2018 letter shows Michael Cohen lying to feds about Stormy Daniels payment

A newly surfaced letter from 2018 shows Michael Cohen lying to federal election officials about his infamous, $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels — which later helped send him to prison.

The letter, obtained by The Post on Wednesday, emerged as the disbarred lawyer appeared poised to become the star witness in an unprecedented criminal case against his ex-boss, former President Donald Trump.

In it, Cohen told the Federal Election Commission that he “used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford,” aka Daniels, in 2016.

“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly,” Cohen lawyer Stephen Ryan wrote on Feb. 8, 2018.

But a little more than six months later, Cohen changed his tune and copped a plea to a laundry list of federal crimes that included making an excessive campaign contribution to Trump, now 76, by paying Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged 2006 affair with him.

Trump has denied cheating on his wife Melania Trump with Daniels.

As part of his guilty plea, Cohen admitted that he used a newly incorporated shell company to pay Daniels, then sought reimbursement from the Trump Organization for the full amount, plus a $35 wire fee and another $50,000 for tech work related to Trump’s campaign.

The total was doubled for tax purposes, and Cohen also received a $60,000 bonus, with the full amount of $420,000 paid to him in monthly installments for which he submitted invoices.

Cohen also later pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of lying to Congress when he denied trying to broker a deal for a Trump Tower development in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign.... (Read more)

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