When The Indictments Are Unsealed On Tuesday, It Won’t JUST Be The Stormy Daniels Payment

Sweet Jesus, this just keeps getting better and better. For a dude like me, who writes almost as much on inspiration as information, this whole Trump indictment are rapidly signaling my salad days. And. We’re. Just. Getting. Started!

All of the current reporting is that, however many Trump indictments there are on Tuesday when they’re unsealed, they’ll all stem from the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. But keep an open mind, because that may well turn out to not be true.

Earlier today Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis told MSNBC that the Bragg investigation into Trump was revitalized when Cohen provided him with paperwork engineering a second hush money payment to a woman who claimed to have had a two year affair with Traitor tot. On Tuesday both YAHOO News and The Wall Street Journal reported that Bragg had decided to indict after looking at evidence of a second payoff. And earlier today CBS News put the icing on the cake, with not previously reported details.

The second woman is of course former Playboy model and actress Karen McDougal. Only that’s not really accurate since McDougal was actually the 1st person to be paid off in the run up to the 2016 election. And until I heard Lanny Davis and read the CBS news article, I was confused.

After all, Donald Trump didn’t pay off Karen McDougal. That was a David Pecker/National Enquirer operation, known in the organization as a catch-and-kill job. But the rights to the story, with a non disclosure agreement, and then bury it without publishing it. I remember there was grumbling from Pecker at the time that he thought Trump would reimburse him, so when Stormy Daniels came around, Pecker referred her to Cohen and let Trump take care of it.

Which left me confused. Whatever, it was Pecker who paid McDougal, not Trump. And while Pecker may have been bummed that about Trump ducking out on him, he’s still the one who paid off. I suppose you could try to nail Pecker for an in kind contribution campaign finance violation, but that’s on Pecker, not Trump. Besides, Pecker got full immunity for his testimony.

But now it appears that there was quite a bit more to this story that nobody knew, and it was Michael Cohen who held the keys to the kingdom. Once Pecker had secured the story, Michael Cohen sprang into action, and here’s where the wicket gets sticky for Trump and his K-Mart legal team. According to CBS News;

After the Enquirer obtained the rights to McDougal’s story, Cohen reached an agreement with Pecker to purchase the non-disclosure portion of McDougal’s deal for $125,000, which would be paid through a shell corporation Cohen had established. That agreement was never finalized after Pecker pulled out of the deal, federal prosecutors would later say.

Quick fact check. Pecker and The Enquirer paid McDougal $150k to shut her up on Trump’s behalf. Trump then authorized Cohen to pay $125,000 for the non disclosure agreement portion and leave Pecker on the hook for $25,000. So, a lousy $25k for a tycoon like Trump made an enemy out of an invaluable ally, and led Pecker to say Fuck it, and let Trump wash his own dirty laundry from then on.

When you look at things with this new information, a whole new world of opportunities come into focus. What if Michael Cohen’s last appearance before the grand jury was to lay out the details of the McDougal payoff and Trump agreement for compensation. Then Michael Pecker makes an unexpected 2nd appearance, to confirm Cohen’s revelations about the payoff and the transaction. And then Weisselberg immediately follows Pecker, and confirms Trump’s active participation in the scheme.

Tinker-Evers-Chance, a textbook baseball double play. And if it’s true, then it gives Bragg an invaluable tool in front of his jury. continuing criminal misconduct. Just because David Pecker decided to back out of the McDougal agreement with Cohen, that doesn’t mean that Trump wasn’t ready-willing-and-able to negotiate a criminal agreement to silence a citizen. And if the jury believes that, then it only makes it easier for them to believe that Trump would successfully engineer the payoff the 2nd time around.

Look, I’m only 66, not all that old of a man. But I get the feeling that by the time this whole Trump accountability schtick is over with, I’m going to be a very old man. And I’m looking forward to every second of it. I swear to God, this shit gets my juices flowing in the morning! Strap in my friends, it’s gonna be a long, bumpy ride. And please keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times.