Michael Cohen Letter, Stormy Daniels Statement—What We Know, What We Don't

A letter published online shows that in 2018 Michael Cohen said Donald Trump's organizations never reimbursed him for an alleged hush payment to Stormy Daniels, suggesting his testimony as the go-between man could be false, too.

A Manhattan grand jury is currently probing the payment of $130,000 to Daniels to keep her alleged affair with Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 election. Trump allegedly arranged for Cohen, his former attorney, to make the payment to the adult film actress.

Investigators are also examining if any records were falsified when Cohen was reimbursed for the money, which was listed in Trump Organization records as legal fees. Trump denies any wrongdoing and having an affair with Daniels.

The grand jury has heard behind-closed-door testimonies as part of the Manhattan District Attorney's enquiries. Members did not meet on Wednesday as scheduled, with no reason disclosed.

Then, on Thursday, a letter written on Cohen's behalf stating there had been no reimbursement began circulating on social media, presented as a new and significant development in the case.

The letter, written from the offices of Trump's former attorney, dated February 8, 2018, stated: "In a private transaction in 2016, before the U.S. presidential election, Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels' real name).

"Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford and neither reimbursed Mr Cohen directly or indirectly."

Although the letter states that only the Trump Organization and Trump campaign was not involved in the transaction, not naming Donald Trump directly, the letter could contradict Cohen's statement that he acted as the in-between man for his then-client.

Conservative commentators such as Benny Johnson claimed the evidence could be a smoking gun, breaking the link between Trump, Daniels, and the threat of any campaign violation or business record charges.

Johnson tweeted on March 22, 2023:"🚨BREAKING: New Bombshell Document DESTROYS Manhattan DA's Case Against Trump

"2018 Letter from Michael Cohen's lawyer to the FEC declares Cohen used his own personal funds to pay Stormy Daniels. Trump Camp. NOT party to transaction, did NOT reimburse Cohen for payment. It's OVER."

The tweet was viewed more than six million times.

Trump, too, joined in the commentary stating that the letter was "totally exculpatory" adding that his trial "must end".

"Wow, look what was just found—A Letter from Cohen's Lawyer to the Federal Election Commission," Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 22, 2023.

"This is totally exculpatory, and must end the Manhattan District Attorney's Witch Hunt, immediately. Cohen admits that he did it himself. The D.A. should get on with prosecuting violent criminals, so people can walk down the sidewalks of New York without being murdered!"

However, the story does not appear quite as revelatory as Johnson, Trump, and others describe.

Firstly, the letter was dated several months before Cohen pled guilty to campaign finance violence violations over the hush money. Cohen subsequently served time in prison.

This was acknowledged by DailyMail.com, which obtained the letter exclusively and published an accompanying story on March 22, 2023.

While the Mail did ask the question of whether the letter could be the "smoking gun" that Trump campaign team want, it is less emphatic than some of the commentators who assessed the same document.

As DailyMail.com points out, if it is put forward as evidence then prosecutors could argue that Cohen was still lying to protect Trump.

There is also other evidence that hints payments were made between Cohen and Trump, including cheques for tens of thousands of dollars, The New York Times reported.

One of these checks was noted in the DailyMail.com report, which said that when Cohen made sworn testimony to Congress he provided exhibits that included the $130,000 transfer to Daniels and "'a copy of a $35,000 check that President Trump personally signed from his personal bank account on August 1, 2017 - when he was President of the United States - pursuant to the cover-up, which was the basis of my guilty plea, to reimburse me'."

There is an undeniable possibility that this letter could yet protect Trump from prosecution.

However, having already been filed to the FEC in 2018, with the Justice Department indicting Cohen for making an illegal campaign contribution and conspiracy to violate U.S. laws since, it appears premature to suggest this letter will have an indelible impact.

Moreover, Cohen made a statement to the media repeating the letter's contents around the same time in 2018, which was widely reported, including by Politico, CNN, Quartz, and the Financial Times, among others.

It is also only one piece of evidence that contradicts Cohen's subsequent claim of Trump's direction of his payments to Daniels, to which he has repeatedly attested since.

Cohen's letter is also not the only contradictory statement made in this scandal. In 2018, Stormy Daniels released a statement saying that the affair with Trump never happened, only to later turn on that account.

This statement is also circulating on social media in a similar vein to Cohen's letter.

"First we heard from Michael Cohen through his attorney. He paid with his own money. Now there's this from Stormy Daniels herself," tweeted conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza in a post viewed more than 212,000 times, sharing an image of her statement.

"BREAKING: Signed official statement of Stormy Daniels admits affair never happened and that she was not paid 'hush money'," wrote Jack Posobiec, a senior editor at Human Events, in a tweet viewed 2.3 million times, also sharing an image of the statement.

Posobiec subsequently replied to a query with a link to his source for the image of Daniels' signed statement, which was a TMZ story from January 2018.

Daniels told CNN's Anderson Cooper the same year that she signed the statement because she was pressured to do so by her former attorney and business manager who "made it sound like I had no choice."

Cooper said: "You thought that there would be some sort of legal repercussion if you didn't sign it?"

Daniels replied: "Correct. As a matter of fact, the exact sentence used was, 'They can make your life hell in many different ways.'"

Much like the Cohen letter, Daniels' previous statement predates the current investigation by several years; had it been as significant as to alter it, it's likely that by now it would have had its effect.

Daniels has since repeatedly asserted that she and Trump slept together. Trump has denied the alleged affair and the charges brought against him.

To further assess whether either Daniels' or Cohen's statement could affect proceedings with the grand jury or in the event of an indictment, Newsweek contacted a number of former federal prosecutors and district attorneys for their expert views.

Among them was former New York prosecutor Matthew Galluzo, who told Newsweek that the standard of evidence here would not necessarily turn the chance of indictment on its head.

"Prior inconsistent statements of course hurt a witness' credibility, but a jury is entitled to believe or disbelieve any witness at trial regardless of what they may have said in the past," Galluzo said.

"The big question here is probably whether other evidence exists that tends to support (or refute) the story the witnesses tell under oath at trial.

"There appears to be some strong evidence that the Trump Organization business records about the hush money were false. The issue is going to be the intent in making the false business record.

"I would not say that the prior inconsistent statements are 'smoking guns'. Cohen's past lies hurt his credibility but Trump could still be convicted based upon his testimony."

Andrew M. Stengel, a former assistant district attorney in New York City and now criminal defense attorney in the city, described the Manhattan DA's case to Newsweek as featuring "a snake pit of liars".

"However, Stormy Daniels is the most credible witness in the entire affair," he said. "Michael Cohen's false claims about the reimbursement will be easily explained away because he was still working for Donald Trump."

In any case, while it is too early to know what the Cohen letter's impact will be on the outcome of the trial, the notion that "IT'S OVER" as Johnson, like others, characterize it, is misleading and overstated.

Newsweek contacted Trump's campaign and Johnson via email for comment, and reached out to Jack Posobiec and Dinesh D'Souza via their websites.