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TODAYS TOP HEADLINES The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Saturday, December 15, 2018 3A Cohen: Trump knew hush money payments wrong BY MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON - Shaken and fac ing a prison term, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer said Friday that Trump directed him to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign because he was concerned their stories of alleged affairs with him “would affect the election.” He says Trump knew the payments were wrong. Michael Cohen — who for more than a decade was a key power player in the Trump Organization and a fixture in Trump’s political life — said he “gave loyalty to someone who, truthfully, does not deserve loyalty.” Cohen spoke in an interview with ABC that aired Friday on “Good Morning America.” Cohen said that “of course” Trump knew it was wrong to make the hush- money payments, but he did not pro vide any specific evidence or detail in the interview. Federal law requires that any payments made “for the purposes of influencing” an election must be reported in campaign finance disclosures. Speaking to ABC’s George Stepha- nopoulos, Cohen appeared shaken over the series of events that swiftly took him from Trump’s “fixer” to a man facing three years in prison. “I am done with the lying,” Cohen said. “I am done being loyal to Presi dent Trump.” He added: “I will not be the villain of this story.” Cohen was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to several charges, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. Prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange the payments to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run-up to the 2016 campaign. The decisions to pay off Daniels, who alleged she had sex with a married Trump in 2006, during the run-up to the 2016 election was made soon after an old “Access Hollywood” tape surfaced, in which Trump was heard talking about groping and try ing to have sex with women, Cohen said. “He was very concerned about how this would affect the election,” Cohen said. The hush money wasn’t ini tially reported on campaign finance documents and, in any case, far exceeded the legally acceptable amount for in-kind contributions. The federal limit on indi vidual contributions is $2,700. As to whether Trump knew it was wrong to make the payments, Cohen said, “First of all, nothing at the Trump organization was ever done unless it was run through Mr. Trump. He directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in these matters.” Trump has denied directing Cohen to break the law and has asserted in a barrage of tweets over the last several weeks that Cohen is a “liar” who cut a deal in order to get a reduced prison sentence and to help himself and his family. Loyalty has long been a core value for Trump, who has been stung by the behavior of Cohen and other for mer associates who have dissociated themselves from the president, intent on saving themselves. That list also includes former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman and for mer National Security adviser Michael Flynn. “He knows the truth. I know the truth. Others know the truth,” Cohen said. “And here is the truth: People of the United States of America, people of the world, don’t believe what he is saying. The man doesn’t tell the truth. And it is sad that I should take responsibility for his dirty deeds.” “Instead of him taking responsibil ity for his actions, what does he do? He attacks my family,” Cohen said. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Friday that reporters were “giving credence to a convicted criminal.” When asked specifically about Cohen’s claims that Trump had directed Cohen to make the payments, Gidley said: “I understand that. He’s a self-admitted liar. You guys all know that and for him to say, ‘I’m going to start — I’m going to stop lying starting now,’ is somewhat silly.” Cohen insists that Trump is a differ ent person now than when he was run ning his real estate empire in New York and said he believes the pressure of being the president of the United States is “much more than he thought it was going to be.” Daniels, whose real name is Stepha nie Clifford, was paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement that was signed days before the 2016 election and she’s currently suing to dissolve that contract. In August 2016, the parent com pany of the tabloid National Enquirer reached a $150,000 deal to pay McDou gal for her story of a 2006 affair, which it never published, a tabloid practice known as catch and kill. Cohen insisted he just reviewed the McDougal deal and said the payment was negotiated directly between Trump and David Pecker, the chief executive officer of the tabloid’s parent company. Both Cohen and American Media Inc. now say they made hush-money payments were to help Trump’s 2016 White House bid. The U.S. attor ney’s office in Manhattan reached a non-prosecution agreement with the company. Cohen EU: UK must make decision on Brexit plans Officials defend actions in detention of 7-year-old girl who died in custody BY COLLEEN LONG, ASTRID GALVAN AND SONIA PEREZ D. Associated Press WASHINGTON - U.S. immigration officials on Fri day defended their actions in the detention of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died two days after she and her father were taken into cus tody along a remote stretch of the U.S. border. The girl, identified by a Guatemalan official as Jack- eline Caal, had gone days without food and water, a Department of Homeland Security statement said. Yet immigration officials said she did not appear to be ill when detained. A Border Patrol form completed shortly after she was stopped said she was not sweating, had no trem ors or visible trauma and was mentally alert. “Claims good health,” the form reads. Jackeline’s father appeared to have signed the form, which was obtained by The Associated Press. But, hours later, after Jackeline was placed on a bus, she started vomiting. She was not breathing when she arrived at a Border Patrol station. Emergency medical technicians revived her and she was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she was found to have swelling in her brain and liver failure, officials said. She later died. The agents speak Spanish, but the father and daugh ter were from an area in northern Guatemala called Raxruha in Alta Verapaz and may have spoken a Mayan dialect, not Spanish. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the girl’s death. The results could take weeks. “The agents involved are deeply affected and empa thize with the father over the loss of his daughter,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan. “We can not stress enough the dan gers posed by traveling long distances, in crowded trans portation, or in the natural elements through remote desert areas without food, water and other supplies.” The girl’s identity was provided to AP by an official with Guatemala’s foreign ministry, who identified the father as 29-year-old Nery Caal. