WSJ: How exactly did Cohen break the law?

originally posted by: HunkaHunka There seems to be a lot of ignorance on ATS currently. Folks thinking Cohen didn’t break a law, or that it isn’t relevant to Trump. The Wall Street Journal, a conservative paper, explains this: “Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty this week to eight federal crimes, including tax evasion, making false statements to a bank and campaign-finance violations. The plea capped a monthslong investigation into his business dealings and implicated the president in the campaign-related payments. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to willfully causing an unlawful corporate campaign contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution. Each of those counts carries a maximum of five years in prison. With the banking and tax counts, he could have faced up to 65 years in prison. Under the deal, he would be sentenced to no more than five years in prison, with a fine of $20,000 to $1 million. He was released on $500,000 bond. The facts of the first count are that Mr. Cohen arranged for American Media Inc. to pay $150,000 in August 2016 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. She claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump a decade earlier (denied by Mr. Trump’s representatives), and the AMI payment precluded her from going public with her story. Prosecutors consider that payment an in-kind contribution to the campaign. Corporations are prohibited from making any donations to campaigns, either directly with money or “in-kind” by providing something of value. The facts of the second count are that Mr. Cohen personally paid $130,000 to a second woman, Stephanie Clifford, a former adult-film actress known professionally as Stormy Daniels, in October 2016, to prevent her from talking about her claim of having an affair with Mr. Trump a decade earlier, something Mr. Trump has denied. ” Link : apple.news..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">Article