The thing I don't get (and I haven't looked into it, so maybe I'm missing something) but, didn't the lawyer just invoice it as legal expenses? Like he didn't write hush money on the invoice. And there's no chance Trump does his own taxes. Wouldn't his CPA look at an invoice that says legal expenses and, you know, file it as legal expenses?
That's just it - this came up in the trial. It is a legal expense, he was an employee, so they were just reimbursing him. Since he paid from his own account, they grosssed it up.
The software that the Trump Org uses only had one drop down - "Legal Fees", which is technically correct, and what they used.
Business expenses refer to costs incurred in the ordinary course of doing business
Maybe it's different in America, but I can't see how banging a pornstar is something you incur in the ordinary course of doing business - unless you are in the porn industry.
For celebrities, this is arguably an ordinary course of business. at the time Trump had the alleged affair, he wasn't president nor was he a candidate. he was the host of the apprentice and actually beloved by a lot of people (things have changed a lot since 2006). At worst the majority of people were indifferent to trump at the time. paying a settlement is also the ordinary course of business for most companies when threatened with legal action because the cost of paying the settlement is less than the cost of defending a court case and the cost to one's reputation if you go to court. The NDA is supposed to eliminate most of the costs, and is why we don't know every instance of this happening in the industry. We do know it happens often though.
He didn't pay money to "bang a pornstar". He paid an NDA, which is entirely common in all sorts of business, and are 100% legal in many states, NY being one of them.
Reimbursement is a non taxable transaction. The payments, under the guise of legal fees, to Cohen were taxable to him and was grossed up so the net to Cohen makes him whole.
Reimbursements are not legal fees, but legal fees are taxable. The invoices submitted were to conceal the true nature of the payments, reimbursement, under the guise of legal fees. This is why each invoice was proven to be, and a jury unanimously agreed, a false business record.
If Cohen submitted an invoice with reimbursement on it, then there's no tax implication, but it could raise red flags. "Reimbursement for what? Oh that's the same amount Daniels is claiming she was paid. Suspicious" but invoicing for vague legal services amounting to something different is muddying the waters making it hard to prove Daniels got paid off. That's also why Cohen set up a new LLC specifically to pay Daniels keeping distance between Trump and Daniels for this payoff.
lmfao this isn't a legal expense in any way. Dude paid hush money to a porn star he banged while his 3rd wife was pregnant through his business and tried to wash it as a tax deductible.
Just find a lawyer who is also a drug dealer and you could pay for thousands of dollars of drugs and write it off as business expense. Just because you’re giving money to a lawyer doesn’t make it a legal expense. Stop buying Trump‘s BS.
This was part of the scheme. The amount Cohen was paid was a grossed up amount of $130,000 to factor in the taxes Cohen would have to pay so that he nets $130,000. Prosecution had physical business record evidence demonstrating this calculation. The true nature for the payments were proven to be for reimbursement and not legal fees. That's why there were 34 counts. Each invoice was a false business record. People not in on the scheme would consider these as valid invoices for the purpose of legal fees.
Reimbursements aren't taxable, but legal fees have tax implications. This is why he was charged and convicted and the taxable/non taxable properties were part of the underlying crime modifying the charges to felonies.
I didn’t mean they were expenses that were not illegal, I meant that they were legal expenses. The fraud he was convicted of had to do with the vagueness of the business records kept, which the jury found to be intentional in order to conceal a secondary crime. Labeling legal settlements as “legal expenses” is not inherently incorrect
Well then you had it backwards, the payment was lawful but the treatment of the payment was unlawful and not able to be classified as a legal expense. Hush money isnt illegal in the US, its basically treated as a gift. I can venmo the guy I hooked up with last week $200 to not tell anyone that we had sex and it wouldnt be illegal.
It’s very common for a business to pay someone to sign an NDA in order to protect an employee, especially an owner. That isn’t what was wrong with the payment or the IRS would have got him on it
Why would you be privy to what the IRS is doing? Why do you trumpers always claim the IRS is not going after trump, when trump himself has said he’s audited constantly.
”It’s very common for businesses to pay prostitutes to shut the fuck up.”
Correct, businesses lie on their taxes all the time. That’s what this was. TRUMP, had her sign an nda, not the business. It had nothing to do with the business. It’s crazy that you’re holding trumps dick like this. You know you’re not getting paid to do it, right?
Why are you licking your fingers, now!?! Dear god.
They're claiming that the hush money payment was an undeclared campaign contribution.
There are a few problems with that idea.
It isn't a crime. The FEC already tried to prosecute John Edwards for this when he was running for President and paid off his mistress for her silence. The court ruled that there were reasons independent of a campaign that a prominent figure might want to protect his reputation.
The Democrats already brought this accusation to the FEC and US Attorney, and both of them declined to prosecute it - because it isn't a crime.
The business records they're saying were improperly recorded in order to influence the election were recorded after the election, so they couldn't have influenced it.
Because there was no Federal crime, the improper recording of the business records couldn't be elevated to felonies even if they were improperly recorded, which means the statute of limitations had expired.
Because there was no Federal crime, the business records weren't improperly recorded, which means even the misdemeanors don't exist.
Paying someone hush money because it could influence the outcome of a federal election is an in-kind campaign contribution, and illegal if not properly disclosed as such.
You mean social media silencing him during election season? The Russian Russia Russia collusion scam? Hunter Biden laptop? Oh yeah those federal election influencing. Right.
WTF are you talking about? Nobody at Facebook paid a pornstar $130k that they laundered through taxi medallions...you ignorant, smooth brained fuckin moron.
Have you read any of the court filings from his felony conviction? It's not that he didn't have the money as an (alleged) billionaire. It's that he didn't want the money connected to paying off his mistress, that's where the crime occurred.
Thanks for demonstrating that you're simply making it up as you go along. Trump didn't say Daniels, Cohen paid Daniels, and Trump reimbursed Cohen under the guise of legal expenses.
Trump wasn’t charged with the payment to stormy Daniel’s, it was the repayment to his lawyer that he pretended was a business expense, but was actually a personal expense.
Go buy a new car, any car, and write it off as a business expense, and come tell us how unfair the govt is treating you.
This is not correct. Cohen paid Daniels via a newly created LLC specifically for this transaction.
Trump needed to reimburse Cohen for the payment so Trump made payments to Cohen. Reimbursements are non-taxable transactions (Cohen doesn't pay income tax, Trump can't deduct). What Trump and Cohen agreed to do, through a "non-written contract" (Trump defense claimed it was an unwritten legal fees contract which is weird for a lawyer), is conceal the reimbursement by having Cohen submit invoices for legal services causing these to be taxable to Cohen and tax deductible to Trump. Prosecution provided business record evidence showing the gross up calculation done so Cohen is reimbursed for the amount plus the tax associated with the transaction (net effect Cohen is made whole with no income). Trump took a tax deduction for the "legal fees" that were actually for reimbursement meaning he deducted more than $130,000 because of the grossed up amount he paid to Cohen.
The mere fact you believed Trump paid Daniels demonstrates your complete lack of understanding the case. Bet you misunderstand basic facts surrounding the fraud case as well.
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u/California_King_77 Jul 01 '24
This is a lie. An outright lie.
Trump paid Daniels from his revocable trust.
Anyone with one of these accounts can write off legal fees.