Checkbook journalism

Or how cheap is Donald Trump

“I am not a bank” recounted David Pecker in his testimony about his conversations with Donald Trump's people in 2016.

The reason Pecker had to say that is that he hadn't been reimbursed for hiding stories about Karen MacDougal and an illegitimate child (they paid off the doorman who knew the details).

So when it came time to buy Stormy Daniel’s tale, David Pecker got uneasy and demurred. Actually, I am guessing he had gotten stiffed by his friend, Donald Trump, once or twice before.

Wait, that’s not fair. The “catch and kill’ story about Trump’s affair with Karen MacDougal was paid, eventually. In order to pay off David Pecker, Michael Cohen had to take out a loan. Cohen was reimbursed over time with payments for extra legal services and bonuses.

And why? As I wrote yesterday, Donald Trump had wagged his “lower brain” at enough women that there should have been an SOP for it. But an SOP had its own set of problems.

Actually, one problem

and her attorneys. After listening to David Pecker’s testimony, I have drawn several conclusions:

One, Donald Trump really is nothing more than a paper billionaire. He lives off cash flow. From his casino GM salaries to his vendor lawsuits to Mar-a-Lago membership fees to his history with David Pecker and the National Enquirer, Donald Trump has shown penchant for having money pour into him and never paying his bills. His assets versus liabilities tell the story of a man in the red.

Two, it’s becoming obvious that Melania Trump’s pre-nuptual arrangement is not annualized payments, but a financial percentage. Melania’s attorneys look at Trump’s business books with a fine tooth comb for a reason. Given Donald’s refusal to show his books to anyone historically, this is a major concession.

Three, the payoff to Stormy Daniels was designed to make it easy to be reimbursed. Legal expenses. Michael Cohen made about $2,000,000 a year representing Donald Trump. Cohen formed a shell company that wrote one check to Stormy Daniels. Extra legal work beyond the scope of the monthly retainer agreement.

The problem was that if Trump’s name or money was on the shell company — Melania and her lawyers would see it.

Fourth, it’s no surprise that one of Donald Trump’s attorneys (Christopher Kise) demanded a $3,000,000 retainer in advance.

Fifth, when you have a history of not paying for anything, your checkbook becomes evidence.