Alleged payment to porn star was illegal donation to Trump campaign, watchdog says

[enhanced_deficit]

Is this Comey/Mueller supporters covertly pushing this or this is just some media watchdog's investigative journalism work?
As if Trump-Kushner team needed another hushmoney gate scandal on the heels of growing list of Israel-Flynn gate, Bannon claimed Kushner money laundering gate, Peggy Peterson-Michael Cohen gate scandals etc.



Alleged payment to porn star was illegal donation to Trump campaign, watchdog says

The call from Common Cause for criminal prosecution echoes charges against John Edwards.

By JOSH GERSTEIN
01/22/2018

A watchdog group filed a pair of complaints on Monday alleging that a $130,000 payment reportedly made to a pornographic film actress who claims to have had an affair with Donald Trump violated campaign finance laws.
In submissions to the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission, Common Cause said the alleged payment to Stephanie Clifford — who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels — amounted to an in-kind donation to Trump's presidential campaign that should have been publicly disclosed in its official reports.

An attorney for Common Cause, Paul Ryan, said the payment appeared to be hush money. He compared the situation to the series of events that resulted in the prosecution of former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) over nearly $1 million in payments allegedly made to cover up an affair he had with videographer Rielle Hunter during his 2008 presidential bid.
“The purpose is the heart of all this,” Ryan said. “It’s pretty obvious this payment to Ms. Clifford was intended to keep her quiet just weeks before the election so she would not damage the candidate’s effort to win the election.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/22/stormy-daniels-trump-payment-illegal-donation-357250




Related

Trump Lawyer Used Private Company, Pseudonyms to Pay Porn Star 'Stormy Daniels'
Highly Cited Wall Street Journal 2h ago

President Donald Trump’s lawyer used a private Delaware company to pay a former adult-film star $130,000 in return for her agreeing to not publicly discuss an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to corporate records and people familiar with the matter. The lawyer, Michael Cohen, established Essential Consultants LLC, on Oct. 17, 2016, just before the 2016 presidential election, corporate documents show. Mr. Cohen, who is based in New York, then used a bank account linked to the entity to send the payment to...

 

[enhanced_deficit]

had to lookup CC:

Common Cause

[TABLE="class: infobox vcard, width: 22"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2, align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Founded[/TH]
[TD="class: note"]1970; 48 years ago[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Founder[/TH]
[TD]John W. Gardner[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Location[/TH]
[TD="class: label"]

• Washington, D.C., U.S.

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH] Area served[/TH]
[TD]United States[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Method[/TH]
[TD]Advocacy[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH] Key people[/TH]
[TD]Karen Hobert Flynn[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Website[/TH]
[TD]www.commoncause.org[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon Johnson as well as chair of the National Urban Coalition, an advocacy group for minorities and the working poor in urban areas.[SUP][1][/SUP] As initially founded, Common Cause was prominently known for its efforts to bring about an end to the Vietnam War and lower the voting age from 21 to 18.[SUP][2]

[/SUP]
Issue areas

The organization’s stated issue areas are "money in politics," "voting and elections," "ethics," "a fair economy," and "media and democracy."[SUP][13][/SUP]

Money in politics

In 1972, Common Cause sued President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, under the Federal Corrupt Practices Act in an attempt to force Nixon's campaign to report early campaign contributions.[SUP][14][/SUP] The lawsuit forced the disclosure of the names of several Nixon donors.[SUP][15][/SUP] In 1974, Common Cause supported passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), encompassing public financing of presidential campaigns and oversight of campaign ethics through the Federal Election Commission.[SUP][16]

[/SUP]
Voting machines

Common Cause advocates for a voter-verified paper audit trail for election machines in all states. The organization has documented complaints about electronic voting machines.[SUP][25][/SUP]

National popular vote

Common Cause is in favor of establishing a national popular vote for presidential elections to replace the current electoral college system.[SUP][26][/SUP] Following the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, Common Cause called for the National Popular Vote Compact to counteract what it called the "anti-democratic" outcome in that election.[SUP][27][/SUP]

Ethics

Common Cause lobbied Congress to pass the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, requiring government officials to disclose their finances and restricting the "revolving door" between government and business. In 1989, they lobbied for passage of a new Ethics in Government Act, which ended special-interest honoraria for members of Congress and closed a loophole that allowed members to convert campaign funds to personal use.[SUP][28]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Cause





If these allegations are confirmed by non-fakenews widely respected media outlets, it would be another case of tabloid media impacting mainstream politics.

The call from Common Cause for criminal prosecution echoes charges against John Edwards.

