Report: Trump Fixer Cohen Helped Falwell Out with Explicit Photos Problem

In 2016, as then-candidate Donald Trump was struggling to gain traction with American evangelicals, Jerry Falwell Jr. – president of evangelical Liberty University and son of the famously anti-gay preacher – came to his rescue with an endorsement, despite his history as someone who boasted about extramarital adventures and was thrice-married to boot.

There was some surprise that Falwell chose to endorse Trump over fellow candidate Ted Cruz, reported Reuters, but, an exclusive report at Reuters reveals, allegations by former Trump fixer Michael Cohen purport to reveal that in 2015 Falwell had a sticky situation on his hands in the form of a clutch of photos of the sort Cohen characterized as "between husband and wife" - though it was not clear what, exactly, the purported images supposedly depicted.

Indeed, the article said, the person holding the pictures allegedly wanted money in order to part with them. According to remarks reportedly made by Cohen – and recorded by actor Tom Arnold – Cohen met with a lawyer for the party with the pictures and explained that demanding money in exchange for them was a crime. No mention was made of any cash changing hands, and the article took note that a source "familiar with Cohen's thinking" said there was no quid pro quo in terms of Cohen's help with the matter of the photos and Falwell's subsequent endorsement. But, the article added, the Cohen factor "sheds light" on the relationship between Falwell and Trump.

The report said that when the matter of the photos was "resolved," word came back to Cohen that the photos had been "destroyed."

But maybe not all of the pictures were annihilated. "I actually have one of the photos," Reuters reported Cohen telling Arnold on the recording. "It's terrible."

Falwell stuck with Trump after making the endorsement, and even now America's evangelical Christians continue to overlook the president's peccadilloes past and present. As anti-gay stalwart Tony Perkins of the Southern Poverty Center-identified hate group Research Council put it early last year, the religious right has given Trump "a mulligan." There is no reason this think they will not continue doing so despite Trump's conduct in and out of office as long as he delivers policies that are to their liking.

An unnamed attorney for the Falwells issued a carefully worded response to the report's allegations, reported the National Post.

"While the Falwells have a long-standing friendship with Michael Cohen, they never engaged or paid Cohen to represent them in any legal or other professional capacity, and Cohen did not ever resolve any legal matter on their behalf," the lawyer stated. A subsequent text message struck a somewhat Trump-esque tone, insisting that "there are no compromising or embarrassing photos of Falwell, period!"