Trump, Through Son, Eric Trump, Directed Legal Actions Against Porn Star Mistress

With all the news about Judge Brett Kavanaugh, have we forgotten about Stormy Daniels and the continuing attempts to contain the “bimbo eruptions” surrounding President Trump?

Well, the Wall Street Journal is there to keep us from forgetting, with a new report out today, detailing some of the particulars surrounding the Trump Organization’s involvement in attempting to silence the porn star.

According to the story by the WSJ, as recently as February of this year, President Trump was still directing members of the Trump Organization – the business he was supposed to have stepped away from, leaving to his sons, once he became president – on how to handle the legal morass involving his former mistress.

In a phone call, Mr. Trump instructed his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to seek a restraining order against the former adult-film actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, through a confidential arbitration proceeding, one of the people said. Messrs. Trump and Cohen had learned shortly before that Ms. Clifford was considering giving a media interview about her alleged relationship with Mr. Trump, despite having signed an October 2016 nondisclosure agreement.

Mr. Trump told Mr. Cohen to coordinate the legal response with Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, and another outside lawyer who had represented Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization in other matters, the people said. Eric Trump, who is running the company with his brother in Mr. Trump’s absence, then tasked a Trump Organization staff attorney in California with signing off on the arbitration paperwork, these people said.

For those who need a refresher: Donald Trump and porn star, Stormy Daniels were involved in an extramarital affair in 2006, while his third (and present) wife, Melania, was at home with their newborn son.

In October 2016, with news of the shocking “Access Hollywood” recording rocking the Trump camp, women began to come forward, revealing that the tape was not, in fact, simply “locker room talk,” but that Donald Trump had acted inappropriately with them.

It was around that time that Stormy Daniels decided to come forward with the story of her affair with the GOP nominee.

It was actually a story she’d already told in 2011 to In Touch Magazine, but it was apparently forgotten.

So why didn’t she come forward?

Well, she had about 130,000 reasons not to.

The nondisclosure agreement Daniels signed was written up by then-Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen. The payment to Daniels was made through Cohen’s hastily formed LLC, that same month.

And for those keeping score at home, Cohen has recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance law violations, in making the $130,000 payment to Daniels.

The latter charge came with a confession that he made the payment at the behest of his client, Donald J. Trump.

The Journal revealed on Jan. 12 that Mr. Cohen paid Ms. Clifford $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election to keep silent about the alleged sexual encounter. In a phone call about a month later—as Ms. Clifford made plans to tell her story despite the nondisclosure agreement—Mr. Trump told Mr. Cohen to enforce the contract in arbitration and indicated he would pay legal costs. “I’ll take care of everything,” the president said, one of the people familiar with the conversation said.

Mr. Cohen had a second phone conversation with Mr. Trump about the arbitration days later in the Manhattan office of Lawrence Rosen, the outside lawyer, that person said.

Jill Martin, a Trump Organization lawyer, was listed as counsel on the arbitration paperwork filed in Orange County, Calif., on Feb. 22. Five days later, an arbitrator privately issued a restraining order against Ms. Clifford, who ignored it and proceeded with her plans to publicly discuss the alleged affair.

And the request to sign off on that arbitration, according to the WSJ, came from Eric Trump.

Mr. Rosen’s firm had prepared the documents for the arbitration proceeding, but an attorney licensed in California—one of the venues stipulated for resolution of any dispute under the contract—had to sign off on them while Mr. Rosen’s application to participate in the matter as an out-of-state lawyer was pending, Mr. Rosen said in an interview this week.

When the Journal contacted Ms. Martin and the Trump Organization in March about her involvement in the arbitration, she sought out Eric Trump for advice on how to respond, according to the people.

It was Eric Trump who approved the statement given by Martin, who also received input from Rosen, as well as Trump Organization chief legal officer, Alan Garten.

The statement noted that Martin filed the arbitration with no input from the Trump Organization.

Um…

At this point in the saga, we realize that truth will not be forthcoming from the Trump family. What this story does, however, is draw Eric Trump into the web, more directly. It also shows that President Trump has not removed his hand from the operations of the Trump Organization, as he was required to do, upon assuming the role of president.

So is anybody paying attention?

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