> Conviction in hush-money settlement payments (Election Tampering) to Stormy Daniels could keep Trump off the ballot in 15-20 states.

A Trump biographer says former President Donald Trump may have paid off adult film actress Stormy Daniels because he was scared of his wife, Melania Trump.

"I don't think he was only worried about his campaign potentially getting blown up. I think he was also worried about his marriage getting blown up," O'Brien told MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" on Sunday.

"Donald Trump has a long history of cheating on his wives, and I think he was probably more afraid at that point of Melania Trump than he was of the electorate, so he had a motivation to try and get this out of the way," O'Brien added.

O'Brien wrote the 2004 biography, "TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald." He's now the senior executive editor of Bloomberg's opinion desk.

O'Brien isn't the first person to claim that Trump is afraid of his wife.
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"He reserves — he listens to many of us, but he reserves fear for one person, Melania Trump," Kellyanne Conway, who was formerly a senior Trump White House aide, testified in November to the House panel investigating the Capitol riot.

A grand jury is now hearing evidence over Trump's possible role in paying a hush-money settlement to Daniels.

It is worth noting that the idea that Trump only paid Daniels because he was scared Melania would find out about an affair has been touted as a possible defense Trump might use in court.

Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina hinted that the former president might use this defense in an interview with ABC News.

"I don't know since when we've decided to start prosecuting extortion victims," Tacopina told ABC News. "He's vehemently denied this affair, but he had to pay money because there was going to be an allegation that was going to be publicly embarrassing, regardless of the campaign."

Michael Cohen, Trump's one-time fixer turned nemesis, testified in front of a New York grand jury on Monday afternoon in what could potentially be a final step before a possible Trump indictment. If convicted, Trump risks felony-level charges, which could carry a jail term and keep him off the ballot in 15-20 states for election tampering.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-b … nia-2023-3