Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Premack. On today's show, Facebook's Next Act and a CEO's important message on Me Too.

But first, President Trump's legal jeopardy. So for quite a while now, we've all been aware that two women were paid off to keep quiet about their alleged affairs with then private citizen Trump.

But this week, those stories were put into much sharper and more official focus through the court pleadings of former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen and also a cooperation agreement between federal prosecutors and American media, the publisher of the National Enquirer.

In short, this is no longer about partisan bickering or fake news tweets.

It's not even about the affairs per se.

It's about criminal actions.

Yes, criminal, despite what Trump and his cable news defenders are saying.

And to borrow a phrase, it's about what the president knew and when did he know it.

What we now know is that a few months before the 2016 election, the National Enquirer paid a former Playboy playmate named Carrie McDougal for the rights to her story about an alleged affair.

And the Inquirer and its CEO, former Trump pal David Pecker, now admit that they did so in order that the story never

see the light of day, or at least not before voters went to the polls.

Prosecutors believe this makes it a criminal campaign finance violation.

And Michael Cohen this morning told ABC News that Trump and Pecker hatched the scheme together.

In 25 seconds, we'll go deeper on this with Peter Striss, the attorney who

represented Karen McDougal when she sued the National Inquirer earlier this year. But first,

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We're joined now by Peter Striss, founding partner of law firm Striss and

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