This will surely raise eyebrows. But, then again, norms are shattered and eyebrows raised almost daily under President Donald Trump. ABC News reports:
The Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, sources familiar with the payments tell ABC News, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws.
Federal Election Commission records show three payments made from the Trump campaign to a firm representing Cohen. The “legal consulting” payments were made to McDermott Will and Emery — a law firm where Cohen’s attorney Stephen Ryan is a partner — between October 2017 and January 2018.
It was those three payments, sources tell ABC News, that were related to Cohen’s legal defense.
Cohen has said that he did not have a formal role in the Trump campaign, and it is illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use – defined by the FEC as payments for expenses “that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder.”
“They’re on shaky legal ground,” said Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy at the nonprofit watchdog group Common Cause. “It sounds like they are really pushing the envelope … If the campaign were to say they are campaign-related payments, then maybe it’s okay to use campaign funds. But he can’t have it both ways.”
Legal experts told ABC News that if the payments referenced in the FEC filings are related to the Russia investigation, they likely wouldn’t violate campaign finance law, as the investigation is related to the 2016 presidential campaign. If the payments are related to the Stormy Daniels matter, however, the campaign could have a problem.
Some reaction:
Cohen didn't work for the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, but Trump is using campaign funds to pay Cohen's legal expenses for an investigation (the Trump-Russia probe) looking into the actions of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. So it's hush money. https://t.co/YKgrBGCO1G
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) May 1, 2018
ABC News: The Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws. https://t.co/NpcCKH48Qe
— Evan Rosenfeld (@Evan_Rosenfeld) April 30, 2018
Donald Trump’s “re-election” campaign has paid more than a quarter million dollars of Michael Cohen’s legal bills, in an effort at preventing him from flipping. It’s why Trump holds these fake re-election rallies. Trump isn’t running for re-election, he’s running for his life.
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) April 30, 2018
This is problematic–and could be illegal–on so many levels. Is it repayment for $130k hush money that Cohen paid? If so, campaign fin. law issues. Equally troubling: together with the Trump calls, it raises possibility of witness tampering. Risky biz! https://t.co/8lyXfIcan9
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) April 30, 2018
It turns out that the Trump Campaign paid $228k in Michael Cohen's Legal bills.
It appears as if the attorney Trump 'barely knows' paid a porn star to enter into an NDA about an affair that 'never occurred'. Trump then paid this attorney's legal bills.
Makes Perfect Sense!!
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) April 30, 2018
Campaign finance violations, witness tamperin' or both? You decide!https://t.co/QOlucsQKIp
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) April 30, 2018
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.