connection with related campaign finance law violations, has said he’s had no contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York City for about two years even though he supposedly was poised to testify against his former boss.
On behalf of Trump, Cohen allegedly orchestrated six-figure payments to adult film actress Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal so they would not go public with claims that they had extramarital affairs with the future president.
Trump, who prosecutors reportedly identified as “Individual-1” in legal documents, denied any romantic involvement with either woman and also rejected the premise that the cash transfers violated campaign laws.
Although there was some speculation that a potential prosecution could ramp up once Trump left office and lost his presidential immunity, an unidentified attorney, as alluded to above, who represented a witness in the matter, told the Associate Press that the investigation was “dead,” particularly since prosecutors have returned some evidence that they had gathered. That would be an unusual move in an active investigation.
Prosecutors also apparently had questions about Cohen’s reliability on the witness stand.
“Prosecutors also believed it was far from clear that Trump could be convicted of a campaign finance crime, even if a jury believed Cohen’s allegations that he directed the hush-money payments,” the AP reported. ” Several assigned to the case also have left the U.S. attorney’s office — departures that may have been delayed if they were eying a criminal case against a former president.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan has yet to make a formal statement about the status of the probe. That aside, Trump is not in the clear for potential legal entanglements because vindictive Democrat prosecutors at the state level (and possibly at the federal tier) may go after him and his family on other grounds related to their business interests. And the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate is impending. In general, many would argue that recent history suggests that the legal system seems to have become weaponized against Republicans.
Parenthetically, non-disclosure agreements, and private settlements of various kinds, are common in celebrity circles, and Donald Trump was a high-profile celebrity before he entered politics in 2015. The irony, perhaps, is that most of the celebrities who buy the silence of others to cover up various kinds of misdeeds and scandals are liberals.
Daniels claimed on Twitter that she is still pursuing a defamation claim against the ex-POTUS, adding that “I’m not done with his orange a**!” You may recall that Daniels’ original lawyer, MSNBC and CNN favorite Michel Avenatti, is due to be sentenced in April 2021 for various financial crimes.
Daniels is scheduled for a sit-down with Michael Cohen on his podcast (it seems everyone has a podcast) on February 9.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
[email protected]
Robert Jonathan is a staff writer for BizPac Review. He is a longtime writer/editor for news aggregation websites and has also developed content in the legal and financial publishing sectors as well as for online education. He earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, “a law school the basketball teams can be proud of.”
- ‘Petty heffa’: The View’s Ana Navarro skewered for cracking on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s appearance - December 4, 2022
- Women’s college volleyball game features incredible rally complete with diving, table-crashing safe - December 4, 2022
- Wild brawl breaks out at Fitness Connection gym, takes deciding turn when woman enters picture - December 4, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
