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Officials:Trump Lawyers Gave False Info02/16 10:47
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal ethics officials believe President Donald Trump's
lawyers provided false information about the $130,000 payment to buy the
silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels after she alleged she had sex with
Trump, the chairman of the House oversight committee said Friday.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, said internal documents from the
Office of Government Ethics described that Trump's personal lawyer, Sheri
Dillon, and former White House attorney Stefan Passantino provided false
information and "evolving stories" about the payment.
In a letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Cummings requested the
White House turn over documents as part of the committee's investigation into
whether Trump failed to properly report the payments as campaign expenditures.
Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has pleaded guilty to campaign finance
violations connected to the payments. He said Trump personally directed him to
make them.
The Trump Organization paid Cohen $420,000 in monthly installments of
$35,000 throughout 2017, after Cohen sought reimbursement for the hush-money
payment to Daniels and other expenses, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged he used "sham" invoices to try to conceal the true nature
of the payments.
Cohen previously said the Trump Organization didn't reimburse him for the
payments, while Trump has said Cohen was reimbursed through a retainer
agreement in order to stop "false and extortionist accusations."
In internal notes obtained by the committee, one ethics official described
the changing explanations from Trump's legal team as "evolving stories," the
chairman said.
At first, Dillon told the ethics officials that Trump didn't owe Cohen any
money and said that she confirmed with Trump that Cohen wasn't owed any money
in 2016 or 2017. The letter says that in one of the notes, the officials
summarized the position of Trump's lawyers: "Michael Cohen did not loan Pres
Trump $."
After Trump tweeted in May 2018 that the hush-money agreement was paid using
a monthly retainer agreement, the ethics officials went back to Dillon and were
told that all the payments were "in connection with legal services," and
compared them to "routine vendor payments," according to the letter.
Passantino made the same argument, saying the payments were for legal fees
charged on a monthly basis, according to the letter. After ethics officials
asked to see the retainer agreement, Dillion denied the request and said it was
privileged, Cummings wrote.
Cummings argues that it is even more critical for the White House to produce
the requested documents in light of the statements made to the ethics
officials. He asked the White House to respond by next week about whether they
intend to voluntarily comply with the request.
Neither Dillon nor Passantino immediately responded to emails seeking
comment on Friday. The White House had no immediate comment.
The Republicans on the committee, who are in the minority, said in a
statement that Cummings' letter is "merely retreading an old and tired story
intended to embarrass the President." The statement chastised Cummings for
using "cherry-picked confidential deliberations" in order to "smear" Trump.
The House oversight committee is also seeking similar documents from the
Trump Organization.
(KA)
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