There have been a lot of articles and interviews in the media over the past few days on the topic of Michael Cohen’s secret slush fund. Ever since Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti disclosed that over $4 million went into this account it has been the source of unceasing media speculation and commentary.
But despite all of these discussions and interviews with experts there is still one big unanswered question, and it may be the only question that really matters: where did all of Cohen’s money go?
Avenatti may know the answer to that question. If he does, he is once again playing to close to the vest. The intriguing thing is that Avenatti has always turned out knowing more than he initially said. In other words, when Avenatti asks a question like this, he usually knows the answer.
Concerning the details of Cohen’s secret account, Avenatti has consistently called upon the U.S. Treasury Department to release Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that would answer a lot of questions.
Why is no media outlet doing a story on the refusal of the Treasury Department to release to the public the 3 Suspicious Activity Reports that were filed concerning Essential Consultants, LLC's bank account? This deserves immediate attention. The SARs should be released now.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 9, 2018
By continually asking for these SARs Avenatti gives the impression that he knows what is in them. When his critics have said his information is wrong, he has responded by saying: If the SARs were released — or if Cohen released his bank statements — they could prove that I am wrong.
So does Avenatti know more than he is saying? If so, then both Trump and Cohen could be in real trouble.
One thing that has come out from the Cohen slush fund reports is that the account does not necessarily mean any laws were broken. If all Cohen did was accept money and promise people they could have access to his boss, Donald Trump, then that is not a crime. In other ways, paying for access is not a crime in and of itself.
The way paying for access becomes a crime — called a bribe — is when the public official gives something in return for the money. The quid pro quo.
There has been a lot of speculation that Donald Trump (or his business, the Trump Organization) received some of the money from Cohen’s slush fund. So far that has not been proven, because if it had been it would truly be a major scandal. In fact, there is no proof (yet) that Donald Trump even knew about the existence of Cohen’s slush fund.
Michael Avenatti has consistently implied that there is a lot more going on than we have seen so far. He has alluded to more secret accounts, more hush money payoffs, more SARs and much more money flowing into and out of the Cohen funds.
He has also tweeted several times that Cohen “should IMMEDIATELY produce the bank records so the American people can judge the truth.”
If Mr. Ryan/Mr. Cohen dispute the receipt of nearly $2MM from Columbus Nova, Korea Aero, Novartis or ATT (as opposed to insignificant amounts), they should state it NOW. Regardless, they should IMMEDIATELY produce the bank records so the American people can judge the truth.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 9, 2018
This once again seems to show that Avenatti is issuing a challenge — maybe even a dare — to Cohen and his lawyer to prove him wrong.
I doubt that Avenatti would do this if he didn’t already know what was in those “bank records.”
He’s even tweeking Laura Ingraham over the same issue: put up or shut up.
. @IngrahamAngle: if you are so confident that your buddy Mr. Cohen did nothing wrong, why don't have him give you all of the bank stmts and you can release them publicly. That way you can prove how "wrong" we are. If there is nothing to hide, then get the stmts and release them.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 10, 2018
Still waiting on those bank records @IngrahamAngle. Where are they? With your sponsors? You know, the records showing that most of the financial transactions we referenced are incorrect as you claim. BC by my calculation, we are over 99% accurate.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 10, 2018
Could it be that people on Fox and other news outlets are criticizing Avenatti unjustly, without having any evidence to support their claims? Or is it the other way around? We won’t know for sure until more information comes out.
Right now it does appear that Avenatti wants to keep the uncertainty out there in the media, so he is not telling all he knows. Cynics would say that the more he does this the more he gets on TV, and for a trial lawyer media coverage is like gold.
However it is entirely possible that Avenatti is just playing a game. He is a master chess player, and he is thinking five moves ahead. Maybe he knows the answer to the biggest mystery out there: what happened to all of that money that went into Cohen’s slush fund?
If it turns out that some of Cohen’s slush fund money ended up in the hands of Donald Trump or his business, then that could be the end of the Trump presidency.
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