Hush money

The scandal was even greater when it was announced that hush money had been paid to keep the faulty products unannounced.

He holds, I am given to understand, a small official appointment in the colony. If it were known that he had received hush money, he would be ruined.

Is paying hush money a crime? In most cases, the answer is no. Hush-money agreements, otherwise known as nondisclosure agreements, have long been used by companies and private individuals to avoid litigation and keep embarrassing information confidential.

Lawyers defending Mr. Trump, who denies he had sex with her, will likely argue that his employees were responsible for the paper trail that falsely described the reimbursement of the hush money as legal fees for Mr. Cohen.