WEBVTT

00:02.000 --> 00:03.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There are new
questions being raised about
payments to President Trump's

00:03.233 --> 00:05.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
personal attorney,
Michael Cohen.

00:05.366 --> 00:08.200 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
The money went to a shell
company set up by Cohen.

00:08.200 --> 00:13.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
It totaled more than $4 million,
including about $500,000
from a U.S. company with ties

00:14.633 --> 00:18.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
to a Russian oligarch who
is close to Vladimir Putin.

00:18.100 --> 00:20.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
John Yang breaks
down what we know.

00:20.100 --> 00:24.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
JOHN YANG: William, the payments
went to the company that Cohen
says he set up to pay the

00:24.333 --> 00:29.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
$130,000 hush money to adult
film actress Stephanie Clifford.

00:31.200 --> 00:34.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Her attorney, Michael Avenatti,
revealed the payments in a
document he posted online.

00:34.266 --> 00:38.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
To help us unpack all of this,
here's Rosalind Helderman.

00:38.100 --> 00:41.300 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
She's the Washington
Post political
investigations reporter.

00:41.300 --> 00:43.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
Rosalind, thanks so
much for joining us.

00:43.433 --> 00:47.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Of the payments that you have
been able to confirm, who did
they come from, and how much

00:48.800 --> 00:50.966 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
money are we talking about?

00:50.966 --> 00:54.133 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70%
ROSALIND HELDERMAN, The
Washington Post: We're
talking about, I think
it's about $2.5 million

00:55.233 --> 00:57.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
that seems to be
confirmed at this point.

00:57.066 --> 01:02.033 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
And they come from some major
U.S. and foreign companies.

01:02.033 --> 01:07.033 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
They include AT&T, Novartis,
a pharmaceutical company.

01:09.466 --> 01:12.633 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
They include this company
Columbus Nova, which is
a U.S.-based affiliate
of a company that

01:13.800 --> 01:18.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
is owned and founded by
a Russian businessman.

01:20.466 --> 01:23.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
One thing that ties a number of
these companies together is that
they had major issues pending

01:23.833 --> 01:25.933 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
before the U.S. government.

01:25.933 --> 01:30.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
But each of them, in turn, has
essentially said that that's
not why they hired Mr. Cohen,

01:32.666 --> 01:35.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
that they hired him for various
reasons, to provide real estate
advice, to provide accounting

01:35.366 --> 01:37.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
advice, for his general
legal knowledge.

01:37.966 --> 01:42.800 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
JOHN YANG: And, Rosalind,
what -- I know there
was a filing late today,
Michael Cohen challenging

01:44.533 --> 01:47.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
some of this information that
Michael Avenatti put out.

01:47.100 --> 01:48.366 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
What can you tell us about that?

01:48.366 --> 01:50.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
ROSALIND HELDERMAN:
Yes, that's right.

01:50.033 --> 01:52.633 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
That just came in,
I think, within the
last 10 minutes or so.

01:52.633 --> 01:57.433 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
This is lawyers for Michael
Cohen saying basically
two things in court about
the Avenatti information.

01:59.500 --> 02:03.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
On the one hand, they seem
to be conceding that some of
it is accurate, because they

02:03.233 --> 02:08.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
say it's a sign that Avenatti
improperly has access to
Michael Cohen's bank records.

02:10.766 --> 02:14.666 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
And they're trying to
get the court to force
Avenatti to say where he's
getting this information,

02:16.633 --> 02:19.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
so they can assess whether
he properly should have
access to that information.

02:19.233 --> 02:23.666 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
At the same time, they
cited some of the details
that have not been covered
in the media, because

02:25.633 --> 02:28.300 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
I think the media has not been
able to confirm them, a few
additional details that are sort

02:28.300 --> 02:31.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
of on the last page of
what Avenatti put out.

02:31.300 --> 02:33.900 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
And they're suggesting
that that information
might actually be false.

02:33.900 --> 02:38.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
JOHN YANG: And, in addition,
the Treasury Department
inspector general has begun an

02:38.400 --> 02:43.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
investigation about whether any
confidential banking records
have been tampered with.

