Michael Cohen used the same Delaware limited-liability company for deals he made between President Trump and ex-pornstar Stormy Daniels and between a Republican National Committee official and a woman claiming to have had an affair with him, according to a report.
Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, moved money through Essential Consultants LLC to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 12 days before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence regarding her alleged 2006 affair with Trump, per the Wall Street Journal in January.
The same newspaper reported Sunday Cohen also had former RNC deputy finance chairman Elliott Broidy pay $62,500 of Cohen’s $250,000 broker fee after Cohen negotiated a $1.6 million nondisclosure agreement between Broidy and an ex-Playboy model.
Broidy paid the remaining $187,500 to Cohen directly after news broke that Essential Consultants has been used in Cohen’s arrangement with Daniels.
Broidy, 51, stepped down from his RNC post on Friday after reports Broidy impregnated the Playboy model surfaced.
The California-based venture capitalist’s twice-quarterly payments to the model began December 2017.
Cohen and members of his legal team did not respond to the Journal’s requests for comment.
Cohen’s New York office, home and hotel room were raided by the FBI on Monday as part of a grand jury investigation led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan into whether Cohen has committed bank fraud.
The FBI search was conducted after the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office received a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the federal Russia probe.