By JOSH GERSTEIN
01/22/2018

[/SUP]

 

[dannno]

Seems like kind of a reach.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

Seems like kind of a reach.

Yea could be. Real impact if any most likely would in the political realm, though that could change if Dems make major gains in midterms.

CC seems to have some good track record of victories though:

VICTORY: Court rules against NC partisan gerrymandering
Common Cause NC Jan 9, 2018

 

[Swordsmyth]

Yea could be. Real impact if any most likely would in the political realm, though that could change if Dems make major gains in midterms.

CC seems to have some good track record of victories though:

VICTORY: Court rules against NC partisan gerrymandering
Common Cause NC Jan 9, 2018

SCOTUS put a halt on that and will likely overturn it completely.

Communist Cause can go jump in the lake of fire and brimstone.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

SCOTUS put a halt on that and will likely overturn it completely.

Communist Cause can go jump in the lake of fire and brimstone.

Yea, the court battles could go for a while still.

 

[Anti Globalist]

As soon as this story hit, a bunch of Trump supporters looked up videos of Stormy Daniels.

 

[Swordsmyth]

As soon as this story hit, a bunch of Trump supporters looked up videos of Stormy Daniels.

Don't forget the DJTvsg opponents:

[h=3]Never-Trumpers doing excessive Stormy Daniels porn searches?[/h]

 

[enhanced_deficit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WceMTkjrXJE

 

[Raginfridus]

Did he give her the D?

 

[enhanced_deficit]

No, what is alleged in news reports is that current leader of Christian Values Party offered her a part in reality TV show Apprentice.

 

[kpitcher]

Heard a joke.. she's the first porn star paid to keep her mouth shut

 

[eleganz]

At best its nothing, at worst its a slap on the wrist and a fine.

 

[dean.engelhardt]

Now that he is president, he can reimburse the Delaware corporation with tax dollars and be perfectly legal right?

Is seriousness, this story is just making the media look stupid.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

Is seriousness, this story is just making the media look stupid.

Trump lawyer has addressed media concerns in latest update today:

Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Says He Paid Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket

By MAGGIE HABERMANFEB. 13, 2018

Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, said on Tuesday that he had paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to a pornographic-film actress who had once claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump.
In the most detailed explanation of the 2016 payment made to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, Mr. Cohen, who worked as a counsel to the Trump Organization for more than a decade, said he was not reimbursed for the payment.

He declined to answer several follow-up questions, including whether Mr. Trump had been aware that Mr. Cohen made the payment, why he made the payment or whether he had made similar payments to other people over the years.
Mr. Cohen has previously said that Mr. Trump has denied an affair with Ms. Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels. She has said the affair took place soon after Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, gave birth to the couple’s son, Barron.

Mr. Cohen’s statement about what he called “a private transaction” was the first time that he had acknowledged a role in the payment, which was first reported in January by The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/politics/stormy-daniels-michael-cohen-trump.html

 

[asurfaholic]

Trump can’t keep his commitments to his own wife but still some think he will stay committed to the people of America?

No. He only cares about himself and what he wants in the moment. Grab em by the *^%#%^*

There’s some real presidential material right there. Every day I get more disgusted by our country and the person that was elected to lead it.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

So this news is now the most trending news of day? Made to top of google news front page.

MSNBC video report today showed fast moving dark clouds over White House when reporting this... responsible journalism or overly dramatic?

 

[dannno]

Trump can’t keep his commitments to his own wife but still some think he will stay committed to the people of America?

No. He only cares about himself and what he wants in the moment. Grab em by the *^%#%^*

There’s some real presidential material right there. Every day I get more disgusted by our country and the person that was elected to lead it.

Good lord turn off your tv.. Trump is nothing like that. That is what the bankster corporate media wants you to think of him.

 

[asurfaholic]

Good lord turn off your tv.. Trump is nothing like that. That is what the bankster corporate media wants you to think of him.

Now I’ll have you know that I arrived at that conclusion all by myself.

How many times remarried? Paid off affairs?

You think FOX news told me that he has commitment issues? I think trump needs Jesus.

 

[dannno]

Now I’ll have you know that I arrived at that conclusion all by myself.

The only way that is possible is if you personally knew Trump and spent a lot of time with him. Otherwise everything you hear about him is from somebody else.

How many..Paid off affairs?

I have no idea, neither do you.. we don't even know if the affair actually happened.

I think trump needs Jesus.

I'm pretty sure if there is a God that he sent Trump specifically to help save us from Hillary and the deep state.