When Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for President Trump, wired a former adult film actress thousands of dollars in 2016, his bank apparently took notice. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Cohen's $130,000 transfer to Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels — allegedly made so that Clifford would keep quiet about a tryst she'd had with Trump in 2006 — was flagged to the Treasury Department by his bank, First Republic.
Clifford received the payment on Oct. 27, 2016, which the Journal notes was just 12 days before the election. "It isn't clear when First Republic reported [the transfer] to the government as suspicious," the Journal writes. Last month, Cohen admitted to The New York Times that he had personally funded the payment to Clifford, insisting neither the Trump Organization nor Trump campaign were involved and calling the exchange a "private transaction." He also declined to explain why the payment was made.
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