A terrible day for Donald Trump as he is implicated in illegal act

Michael Cohen leaves court after pleading guilty to fraud. Picture: AFP.

What a terrible day for Donald Trump. In the space of a few minutes the president learned that both his longtime personal lawyer and his former campaign manager will spend years in jail for numerous breaches of the law.

In a surreal moment well suited to the Trump era, the twin spectacles unfolded together, forcing cable TV to split screens as the courtroom fates of both Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort were revealed.

But far worse was the fact that Trump’s former lawyer Cohen has now directly implicated the president in an illegal act.

Cohen told the court that Trump ordered him to make hush money payments to two women which were ‘for the principle purpose of influencing the election.’

Cohen admits that these payments — of $US150,000 to former Playboy model Karen MacDougal and $US130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniel who both allege to have had affairs with Mr Trump — were in breach of campaign finance laws.

So the question is; what are the legal implications for Trump as the person who, according to Cohen, “directed” and “coordinated” the payments?

Does Trump’s position as president protect him from potential prosecution? Does the fact that Trump ordered the payments but did not make them himself also provide some protection?

Or is it the case, as Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis tweeted: “If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”

Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?

— Lanny Davis (@LannyDavis) August 21, 2018

The extent and scale of the lies and crimes which both Manafort and Cohen committed are remarkable. Both men were utterly without a moral compass as they flouted numerous laws to enrich themselves on a grand scale.

It is important to remember that — with the major exception of Cohen’s campaign finances breaches — the crimes committed by both Cohen and Manafort are not connected to the president. They occurred either long before, or separately to his tenure in the White House.

But they reflect poorly on Trump’s own judgment to choose such people as his personal lawyer and his campaign manager.

While Trump has become increasingly angry at special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. But the Manafort verdict makes him the sixth person convicted in Mueller’s probe. Others include as Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.

Mueller has also charged 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers and three Russian companies in relation to interference in the 2016 US election.

Trump has some valid complaints against Mueller — he is taking a long time to deliver a report on his investigation and the Russia probe has expanded such that it has become a dragnet covering more issues than originally intended.

But today’s Manafort verdict and the Cohen revelations will make it much harder for Trump to credibly claim that the Russia investigation is a waste of time.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia