https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a19366207/michael-cohen-trump-lawyer/
"When the story first broke, Cohen characterized the entire business as fake news. Then he admitted to The New York Times that he made the payment, but said Trump had no knowledge of the hush money agreement and he'd done it all on his own. The idea that a lawyer is running around without his client's knowledge, making six-figure payments on his client's behalf with no expectation of being paid back, is absurd—a point Daniels' lawyer is now making in the lawsuit recently filed. When the Times story hit, Daniels' manager responded by suggesting Cohen may have violated the terms of the NDA by saying publicly that he made the payment. Certainly, Cohen proved that he'd lied previously in public statements suggesting the WSJ story was entirely fabricated. Cohen then pursued and won a gag order on Daniels in arbitration, according to the terms of the original agreement. But Daniels has now filed suit against Donald Trump himself, alleging that since Trump never signed the original NDA, the entire agreement—including the arbitration procedure outlined in it, which Cohen used to secure the gag order—was invalid. Cohen's exploits have been examined as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether Trump associates colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election. He also must have missed the (many?) classes in law school that highlight the downsides of putting your shady business in writing. During the 2016 campaign, Cohen was working with Trump Organization executive Felix Sater—who himself has alleged ties to organized crime and Russian oligarchs—to secure a deal for a Trump Tower Moscow. When they ran into obstacles in securing permits, Cohen responded by reaching out to top Vladimir Putin lieutenant Dmitry Peskov. Except, being a genius brain working for one of the world's most prominent businessmen—with all the high-powered connections that offers—Cohen sent the email to a generic Kremlin email address"
