The point being, I still don't see where Cohen overpaid his NY State or Federal taxes.
And I don't see where Trump overpaid any taxes.
The IRS might challenge Trump regarding the payment and deduction of $180,000 for "unknown" or "unspecified" services rendered by Cohen, but I don't think they would get anywhere.
And it doesn't look like Cohen overpaid because any payment to Stormy Daniels wouldn't be a deductible expense to Cohen (if it was done on Trump's behalf).
I think Trump would have a hard time arguing that a payment to Daniels for an NDA (that looks like extortion by Daniels) would be tax deductible as a business expense. But I guess Trump could have argued that Daniels could damage his business brand if she spread her story (true or not) around...and that would make it a deductible expense.
Bottom line: This is not much of an issue for Alvin Bragg. Even the IRS would have had a hard time with it.
In fact, I'll bet the IRS went over this issue in an audit and concluded that there's no there, there.
Good point about the payment arguably having to do with protecting the Trump brand, rather than about the election. Neither of which would be a crime as far as I know.
Agreed it is questionable from what I know about taxes. But if it was about the Trump real estate brand, then yeah I guess it could be considered the same write off as the people who wash the windows and polish the marble floors. And now it is complicated by the fact that she has to pay Trump legal fees (which Avenatti allegedly embezzled).
There was no guarantee he would win the election, in fact almost everyone thought he would lose. And his “brand” was damaged by that leaked audio anyway. Not sure if that came after or before the Daniels payment.
Very interesting take. Thanks for commenting.