Ethics watchdog files complaint about Stormy Daniels payment

An ethics watchdog has filed a criminal and civil complaint over a payment by President Trump’s lawyer to an adult-film actress to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed complaints with the Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics over the payment, asking them to investigate whether Trump purposely didn’t report the payment on his public financial disclosure report.

Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen reportedly complained that he wasn’t reimbursed by Trump for the $130,000 payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

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CREW alleges that if the payment was a loan, Trump violated federal law by not listing it on his financial disclosure report.

“The more we learn about the Essential Consultants affair, the more it looks like something is missing from the president’s financial disclosures,” CREW Board Chairman Norman Eisen said in a press release, referring to a company Cohen created to make the payment.

“If he failed to disclose this situation, we must ask, what else is he hiding?” Eisen continued.

CREW has filed several complaints against the Trump administration, and top members of the group like Eisen have been critical of Trump.

Cohen confirmed that he made the payment to Daniels, saying that he transferred the funds from his home equity line.

Daniels sued Trump last week, saying that the nondisclosure agreement about their alleged affair was void because Trump hadn’t signed the document.