The head of a small polling firm used by President Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election says that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, hired his firm to rig two online polls in the president’s favor and paid less than half of what was owed in cash.
John Gauger, director of RedFinch Solutions LLC and the chief information officer at Liberty University, told The Wall Street Journal that Cohen gave him just more than $12,000 in a Wal-Mart shopping bag that also contained a boxing glove Cohen said was from a Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter.
The cash, Gauger told the Journal, was for his firm’s unsuccessful attempts to rig the polls.
Gauger said that Cohen also directed him during that time to set up a Twitter account, “Women for Cohen,” which remains active today and describes Cohen as a booster of the president and a sex symbol.
Gauger’s lawyer also told the Journal that Cohen promised but failed to deliver future work for the firm on behalf of the Trump campaign.
“Mr. Cohen promised but never was able to develop the business he predicted,” said attorney Charles James.
Cohen’s deal with the company and alleged failure to pay the debt in full was mentioned in court filings last year, according to the Journal, when federal prosecutors charged Cohen with numerous financial crimes including campaign finance violations.
Cohen denied paying for the firm’s services in cash in a statement to the Journal, but did not comment on whether the debt was paid in full.
“All monies paid to Mr. Gauger were by check,” Cohen said, according to the newspaper.
In a tweet after the Journal article was published, he said “what I did was at the direction of and for the sole benefit of” Trump.
“I truly regret my blind loyalty to a man who doesn’t deserve it,” he added.
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Michael Cohen hired firm to try to rig online polls for Trump, only paid part of bill with bag of cash: report https://t.co/gkpMDo2Fpq pic.twitter.com/Qq5jMoeFL1
— The Hill (@thehill) January 17, 2019
Michael Cohen Fingers Trump in Payment to Rig Polls During 2016 Election https://t.co/oowgnfOaAT pic.twitter.com/exrCJaiPZT
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 17, 2019
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