“When Rep. Kelly asked who could corroborate details surrounding the payment scheme, Cohen replied: “Keith Davidson, [Trump Org CFO] Allen Weisselberg…”
I really hope they subpoena Weisselberg.
So Cohen’s wife had no idea what his job was, was stupid, or he wanted to avoid her committing obvious perjury in the future?
It is pretty clear Mr. Cohen’s intent here was to protect his wife.
So Trump retained a lawyer that had a good amount of home equity.
And the GOP impeached Bill Clinton over getting a blow job!
I won’t even ask the question. Impeach the motherfucker! NOW!!!
I have to be honest, I don’t find this account credible. By all accounts that I have read, Cohen had a myriad of business interests and likely financial complexity that far outstrips the average person. Yet, he had to pull a relatively small sum of $ (for him) from a heloc? Okayyyyy… And his wife allegedly does all of their finances yet would not know that he’d drawn $ from heloc? How would that be, exactly?
THAT is a load of bollox. He didn*t want Mother to know what it was all about ?
No. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about a blow-job.
I had a similar reaction. IF she does ALL the banking, suddenly seeing a payment needed on the line of credit would have obviously raised questions.
“I said, the money fell off a truck. Is this going to be a problem, Angela?”
People in real estate often don’t have a lot of liquidity and their go-to instinct when they need some is to borrow against property. Recall too that his downfall was intimately wrapped up in him having been heavily invested in taxi medallions that were heavily leveraged but whose asset value had plummeted which almost certainly had banks accelerating notes or demanding principal reductions in lieu thereof.
The part that kills me is how Trump repaid his loyalty in drawing down a HELOC on his own home to help him out by both paying him in installments and paying no interest.
Well aware of your point. I’m still not buying it as credible.
actually, that is not accurate. cohen was paid something like 2-3x for the trouble (yes, in installments).
I find it credible. If a HELOC is already set up and is in the draw period, using the available balance is as easy as writing a check or using a credit card. It doesn’t require any new paperwork to or from the bank. Payments generally are interest only during the draw period. Statements may have been separate mailings from savings and checking accounts, and Cohen could have changed the mailing address if needed.
Getting a chunk of cash out of a business can be difficult in comparison, especially if you are not sole owner or if the business has debts.
Not my understanding.
Because Honey, I shrank the home equity line would have gone over so much better.
IIRC, he got roughly 11 installments of ~35k, no?
Have you seen what happened to the taxi medallion market?
“In New York City they fell from around $1.3 million to around $160,000.”
Cohen had around 30 of these (plus 22 for Chicago, whose value has similarly crashed). If he borrowed to the buy medallions, as he surely did, then his businesses would be deeply in the red. It is likely that his HELOC was the only ready cash accessible to him.
Complex business arrangements do not mean you have any money. Just ask The Donald.
Depending on who he borrowed money from, being in prison might be the safest place for him. Or maybe not.