Michael Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis on Monday said Donald Trump Jr. should be indicted for signing a check that Cohen said served as a repayment for money he gave Stormy Daniels in return for her silence about an alleged affair with President Trump.
“I do suggest, respectfully, that Donald Jr., based upon signing a hush money check for his father — out of a trust fund, by the way, that was set up to prevent any money being spent that would help Donald Trump while he was president — out of that trust fund is where the Donald Jr. check was written, that is a crime,” Davis told Hill.TV’s “Rising” hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on Monday.
“He should be, in my opinion, respectfully, indicted, based upon just the signing of that check,” Davis said.
In February, Cohen presented the House Oversight and Reform Committee with two $35,000 checks that he said were reimbursements for the $130,000 in payments he gave to Daniels prior to the 2016 election.
One of the checks was signed by President Trump and the other was signed by Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and the president’s eldest son.
Trump has denied the alleged affair and has said that the arrangement did not violate campaign finance laws.
“There’s no allegation or credibility issue here. Federal prosecutors found that Donald Trump directed and coordinated an illegal hush money scheme and the payment of $35,000 a month,” Davis said. “The payment of $35,000 a month was a payoff for what was a fictitious legal services retainer agreement, which the federal government prosecutors said never existed. So this is not a matter in dispute.”
“That check signed by our president is a fact that cannot be denied as a felony committed by the president of the United States, which, thanks to Michael Cohen and his testimony, is now before federal prosecutors,” he said.
“They can’t indict a president, but they can indict Don Jr. because the second check was signed by Don Jr., the same $35,000 a month installment payment for the hush money,” Davis said.
Cohen is set to report to prison for a three-year sentence in May on a litany of charges, including lying to Congress, tax and bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
He is cooperating with Congress and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Davis told Hill.TV that he believed Cohen’s sentence was disproportionate compared to similar cases.
“The most important issue for me is why Mr. Cohen is serving this length of time for what, is compared to others who have not paid income taxes, a minor sum of $275,000 a year, whereas Floyd Mayweather didn’t pay $18 million a year, and got a civil penalty,” he said, referring to the prizefighter.
“So the disproportionaility of this sentence, I would respectfully suggest should be reconsidered, and he should be given credit for the criminal evidence that he put before the American people, using documents such as this check, as credit for this sentence.”
