NEW YORK (Dagbladet): It is reported by a number of media, among others The Guardian and AP.
The news comes at the same time that Trump’s former personal fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified for the second day in a row before a grand jury in New York about the case.
– Willing to testify
Cohen himself was sentenced to prison for making the payment of 130,000 dollars (about NOK 1.4 million) to the porn actor in 2016. The money is said to have been hush money before the presidential election to prevent Stormy Daniels – or Stephanie Clifford as she is actually called – from speaking publicly about her alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Cohen claims he made the payment on Trump’s behalf, and that he also made another payment to another woman.
Hitting back at Melania Trump
– Following a request from the state attorney’s office in Manhattan, Stormy Daniels met with the prosecution today. Stormy answered questions and has agreed to be available as a witness or to participate in further investigations if necessary, writes her lawyer, Clark Brewster, on Twitter.
The porn actor thanks Brewster.
– Thank you to my wonderful lawyer who helps me continue the fight for truth and justice, Stormy Daniels signs Twitter.
Not revenge
Later in the day, Cohen came out after testifying before a grand jury. He worked for Trump from 2006 to 2018 and was described as his “fixer”. Loyally, he stood and fought with Trump. But then things went wrong, and he was sentenced to prison for paying “kickbacks” to porn star Stormy Daniels and for lying to Congress.
– Could indict Trump tomorrow
Trump himself was president at the time and was not charged in the case at the time.
Since then, Cohen has become a high-profile Trump critic. He nevertheless denies that he has a goal of getting revenge on the former president.
– This is not about him. This is about holding people accountable, about speaking truth to power and everything in between, says Cohen to the journalists present.
Daniels, for her part, each that she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Trump, for his part, denies it.
Last week, Trump himself was invited to testify before the grand jury in the case. He declined this.
“I really hate him”
– The threat
– The former president was told that he could be silenced before the grand jury in Manhattan if he wants to testify, wrote New York Times.
According to the newspaper, such invitations mean that an indictment is imminent. Trump is also under a number of other investigations. If he is indicted, he will be the first US president to be indicted for a crime.
– The threat from the attorney general in Manhattan to indict President Trump is simply madness. It’s embarrassing for the Democratic prosecution, and it’s embarrassing for New York, says a spokesperson for Trump to the New York Times.
The attorney general in Manhattan has been investigating whether any state laws were broken in connection with the payment of hush money, or when Trump’s company compensated Cohen for his work to keep the women silent.
Cohen and federal prosecutors claimed that Trump’s company paid $420,000 (about NOK 4.5 million) to Cohen for the job. The company accounted for the payments as legal expenses.
Trump has always described the case as a witch hunt. He and his lawyers have claimed that he was blackmailed into paying the money to Daniels and that he is the victim in this case.
