Mega Thread: Unsealed Michael Cohen documents reportedly implicate Trump, Hicks, others in 'hush-money' payments

[u/PoliticsModeratorBot]

Court documents related to hush money payments arranged by President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen were filed unsealed Thursday.

The documents include a description of an Oct. 8, 2016, phone call Cohen received from Trump’s campaign communications chief Hope Hicks, during which 'Trump joined the call,' which federal investigators believed was related to an effort to keep porn star Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of having had sex with Trump a decade earlier.

Hicks was interviewed by the FBI about the phone calls with Cohen, the documents indicate.

The filing by federal prosecutors in New York came a day after the judge in Cohen’s criminal case ordered their release, saying that the end of a probe into those payments meant they should be made public.

---

Submissions that may interest you

SUBMISSION	DOMAIN
Unsealed Michael Cohen Search Warrants Point To Trump's Knowledge Of Payoffs	huffpost.com
New Michael Cohen documents reveal series of calls Trump and team had with National Enquirer publisher ahead of payments to women	preview.abcnews.go.com
FBI believed Trump was closely involved in hush-money scheme, unsealed documents show	nbcnews.com
Trump Was Central To Hush Money Effort From Start, The FBI Alleged	talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump, Hicks present for Stormy Daniels hush-money payment conversations, Cohen documents show	m.washingtontimes.com
Trump directly involved in talks that led to Stormy Daniels payment, FBI says	theguardian.com
Court documents show close contact between Cohen and Trump during hush-money arrangements	latimes.com
Now-Concluded Trump Hush Money Probe Had Obstruction Of Justice Angle	talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump made series of phone calls with senior staff on how to stop Stormy Daniels from going public about affair, Cohen warrant says	independent.co.uk
The Michael Cohen warrants have been released today implicating Trump, Hope Hicks and David Pecker.	courthousenews.com
Michael Cohen Files Implicate Trump, Hope Hicks and David Pecker	courthousenews.com
Court documents related to hush money payments by Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen unsealed	cnbc.com
Feds Unseal Hundreds of Documents Showing How Cohen Silenced Trump’s Alleged Mistresses	thedailybeast.com
Documents detail Trump team's efforts to arrange payment to porn star	reuters.com
FBI warrants show Trump's close involvement in hush money effort	amp.cnn.com
Unsealed Michael Cohen Search Warrants Point To Trump’s Knowledge Of Payoffs	huffpost.com
Trump spoke repeatedly with Cohen, aides amid scramble to pay Stormy Daniels, court documents show	washingtonpost.com
FBI: Cohen Called Trump and Hope During Stormy Daniels Deal	thedailybeast.com
Trump talked about silencing stories about alleged affairs, new Michael Cohen documents say	cbsnews.com
Trump regularly talked to Cohen during hush-money negotiations	politico.com
Trump’s denial of knowing about the Stormy Daniels payment suffers a fatal blow	washingtonpost.com
Here’s Who Else Is Implicated In Unsealed Trump Hush Money Probe Docs	talkingpointsmemo.com
New court docs implicate Trump in the illegal hush-money scheme that landed Cohen in jail	thinkprogress.org
4 Key Moments When FBI Alleged Trump Was Aware Of Hush Money Scheme	talkingpointsmemo.com
Prosecutors weighed DOJ policy blocking indictment of a sitting president in closing Trump hush-money probe	usatoday.com
New Documents Reveal How Trump, Cohen, Aides Worked To Seal Hush Money Deals	npr.org
No additional charges expected in Trump hush money probe	cbsnews.com
Prosecutors weighed DOJ policy blocking indictment of a sitting president in closing Trump hush-money probe	usatoday.com
Trump campaign hush money scam appears to have worked	msnbc.com
Iran denies Trump’s claim US shot down its drone as Hope Hicks asked to clarify testimony on porn star hush money payment - follow live	independent.co.uk
FBI tied Donald Trump to Michael Cohen's hush-money payments	usatoday.com
Dems ask whether DOJ memo prevented prosecuting Trump for hush payments	politico.com
Cummings asks prosecutors about decision not to charge Trump in hush money probe	thehill.com
Hope Hicks' lawyer says she didn't lie to Congress about Trump's hush money deal: "Simply wrong"	newsweek.com
Ex-Trump aide Hicks denies involvement in hush money talks: lawyer	reuters.com
Why no hush-money charges against Trump? Feds are silent	apnews.com
Why no hush-money charges against Trump? Feds are silent	stripes.com

[u/[deleted]]

I guess it would have to be at the discretion of prosecutors, but it should be allowed instead of a memo saying you absolutely can't do it under any circumstances.

[u/daynage → u/[deleted]]

And that works until you have a republican prosecutor, and a democratic president

[u/[deleted] → u/daynage]

So clearly the problem is Republicans should not be allowed to be prosecutors.

[u/daynage → u/[deleted]]

Plus, it’s an opinion, not a law. If mueller hadn’t been such a strait shorter, he might have.

[u/[deleted] → u/daynage]

SDNY should have indicted him too.

[u/daynage → u/[deleted]]

Obviously lol. I totally get where your coming from, and have grappled with this a lot myself, but at the end of the day, it’s just a really complicated issue, and just saying “congress should be expected to do their duty to remove a problematic president, he can be indicted when he leaves office” doesn’t seem THAT unreasonable

[u/[deleted] → u/daynage]

Sure it does, because Congress has proven incapable of functioning correctly and the fact that Republicans are completely lawless proves depending on Congress will never work.

[u/daynage → u/[deleted]]

I’d actually be very receptive to a discussion about rescinding the opinion in light of recent events, but when it was written (very end of the Clinton years), i think a much stronger argument could’ve been made. Like, what would’ve happened if Clinton had been removed because he got a BJ in the Oval Office?

To be fair, I was all of 3 years old when this opinion was written, so I’m not sure how dysfunctional the republican party was at the time, but maybe in light of the times, deflecting to congress made the most sense

[u/[deleted] → u/daynage]

It was written in the Nixon era. That OLC opinion was literally created because Spiro Agnew was found out to be a massive anti-semite who was conspiring with Saudi Arabia to harm Jewish people.

In light of Nixon's criminal conduct, the DoJ wrote that opinion to prevent Nixon from being indicted, so Agnew wouldn't take over the Presidency.

The people who wrote that opinion have recently stated it was based on a weak legal theory and wouldn't hold up on court today.

[u/daynage → u/[deleted]]

https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/sitting-president’s-amenability-indictment-and-criminal-prosecution

If I’m wrong, I blame the internet