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to share information. It was later con firmed by Customs and Bor der Protection officials. Caal was driven to El Paso n s RUSSELL CONTRERAS I Associated Press A U.S. Border Patrol agent patrols Sunland Park along the U.S.-Mexico border, Jan. 4, 2016, next to Ciudad Juarez. and was at the hospital when his daughter died, officials said. He is not detained. Jackeline’s death comes as increasing numbers of children and families are making the dangerous trek north from Central America and as immigration officials are being increasingly criti cized for their treatment of migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. Home land Security’s watchdog will review what happened in the girl’s case, officials said. The pair were taken into custody at about 9:15 p.m. Dec. 6 in a group of 163 peo ple in remote New Mexico, about 90 miles from the nearest Border Patrol sta tion in Lordsburg. The group was apprehended by four Border Patrol agents. The rugged, mountainous area is mostly deserted, home to ghost towns and abandoned buildings from Old West homesteader days. It’s an unforgiving terrain where Geronimo made his last stand and it remains largely isolated with no cell service and few paved roads. There’s a Border Patrol base near where the group was found with food, water and bathrooms, but no medi cal help. They were found near the Antelope Wells port of entry, which was closed when they arrived. It’s not clear if they had been trying to cross legally. The migrants were bused from the area to Lordsburg in two groups, including about 50 minors without parents in the first group, officials said. The girl and her father didn’t start the journey until 4:30 am, when the bus returned. The father said the girl was vomiting on the bus. When they arrived at the Border Patrol station in Lordsburg at about 6:30 a.m. Dec. 7, she was not breathing, officials said. Emergency medical technicians discovered the girl’s fever was 105.7 degrees Fahrenheit, and she was air lifted to a hospital. She died shortly after midnight on Dec. 8. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley called Jack eline’s death “a horrific, tragic situation” and called for “commonsense laws to disincentivize people from coming up from the border,” crossing illegally. Guatemalan consular officials said they have spo ken with the father who was deeply upset. “It is important to show that, unfortunately, the places where migrants now enter are more dangerous and the distances they travel are greater,” consular offi cials said. BY JILL LAWLESSS AND LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS - British Prime Minister Theresa May launched a rescue mis sion for her ailing Brexit deal Friday, after the European Union rebuffed her request to sweeten the divorce agreement so she can win over hostile law makers at home. EU leaders meeting in Brussels showed little appe tite to resolve May’s Brexit impasse for her, saying the U.K. Parliament must make up its mind. The choice was either back the Brexit agree ment or send Brit ain tumbling out of the bloc in March without a deal and into unknown eco nomic chaos. “There is one accord, the only one possible,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at the end of a two-day sum mit. He said it was “the British parliament’s time” to decide whether to accept or reject it. The Brexit gridlock has left Britain’s future looking like a high-stakes gamble with a wide range of out comes. There could be an orderly or a disorderly Brexit. May’s Conservative government could fall and an early election be held. Britain could make a last- minute request to the EU to give it more time and not leave the bloc on March 29. Some are even pressing for the U.K. to hold a second referendum on Britain’s EU membership. May came to the EU summit seeking legally binding changes to the agreement, which is opposed by a majority of British lawmakers. But the 27 other EU leaders offered only reas surances. They said they would seek to move swiftly on forging a new trade deal after Britain leaves the bloc, and promised that a legally binding insurance policy to keep the Irish border open would only be used temporarily. They rejected British pressure to put a fixed end date on the border guaran tee, and refused to re-nego- tiate the Brexit agreement, a 585-page legal text set tling issues including the size of Britain’s divorce bill and the future rights of Europeans living in Britain and Britons living in the EU. It also includes a docu ment laying out the two sides’ hopes for future rela tions, which isn’t legally binding. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker accused Britain of failing to give detailed pro posals on Brexit, saying it was “up to the British gov ernment to tell us exactly what they want.” May was filmed speaking sternly to Juncker as leaders arrived at Friday morning’s session of the summit. She said they had had a “robust” exchange. Nonetheless, May told reporters in Brussels that she welcomed the EU’s reassuring words — and that, as formal conclusions of an EU summit, they “have legal status.” “There is work still to do. And we will be holding talks in coming days about how to obtain the further assurances that the U.K. Parliament needs in order to be able to approve the deal,” May said. European Council Presi dent Donald Tusk, how ever, said no talks with Britain were scheduled. “I have no mandate to organize any further nego tiations,” Tusk said. “But of course, we will stay here in Brussels, and I am always at Prime Minister Theresa May’s disposal.” But May’s against-the- odds optimism contrasted with a pessimistic tone from many on the EU side. EU leaders expressed deep doubts that May could live up to her side of their Brexit agreement and vowed to step up preparations for a potentially-catastrophic “no-deal” scenario for Brit ain’s departure. abersham ^ treat /Assisted Care Community Now Offers a New Assisted Living Home Located 258 Park Ave Baldwin GA The uite Life Come by for a visit. Prebook one of our new rooms that you can make your very own. www.habershamretreat.com Call us @ 706-499-6842 EARLY DEADLINES FOR CHRISTMAS DAY Because of the upcoming Christmas Day holiday The Times will alter its advertising and legals deadline as follows: Retail Display Ads Publication The Times Date Deadline Wednesday 12/26 Friday, 12/21 Thursday 12/27 Friday, 12/21 Classified Line Ads Publication The Times Date Deadline Wednesday 12/26 Friday, 12/21 @ 3pm Legal Ads Publication The Times Date Deadline Wednesday 12/26 Wednesday, 12/19 @ 5pm Thursday 12/27 Wednesday, 12/19 @ 5pm gainesvilletimes.com will be CLOSED Tuesday, December 25th, in observance of Christmas. Call Wolfman Charlie to keep you warm this winter! o LANIER HVfiC SERVICES WE STRIVE TO SERVE YOU 835 Oak Street, Gainesville, Georgia http://lanier-hvac.net/ 678-943-1351
