Melania’s surprise reply to Donald Trump grope tape
A court has heard from Donald Trump’s former lawyer who claimed Melania had words to say about an infamous, misoynistic, leaked tape.
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One of the star witnesses in Donald Trump’s hush money trial has claimed that Melania Trump had a plan for how to deal with an infamous tape, which came to light just weeks before the 2016 election, where he talked about groping women.
Michael Cohen, who worked as a lawyer for Mr Trump prior to him becoming US President in 2017, told the court in Manhattan on Monday (US time) that Mr Trump knew allegations he had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels could be a “disaster” for his campaign.
Quizzed by the prosecution, he also spoke of a secret recording he made of Mr Trump allegedly discussing hush money payments.
Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up payments of $200,000 ($US130,000) paid to Ms Daniels, 45, in the run up to the 2016 US Presidential election about the alleged 2006 extramarital sexual encounter.
The prosecution is trying to persuade the jury the alleged payments were effectively election interference to silence revelations that could have been damaging to Mr Trump’s campaign.
Mr Trump, 77, has denied an affair took place and denied the charges.
’Lot of women coming forward’: Trump
Mr Cohen is key to the prosecution’s case as it’s claimed was instrumental in organising payments to prevent various allegations coming to light.
He served time in prison after pleading guilty in 2018 to breaking US election campaign laws by paying off Ms Daniels.
Mr Cohen said he paid the money out of his personal funds, rather than waiting for Mr Trump to come up with the cash, because his former boss told him too. But for his trouble, Mr Cohen said he was “angry, beyond angry,” when he found his Christmas bonus had been reduced by two thirds.
Taking the stand on Monday, Mr Cohen described his time with the Trump Organisation as “fantastic” and how he got a thrill wen Mr Trump praised him.
“I was on top of the world,” he said, when Mr Trump said he was “fantastic or great”.
Lawyer for the prosecution, Susan Hoffinger asked Mr Cohen if he on occasion lied for Mr Trump.
“I did,” he said.
“Did you bully people?” Ms Hoffinger asked.
“Yes. The only thing that was on my mind was to accomplish the task, to make him happy,” he replied.
Mr Cohen testified said that the then Apprentice presenter had told him in 2015 that negative stories would likely emerge about him when he announced his presidential election bid.
“Just be prepared – there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward,” Mr Trump allegedly said.
Secret taping of Trump
One allegation that did emerge in 2016 was that Mr Trump had an affair with Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal in 2006 and 2007.
Tabloid magazine the National Enquirer paid $150,000 for the exclusive rights but didn’t publish the story under a claimed deal with the Trump Organisation to buy and bury bad stories.
The court was played a recording, secretly taped by Mr Cohen on his iPhone, of him discussing the McDougal story with Mr Trump.
“So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?” Mr Trump appears to say on the recording in relation to the $150k payment.
“What I was doing, I was doing at the direction and for the benefit of Mr Trump,” Mr Cohen told the court.
Prosecutors also brought up the Access Hollywood recording that emerged just weeks before the 2016 election.
In this recording, Mr Trump infamously talked in derogatory terms about women and how he liked to “grab them by the pussy”.
Melania’s advice about tape
Shortly afterwards, word began to circulate that Stormy Daniels also wanted to take her story public.
Last week in the same court, Ms Daniels claimed she had “brief” sex in 2006 with Mr Trump in his suite at a golf tournament.
Mr Cohen asked if the claim was true. He said Mr Trump did not answer.
“He turned around and said that she was a beautiful woman,” he slammed.
Nonetheless, Mr Trump was concerned of the effect the allegation would have.
“Women will hate me,” Mr Cohen claimed Mr Trump said to him at the prospect of Ms Daniels’ story emerging.
“Guys may think this is cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign”.
He said Mr Trump told him to “take care of it”.
Mr Cohen added that Mr Trump “wasn’t thinking about Melania,” when the tape leaked.
“This was all about the campaign, to minimise its impact on him and his campaign,” Mr Cohen said.
That could be key in the prosecution’s arguments that the hush money payments were to help his political fortunes, not his marriage.
Mr Trump appeared to shake his head in Mr Cohen’s direction and scoff at this point.
Mr Cohen also alleged Mrs Trump had a strategy about how to deal with the Access Hollywood tape.
“I want you to push it out as long as you can, just get past the election.
“Because if I win, it will have no relevance because I’m president. And if I lose, I don’t even care.
“He told me that that’s what Melania thought it was,” Mr Cohen added.
‘Finished, accomplished, done’
Mr Cohen has said that the National Enquirer did not want to pay for Ms Daniels’s story so any payment had to come from the Trump Organisation.
But Mr Trump was so slow at stumping up the $200,000, claimed Mr Cohen, that he was concerned that she would take the story to another publication.
“I had to get this done. This would be catastrophic to the campaign”.
“He stated to me, ‘don’t worry, you’ll get the money back,’” Mr Cohen said Mr Trump told him.
“I was doing everything I could and more to protect my boss,” he added.
Mr Cohen said ended up paying Ms Daniels from his own funds. He didn’t transfer the funds from his bank account because his wife would see.
“She would’ve asked me and I clearly could not tell her and that would’ve been a problem to me,” he said.
Mr Cohen said that he double checked with Mr Trump his course of action: “Everything required Mr. Trump’s sign off”.
After getting the green light, he went to his bank and wired money to Ms Daniels’ lawyer Keith Davidson with the label “retainer”.
In truth, he said, the transfer was “to pay Stormy Daniels to execute the nondisclosure agreement and to obtain the story, her life rights”.
He then “immediately” afterwards called Mr Trump: “so that he would know the matter – the task he gave to me – was finished, accomplished, done”.
A few months later, Mr Cohen said he found out his annual bonus was slashed.
He said he had paid “$USD130,000 on his behalf to protect him, it was insulting that the gratitude that was shown back to me was to cut the bonus by two-thirds”.
Early the next year, after assurances from Mr Trump, he was given $636,000 ($US420,000). Paperwork stated this was a pay package over 12 months for his work as the soon to be President’s personal lawyer. However, he understood the salary was really a reimbursement for the money he had paid Stormy Daniels, plus a bonus and other costs.
Every month he was to send an invoice for “legal services rendered,” and he would be paid, Mr Cohen told the court.
Originally published as Melania’s surprise reply to Donald Trump grope tape
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