Its hard to keep track of the possible criminal charges piling up against Trump and his associates, but there is another avenue investigators should, and probably are pursuing...tax fraud. And, most delicious of all, it involves porn actress Stormy Daniels aka Stephanie Clifford aka Peggy Peterson.
Daniels/Clifford’s lawsuit seeking to invalidate her Hush money agreement makes it clear that Essential Consultants LLC was a shell company formed to hide the true source of money being paid to Clifford. It also makes it clear that Trump was fully aware of the arrangement and was a legal participant.
On Feb. 18, I posted a blog titled Trump Fixer Might Have a Stormy Problem the main point being that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen may have opened himself up to a felony charge of tax fraud in his effort to hide the source of the Clifford payoff:
Martin J. Sheil, a former IRS fraud investigator, says it’s simpler than that. All you have to do is follow the money. Appearing on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell tonight, Sheil said he immediately saw Cohen’s account as a potential case of tax fraud. He notes that Cohen could have simply written a check to Stephanie Clifford (Daniels real name) and be done with it if he had nothing to hide. Instead, he set up a shell corporation in Delaware which then funneled the money to someone named Peggy Peterson. That’s where the IRS comes in. Every taxpayer is familiar with the IRS 1099 Form, the form where earnings are reported. Sheil points out that Stephanie Clifford’s name MUST appear on the 1099 form that Cohen’s shell company was required to issue. If it does not, it’s fraud...a felony. Sheil also says this could potentially lead to conspiracy charges that could reach all the way up to the Oval Office if Trump was involved in the coverup.
So, pull that 1099. If there is an open and shut case of fraud, it would directly implicate Trump.