UPDATE: Trump convicted
On May 31, 2024 Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts – all stemming from the $130,000 hush money payment he made to Stormy Daniels, which Common Cause first blew the whistle on back in 2018.
A jury of the former president’s peers confirmed the concerns we raised six years before: Donald Trump broke the law to hide information from voters just weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
This is the first time a former U.S. president has ever been convicted of a crime – a shameful milestone for our nation, but one that was absolutely necessary to uphold a simple principle: Nobody is above the law.
The rule of law is crucial to our democracy, and the public deserves to know the rule of law will be applied fairly and equally to everyone, even a former president. But in order to prevent that from happening, every attempt was made to delegitimize this trial.
We know the best remedy to a lie is the truth. That’s why in the heat of Trump’s trial, Common Cause New York fought successfully to make the trial transcripts free and accessible to all, ensuring every American could see a fair and even-handed trial for themselves.
Common Cause has fought for over 50 years to put a stop to corruption and make our government more transparent. And with your help, we did it again.
What happened?
In January 2018, the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Michael Cohen – who was President Trump’s personal lawyer and a self-described Trump “fix-it guy” in 2016 – had set up a shell company in Delaware (Essential Consultants LLC) back in October 2016. He then arranged a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels through that shell company right before the November 2016 presidential election.
Ms. Daniels had earlier alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. In the fall of 2016, she was in talks with one or more national media outlets to go on the record with her story.
How did Common Cause respond?
On January 22, 2018, Common Cause became the first organization to file a complaint with the Department of Justice and a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the payment of $130,000 from Essential Consultants LLC to Ms. Daniels was an unreported and illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign. According to the complaints, the payment was:
- For the purpose of influencing the 2016 presidential general election.
- Made in coordination with the campaign via Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen.
At that time, the source of the $130,000 was unknown – and Common Cause named both the Trump Organization and “John Doe” as possible sources. In March 2018, however, based on public statements by Micheal Cohen claiming that he paid the funds to Ms. Daniels, Common Cause amended its complaints to allege an illegally large in-kind contribution from Cohen to the Trump campaign.
It’s clear the money was paid because the Trump team feared that the emergence of her story just before the 2016 election would torpedo Trump’s chance of becoming president. That makes the payment a campaign contribution – and the Trump campaign’s failure to disclose it to the Federal Election Commission illegal.
And if the money came from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, as Cohen claims, it exceeded the legal limit for campaign gifts by more than $127,000.
Where can I read the complaints against Trump?
Why is this important?
We deserve a democracy where candidates for office – and especially candidates for president – are held to the highest ethical standards. Looking the other way and letting Trump and his associates get away with an alleged violation of campaign finance law would set a dangerous precedent.