02:45.066 --> 02:47.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
Why is Avenatti so
interested in this?

02:47.300 --> 02:49.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
Why is he putting this out?

02:49.400 --> 02:53.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
ROSALIND HELDERMAN: I think that
he -- what he has said is that
it gives you more information

02:53.666 --> 02:58.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
about the -- the sort of
process by which his client,
Ms. Clifford, was paid, because

03:00.666 --> 03:05.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Michael Cohen seems to have
used this same bank account that
he used to pay Stormy Daniels,

03:06.933 --> 03:10.066 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
as she is better known,
as he did for all these
other transactions.

03:10.066 --> 03:12.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
He says that his
strategy is working.

03:12.633 --> 03:15.566 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
He's on TV a great deal, as
your viewers probably know.

03:15.566 --> 03:20.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
And, as a result, people are
just sending him information
that is relevant and helps

03:20.000 --> 03:24.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
inform the American public
about the activities of Mr.
Cohen and President Trump.

03:24.533 --> 03:26.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
And he's trying
to publicize that.

03:26.666 --> 03:30.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
JOHN YANG: What else is sort
of intriguing about these --
where -- the source of these

03:30.766 --> 03:31.766 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60%
payments?

03:31.766 --> 03:33.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70%
ROSALIND HELDERMAN: Yes.

03:33.866 --> 03:36.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
I mean, I think one thing that's
very interesting is the sort of
-- the picture you get of the

03:36.800 --> 03:39.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
swamp as it exists
under Donald Trump.

03:39.066 --> 03:42.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
Of course, President Trump
ran against the D.C. swamp.

03:42.400 --> 03:46.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
And one thing that's been very
clear is that people associated
with President Trump, with

03:46.566 --> 03:51.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
his campaign, with his business,
who can argue to major companies
that they know this very

03:54.033 --> 03:57.133 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
hard-to-understand world of
Trump's Washington suddenly
have found themselves
with very marketable

03:58.233 --> 04:00.766 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
skills.

04:00.766 --> 04:03.633 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
I spoke to several people
like that just today
who said essentially
that their phones were

04:03.633 --> 04:08.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
ringing off the hook starting in
January of 2017 from companies
who wanted to, you know,

04:10.300 --> 04:13.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
essentially throw money at them
to understand Donald Trump.

04:13.400 --> 04:15.833 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
JOHN YANG: And not only
understand Donald Trump.

04:15.833 --> 04:20.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
You said that some of these
companies had business before
the government in the past

04:21.433 --> 04:22.666 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60%
couple of years.

04:22.666 --> 04:24.600 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
ROSALIND HELDERMAN:
Yes, that's right.

04:24.600 --> 04:27.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
AT&T was -- is going through
a merger which requires
Department of Justice approval.

04:27.766 --> 04:30.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
That's an important
thing for that company.

04:30.100 --> 04:32.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
They say it's unrelated
to these payments.

04:32.866 --> 04:37.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Novartis, their CEO had a
meeting with Donald Trump
not long after this payment.

04:39.066 --> 04:41.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
They, too, say that
that was unrelated.

04:41.533 --> 04:46.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
But these are companies that
have -- another one of them,
Korean Aerospace, makes aircraft

04:48.500 --> 04:52.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
and is competing for a
very, very large contract
with the U.S. Air Force.

04:54.066 --> 04:56.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
They, too, say that's
unrelated to these payments.

04:56.433 --> 05:00.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
But these are companies that
had things they were trying to
get out of the U.S. government.

05:00.333 --> 05:04.833 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80%
JOHN YANG: And, Rosalind,
we should note that
another of President
Trump's personal attorneys,

05:04.833 --> 05:09.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Rudolph Giuliani, is saying this
evening that the president had
no knowledge of these payments

05:10.433 --> 05:11.600 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60%
to Cohen.

05:11.600 --> 05:13.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
But this story will go on.

05:13.700 --> 05:16.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Rosalind Helderman of The
Washington Post, thank you
so much for joining us.

05:16.500 --> 05:17.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
ROSALIND HELDERMAN:
Thank you for having me.