Cohen first denied Trump had the affair, but then a month later publicly acknowledged he'd made the payment. According to articles, the Feds were investigating Cohen back July 2017, and they raided his home in April 2018. Did Cohen know he was being investigated at that time, and that's the reason he admitted he arranged the NDA, hoping he'd be offered a deal? Was he persuaded by the Feds to make that admission, which in turn has been used against Trump ever since.
Cohen was charged by the Feds in August 2018. In December 2018, he was sentenced to three years in prison, and three years post supervision, but didn't report to the prison until May 2019. He was released in April 2020 to home supervision due to Covid concerns. In July of that year, he was ordered back to prison for refusing to comply with home supervision rules. On July 23rd, a Judge claimed that his return to prison was a retaliatory act, and ordered him back to home supervision. In November 2021, he was officially released from his three year sentence. If his sentence began in December 2018. Just the other day, a Judge refused to grant him release from his 3 year post supervision sentence, claiming he believes Cohen committed perjury.
If they thought that this story would have any impact on Trump's future electability, they need to remember that when the Access Hollywood audio recording of Trump was aired less than a month before the 2016 election, Trump supporters didn't blink an eye, so why would an NDA from 2016 that became known in 2018, cause them to change their mind about the man?
This.
When the speculation about Trump and Epstein Island first surfaced, I said that Trump had a "type;" he was attracted to successful middle-aged super-models, not teenage girls and certainly not porn industry sex workers.
Even if you listen to what Trump said on the leaked Access Hollywood tape, he's referring to older successful women in high-profile occupations.
-PJ