Mueller could use the 'hush money' Trump's lawyer paid to Stormy Daniels in the Russia investigation

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President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen (left) and Stormy Daniels.

• The $130,000 payment from President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels in 2016 may have amounted to an illegal contribution to the Trump campaign.
• Despite claiming he used his own money to silence Daniels, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission told "60 Minutes" that Cohen's payments could be considered an "in kind contribution" well-above what he is legally allowed to give to the campaign.
• Special Counsel Robert Mueller could use the payments as leverage over Cohen to extract information regarding his ties to Russia.

A $130,000 payment by President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels may have amounted to an illegal contribution to the Trump campaign, according to Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Cohen previously admitted he used his personal money to pay adult-film star Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her from sharing details of an alleged 2006 affair with Trump. Cohen said the payment, which was made 11 days before the 2016 presidential election, was a private transaction, and claimed that neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was involved. He also claimed he was never reimbursed for the payment.

But Potter, who was appointed to the FEC by President George H.W. Bush, told Anderson Cooper in an interview for "60 Minutes" on Sunday evening that Cohen's payment may have violated campaign finance laws, which Special Counsel Robert Mueller could use in his mounting case against the president.

"The payment of the money just creates an enormous legal mess for, I think, Trump, for Cohen and anyone else who was involved in this in the campaign," Potter told "60 Minutes."

Potter explained that Cohen's "hush money" to Daniels is considered an "in kind contribution by Cohen to the Trump campaign, which is about $126,500 above what he's allowed to give."

If Cohen is claiming to have made the transaction on behalf of his friend and long-time client Trump, the situation could be seen by Mueller and those investigating the Trump campaign as a "coordinated, illegal, in kind contribution by Cohen for the purpose of influencing the election," Potter said.

According to Potter, whether President Trump paid Cohen back still renders the initial payment an illegal campaign contribution.

"If he [Cohen] was then reimbursed by the president, that doesn't remove the fact that the initial payment violated Cohen's contribution limits," Potter told Cooper.

Mueller could use Cohen's "hush payments" as leverage

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Stormy Daniels.

Watchdog group Common Cause lodged a complaint in January urging the Department of Justice and Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate whether Cohen's contribution violated reporting requirements and campaign finance laws.

While Mueller has been specifically investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, Cohen's payments to Daniels could be used as leverage for Mueller to extract information from Cohen regarding his ties to Russia.

Mueller appears to be using that tactic in his investigation into Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman, who has been charged with tax evasion and bank fraud.

"Clearly, the Justice Department, the deputy attorney general who is ultimately in charge of this, has determined that looking at what Manafort did in other contexts -- is relevant to the investigation," Potter told Cooper. "I think you can say exactly the same thing about Cohen."

Mueller is currently investigating two key events in which Cohen was extensively involved. These are the Trump Organization's effort in late 2015 to secure a Trump Tower deal in Moscow and Cohen's subsequent contact with a top Kremlin official at the height of the 2016 election.

There are several links between Cohen's payment and the Trump Organization

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Last week, Cohen told Vanity Fair that his payment to Daniels was done defensively, "for my personal client and my friend."

Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti disputed to "60 Minutes" that Cohen acted on a purely personal basis. According to documents provided by Avenatti, Cohen used his Trump Organization email address to facilitate the payment to Daniels.

Avenatti also said a copy of the non-disclosure agreement signed by Daniels in 2016 was sent to Cohen at his Trump Organization office in New York.

Other staffers at the Trump Organization have been further tied to the payments made by Cohen.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump Organization lawyer Jill A. Martin was listed as counsel in an arbitration filing for the Delaware company that Cohen used to pay the "hush money," providing a direct link between Cohen's payment and the Trump Organization.

The Trump Organization said in a statement to The Journal that Martin helped facilitate the payment "in her individual capacity."

"The company has had no involvement in the matter," the statement said.

Calls have been made for questions about the payment to be answered under oath.

Trump said in January that he was "looking forward" to being interviewed by Mueller under oath.

Allan Smith and Sonam Sheth contributed to this report.