Even if the payment had been totally legal, it would’ve constituted a deliberate, immoral, classically politician-like effort to mislead voters about the choice before them. But the payment was not legal. It violated campaign-finance laws—and it was not a merely accidental and technical violation of an overly complicated or controversial provision. The most defensible campaign-finance laws are rooted in the widely agreed upon proposition that the major expenditures of federal campaigns should be visible to voters as they decide whom to support. With his willful machinations to conceal the truth about a six-figure outlay, Cohen robbed voters of relevant information they were owed.

On Tuesday, he admitted his crime. He specifically admitted that he had committed a felony to prevent voters from hearing information that would damage Trump’s chances of becoming president. As the U.S. attorney put it, “Cohen, the defendant, caused and made the payments described herein in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. In so doing, he coordinated with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments.” As a result of the payment, prosecutors added, Daniels did not speak “to the press prior to the election.” What’s more, Cohen had made a similarly illegal payment of hush money involving another woman, the former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

We’re all Michael Cohen

What did President Trump know about this costly, successful scheme to commit a felony in order to hide the truth from the voters? A series of lies long muddied the answer.

On January 12, 2018, The Wall Street Journal broke news of the $130,000 payment. A month later, Cohen said he had paid the hush money out of his own funds and was not reimbursed by Trump or his campaign.

On February 18, 2018, Raj Shah, the deputy White House press secretary, was asked by reporters if Trump knew that his personal attorney had paid a porn star hush money to keep quite before Election Day. He noted that Trump denied Daniels’s claims.

On March 15, NBC News reported that “a top lawyer for the Trump Organization was involved in trying to enforce a secrecy agreement that adult film star Stormy Daniels signed in exchange for $130,000.”

On March 29, Megyn Kelly of NBC News had this exchange with Cohen’s attorney David Schwartz:

Kelly: And you are claiming that Michael Cohen, the president’s lawyer and fixer, the Ray Donovan character–– Schwartz: Right. Kelly: ––never, ever told Donald Trump about it. Schwartz: Never. Never, never, never told him. Kelly: And Michael Cohen dispensed $130,000 of his own money and never sought reimbursement from Donald Trump? Schwartz: Hundred percent. Kelly: Come on. Schwartz: So … so the … but you have … Kelly: No one believes that, David.

On April 5, Trump himself addressed the matter. Asked on Air Force One whether he knew about the payment to Daniels, he said, “No.”