By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Whatever side you may take in the court case in which former President Donald Trump was arraigned on Tuesday, April 4, in Manhattan criminal court, there is a member of the Jewish community who is formally on that side.
Disbarred attorney Michael Cohen, who was convicted and imprisoned for related actions in this case, is a key witness for the prosecution brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. In the 34-count indictment, outlining an alleged pattern of disguising hush money payments, he is identified as Lawyer A.
“One component of this scheme was that, at the Defendant’s [former President Trump’s] request, a lawyer who then worked for the Trump Organization as Special Counsel to Defendant (“Lawyer A”) covertly paid $130,000 to an adult film actress [eg, Stormy Daniels] shortly before the [2016 presidential] election to prevent her from publicizing a sexual encounter with the Defendant,” the 13-page indictment says. “Lawyer A made the $130,000 payment through a shell corporation he set up and funded at a bank in Manhattan. This payment was illegal, and Lawyer A has since pleaded guilty to making an illegal campaign contribution and served time in prison. Further, false entries were made in New York business records to effectuate this payment, separate and apart from the New York business records used to conceal the payment.”
Additionally Cohen’s role is highlighted in the case of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy Playmate, identified in the indictment as “Woman 1.”
“About five months before the presidential election, in or about June 2016, the editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer [David Pecker] contacted Lawyer A about a woman (“Woman 1”) who alleged she had a sexual relationship with the Defendant while he was married. The AMI Editor-in-Chief updated Lawyer A regularly about the matter over text message and by telephone. The Defendant did not want this information to become public because he was concerned about the effect it could have on his candidacy. Thereafter, the Defendant, the AMI CEO, and Lawyer A had a series of discussions about who should pay off Woman 1 to secure her silence. AMI ultimately paid $150,000 to Woman 1 in exchange for her agreement not to speak out about the alleged sexual relationship, as well as for two magazine cover features of Woman 1 and a series of articles that would be published under her byline. AMI falsely characterized this payment in AMI’s books and records, including in its general ledger. The AMI CEO agreed to the deal after discussing it with both the Defendant and Lawyer A, and on the understanding from Lawyer A that the Defendant or the Trump organization would reimburse AMI.”
In a third instance of “hush money” being paid, the indictment alleged that “in or about October or November 2012, the AMI CEO learned that a former Trump Tower doorman (the “Doorman”) was trying to sell information regarding a child that the Defendant allegedly fathered out of wedlock. At the AMI CEO’s direction, AMI negotiated and signed an agreement to pay the Doorman $30,000 to acquire exclusive rights to the story. AMI falsely characterized this payment in AMI’s books and records, including in its general ledger. AMI purchased the information from the Doorman without fully investigating his claims, but the AMI CEO directed that the deal take place because of his agreement with the Defendant and Lawyer A. When AMI later concluded that the story was not true, the AMI CEO wanted to release the Doorman from the agreement. However, Lawyer A instructed the AMI CEO not to release the Doorman until after the presidential election, and the AMI CEO complied with that instruction because of his agreement with the Defendant and Lawyer A.”
Unlike Daniels and McDougal, the identity of the Doorman hasn’t been well publicized, although The New Republic reported that “it seems the doorman might be Dino Sajudin, according to a 2018 report from The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow.”
During a news conference following the arraignment, District Attorney Bragg said concealing these three instances of hush money payments by labeling them as payments for other things violated New York statutes against ‘falsifying business records.” Additionally, according to the indictment, “the participants also took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme.”
By themselves, instances of falsifying business records would be misdemeanors, but these actions were elevated to felonies, according to Bragg, because they were intended to cover up violations of New York State election and tax laws, which prohibit committing crimes to promote a candidate’s election, or to fraudulently report one’s tax liabilities.
In a brief news conference outside the courthouse, defense attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, and Joe Tacopina called the indictment of Trump a “political prosecution,” which people “don’t expect to happen in this country” [and] “don’t expect to happen to someone who was President of the United States.’
Making no immediate comment, Trump under U.S. Secret Service protection proceeded in a motorcade from the courthouse up the road named for former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to LaGuardia Airport, from which he flew on his private jet to Palm Beach Florida, near where he makes his home at the Mar-a-Lago Resort. After arriving at Mar-a-Lago, he told a ballroom full of supporters that he “never thought something like this could happen in America” and said that Bragg, before being elected as district attorney, had “campaigned that he would get me.” He also said “the criminal is the district attorney” and said that Bragg should either be prosecuted or resign. The former President also swiped at Judge Juan Merchan, describing him, his wife and daughter as “Trump-hating.”
Trump painted the charges for which he was arraigned in Manhattan as part of a broader conspiracy by Democrats to get him, specifically calling out the federal investigations into the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol; the removal of classified documents to Mar-a-Lago; and his efforts to persuade election officials in Georgia “to find” more votes for him. He also said the Biden family members are criminals and that “our country is going to hell.”
Notwithstanding “this dark cloud, I have no doubt that we will make American great again,” Trump concluded to the cheers of a crowd that included his sons Don Jr. and Eric; Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Mattt Gaetz of Florida; “My Pillow” founder Mike Lindell; unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and political operative Roger Stone. Neither Trump’s wife Melania nor his daughter Ivanka attended the campaign rally-type event.
Earlier, inside the courtroom of Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Merchan, another member of the Jewish community, Boris Epshteyn, sat at the defense attorneys’ table.
Epshteyn was a senior advisor during Trump’s 2016 campaign, and following the election served briefly as an assistant communications director in the White House. In 2020, he was among the attorneys who worked on various lawsuits unsuccessfully brought by Trump to contest the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. He has been a close associate of Trump’s during the post-presidency period.
Born in 1982 to Russian Jewish parents, Epshteyn and his family immigrated as refugees to New Jersey in 1993. He did his undergraduate studies and law school studies at Georgetown University, where Trump’s son Eric was a friend and classmate. Epshteyn became involved in national politics in 2008 as an aide in Republican Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. During Trump’s first presidential run, Epshteyn frequently appeared on news shows as his surrogate.
Epshteyn is not known as a criminal attorney, so there has been speculation that his main role will be to serve as a liaison between the former president’s legal advisors and his campaign staff.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com