Delaware Court of Chancery Dissolves Michael Cohen's LLCs Used to Make Payments During 2016 Trump Campaign
The entities were closed under a new Delaware statute governing LLCs, which was was signed into law shortly before Cohen's guilty plea on charges of making false statements to a bank and making excessive campaign contributions.
October 05, 2020 at 05:51 PM
3 minute read
Two Delaware limited liability corporations owned by Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and "fixer," are set to be dissolved after a Court of Chancery ruling, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Monday.
The LLCs were used, among other purposes, to make alleged "hush" payments during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to Cohen's guilty plea.
The court's decision comes more than two years after Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges involving payments he illegally funneled through Essential Consultants LLC. Cohen admitted to having plans to make another payment through the other now-dissolved company, Resolution Consultants LLC, though that payment was ultimately cancelled.
"Dissolving Mr. Cohen's LLCs ensures that they can never again be used to evade or violate the law," Jennings said. "Delaware's role in the corporate community is a privilege that comes with responsibility. We expect every Delaware business to follow the law, full stop, and my office will not hesitate to use our full authority to stop criminal abuse of a Delaware LLC or corporation."
Cohen has said he used Essential Consultants LLC to make payments Stormy Daniels, who claimed—in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign—to have had a sexual liaison with Trump in the 2000s. Trump has repeatedly denied Daniels' allegation.
Cohen used the Essential Consultants to pay for technology services used in the campaign and to make other payments for a total of $130,000. The cancelled $125,000 payment previously planned to be paid through Resolution Consultants LLC would have been paid to another woman who said she was involved with Trump.
The court's decision was made in response to the Delaware Department of Justice's petition to have a limited liability company's certificate of formation cancelled, as allowed by a change to the state's Limited Liability Company Act signed into law in July 2018, the month before Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to a bank, making an excessive campaign contribution, causing an unlawful corporate contribution and five counts of personal income tax evasion.
Jennings filed a petition to dissolve the two companies in 2019. According to the proposed order of consent judgment, Cohen didn't answer the complaint filed against the two LLCs in the time allowed by the court, and Jennings moved for default judgment in January.
Cohen was reported to have cooperated fully with the court's proposed judgment.
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