Trump Organization Subpoenaed by Manhattan D.A. Over Hush Money

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s family business is being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney for its role in hush-money payments made during the 2016 election campaign.

State prosecutors issued subpoenas for documents Thursday as they seek more information about payments made to silence adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, according to a person familiar with the matter. Both women had claimed to have had sexual relationships with Trump.

The state investigators are examining whether any executives at the Trump Organization filed false business records relating to the payments to the women, the person said.

Trump Organization lawyer Marc Mukasey told the New York Times, which had reported on the probe earlier, that the inquiry was a “political hit job.” Mukasey didn’t respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg.

The subpoenas from Cyrus Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, were issued just weeks after federal prosecutors ended their investigation into the same matter. Prosecutors in Manhattan notified U.S. District Judge William Pauley in a filing last month that the probe was over.

The district attorney’s office also issued a subpoena to American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, which paid McDougal for her story but never published it.

Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to orchestrating the hush payments and released an audio in which he discusses a payment to Daniels with Trump. Cohen pleaded guilty in August to campaign-finance violations and is serving a three-year sentence.

To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Farrell in New York at gregfarrell@bloomberg.net;Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Robert Jameson

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