Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen called for justice and accountability Thursday in the wake of news that former President Donald Trump has been indicted for his alleged role in a hush-money payment prevent Ms Daniels from revealing her affair with Mr Trump in the buildup to the 2016 presidential election.
“For the first time in our Country’s history, a President (current or former) of the United States has been indicted. I take no pride in issuing this statement and wish to also remind everyone of the presumption of innocence; as provided by the due process clause,” Cohen said in a statement reported by Maggie Haberman of The New York Times.
Cohen said he takes “solace” in the the notion that no one, not even a former president, is above the law — and suggested that, in the coming weeks, he’s content to sit back and watch the case proceed from a distance.
“Now that the charges have been filed, it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself,” Cohen said. “The two things I wish to say at this time is that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided to DANY.”
Mr Trump is reportedly facing more than 30 counts related to business fraud, sources told CNN after the indictment became public.
Clark Brewster, an attorney for Ms Daniels, greeted news of the indictment with a similar call to let the process play out.
“The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected,” Brewster said. “Now let truth and justice prevail. No one is above the law. #teamstormy.”
Ms Daniels seemed to agree with her lawyer’s sentiment, tweeting “Thank you” in response to his tweet.
Cohen and Ms Daniels have both been defined in large part by their respective relationships with Mr Trump and the role that they played as he rose to and assumed the presidency seven years ago.
Mr Trump and Ms Daniels allegedly engaged in a brief sexual relationship in 2006. Ten years later, when Mr Trump was the Republican nominee for president, Cohen reportedly negociated a non-disclosure agreement with Ms Daniels’ then-laywer Keith M. Davidson in which Ms Daniels would recieve $130,000 in hush money in exchange for her silence about her relationship with Mr Trump.
Cohen created a limited liability corporation to make the payment, he said, at the direction of Mr Trump. In 2018, news of that payment was reported by the Wall Street Journal. At that point, Cohen was on the brink of being sentenced to three years in federal prison tax evasion and campaign-finance violations following the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Ms Daniels, meanwhile, sued Mr Trump in 2018 for libel but had the suit dismissed.
