Oh I’m ready! 
Does Cohen actually say he paid the $130,000 out of his own pocket? If Cohen’s statement above is the only statement he has made, which as far as I can tell is the case, he never actually says that. All Cohen says is that he used his personal funds to “facilitate a payment of $130,000.” - http://reason.com/volokh/2018/02/14/did-trumps-lawyer-pay-stormy-daniels-out
I believe you’re correct…he spoke as only a lawyer does, seeming to say what people thought they heard, while leaving himself wiggle room by choosing his words with extreme care. Liar, lawyer…potato, po-tah-to…can’t we just lock them all up?
Leave the garbage out of it? Because of the content in the Reason Article or because Reason is a conservative media source? Did you even read the Reason Article?
Ari Melber tweeted about this yesterday and broke it down from lawyers perspective.
(It’s a thread within a reverse thread kinda lol.)
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Because of the content in the Reason Article or because Reason is a conservative media source?
Neither. This link specifically has been sent to me several times across multiple platforms. I don’t care to be spammed by people with burner email addresses, even if it’s true. @z2791197 
Did you even read the Reason Article?
No. See point above.
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I brought that up too. 
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Shame you didn’t read the article. The person who wrote article did a great analysis of what was actually said or should I say not said.
As a rule, I don’t read news analysis and I try to avoid talking heads, because I’ll make up my own mind about “what was actually said or should I say not said” based on the evidence available.
This kerfuffle over what a lawyer said, however, is perplexing. Of course Cohen’s language was precise and every word was intentional – he’s a fucking a lawyer.
Is anybody really surprised by this? Does anything about the story or the statement even pass the smell test? Should we expect this story to break the camel’s back?
No.
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Dude, you could apply that statement to literally any Trump story and by next week there will be a new horrible thing to discuss. Lol. Let’s move on guys.
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I think the best way to wrap this up is with a quick reminder that Michael Cohen is also the ”says who” guy… 
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This all sounds like subtle extortion to me. I’m waiting for her to suddenly get quiet again. At that point, I’ll assume that somebody else in Trump’s circle generously gave her a substantial amount of money out of his own pocket because he’s a nice guy and she obviously must be a deserving young lady. I wonder how many times this will play out? And how much money will be paid out for the exclusive interview of we get to that? Stormy could come out of this with a nice little retirement fund.
I’m sure it’s all a big misunderstanding- all that money was charitably for taking care of her sick aging mother…
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A “put a pin in it” thread?! 
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Good point. Included it because it pairs with the other poll to illustrate the inherent the flaws in polling. But I hadn’t dug into that data before
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Oh, good, the AP reported this. I first saw it on The Blast (wtf is this site!?) and decided it was too TMZ for me.
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I had been re-evaluating my thoughts on the importance of the NYT story, because if you read specifically what Cohen said – he leaves the door wide open for the potential of where DID the money came from? He specifically never said anything about Trump personally, only campaign or the Trump org. The title and the lede for the story are misleading – because we really don’t know if he did pay out of his own pocket or not, simply just eliminated two options. (h/t to Walter Shaub for calling attention to this.)
BUT! If Stormy Daniels wants to tell-all now because of the NYT - I’m here for it. 
(Especially, because that US Weekly interview wasn’t the whole story?! )
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This guy better have someone working the Bar association…money changing hands like this for a distinct purpose benefitting the client, without the expressed consent of the client (his words), he could blackmail Trump for more than $130,000. The settlement implies guilt anyway
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