Donald Trump's lawyer used Trump Organization email while negotiating a $130,000 payment of hush money to a porn actress who says she had an affair with the future president, her attorney said Friday.
The use of Trump company email by the president's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, raises the question of whether Trump was the source of the money paid in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen, who says he used personal funds to "facilitate" the payment, has denied that the money came from the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign, leaving open the possibility that it came from Trump himself.
Cohen's use of Trump Organization email to arrange the payment appeared to heighten the possibility that the arrangement with Daniels ran afoul of the federal law requiring disclosure of campaign contributions.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, received the money in October 2016 in return for her promise to keep quiet about the extramarital affair she says Trump had with her in 2006 and 2007.
In complaints filed with the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission, the nonpartisan ethics group Common Cause alleged that the hush money was meant to influence the 2016 election and thus needed to be disclosed as a campaign donation.
"The email shows conclusively that Mr. Cohen was operating in his capacity at the Trump Organization while negotiating the agreement and providing for the payment to Ms. Daniels," said Michael Avenatti, Daniels' attorney. "This included when communicating with his own bank."
Cohen's emails were first reported by NBC News.
The first, dated Oct. 26, 2016, was sent to Cohen's Trump Organization email address by Elizabeth Rappaport, assistant to Gary Farro, senior managing director at First Republic Bank.
"The funds have been deposited into your checking account," she wrote to Cohen.
Cohen forwarded the email to his Gmail account, and then sent it to Keith Davidson, who was Daniels' attorney at the time.
At the White House on Friday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked whether Trump remembered meeting Daniels in 2006 or speaking with Cohen about getting a restraining order last week in Los Angeles to force the performer to honor her confidentiality agreement.
"I've addressed this extensively," Sanders said. "I don't have anything else to add."
