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Donald Trump’s lawyer gave a preview of the former president’s defense against possible criminal charges relating to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, saying that his client’s actions were « not a crime. »
In an interview Tuesday on MSNBC, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said his client was following the advice of his then-lawyer Michael Cohen when he signed off on the payments that are being scrutinized by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Cohen « was his lawyer at the time and advised him that this was the proper way to do this to protect himself and his family from embarrassment. It’s as simple as that, » Tacopina said. « That is not a crime. It’s not a crime. »
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to a federal charge relating to a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign. Daniels has said the money was to keep her quiet about her claim that she’d slept with the married Trump in 2006, an allegation Trump denies.
Cohen has said that Trump ordered him to pay the hush money and that it was for the “principal purpose of influencing” the 2016 presidential election.
