Michael Cohen, who served as personal lawyer for Donald Trump, paid a small technology company to try to rig online polls in his boss’s favor prior to the presidential campaign, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.
John Gauger, who owns RedFinch Solutions LLC showed up in early 2015 at Cohen’s office to collect $50,000 for his efforts. But he claimed Cohen only paid him between $12,000 and $13,000 in cash in a blue Walmart bag, along with a boxing glove said to be worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial art fighter.
Cohen disputed the bag of cash and said Gauger was paid by check.
Gauger claimed he never received the full $50,000 he was owed. But according to a government document and a source, the Journal said that Cohen received a $50,000 reimbursement from Trump and his company in 2017 for the work performed by RedFinch
The president’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said the transaction by Cohen shows Trump’s former lawyer can’t be trusted.
“If one thing has been established, it’s that Michael Cohen is completely untrustworthy,” he said.
Cohen has pleaded guilty to tax evasion and other federal crimes. None of the charges are related to RedFinch, the newspaper said.,
Gauger, who now works as chief information officer at Liberty University in Virginia, said his activities consisted of trying unsuccessfully to manipulate two online polls in favor of Trump.
He also said Cohen asked him to create a Twitter account called @WomenForCohen. The account described Cohen as a “sex symbol” and highlighted his appearances and statements promoting Trump’s candidacy
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