Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen pleads guilty, implicates president

Donald Trump’s ex lawyer Michael Cohen admits Trump directed him to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels to influence the 2016 election.

Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to court. Picture: AP.

Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen has directly implicated the President in the illegal payment of hush money to two of Mr Trump’s ­alleged former lovers to influence the 2016 election.

The stunning revelation forced the White House to scramble to understand the legal implications for the President after Cohen, in effect, implicated Mr Trump as a co-conspirator to his crime.

The development came on a dramatic day in which Cohen surrendered to the FBI and pleaded guilty to eight counts of tax and bank fraud, as well as campaign ­finance violations. He faces ­between four and five years in jail.

The 53-year-old, who was Mr Trump’s personal lawyer and self-proclaimed fixer, pleaded guilty in New York at the same time as a jury in Washington convicted former Trump campaign director Paul Manafort of eight counts of fraud.

Cohen pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations shortly before the 2016 election in relation to the payment of $US150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and $US130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels. Both women claim to have had an affair with Mr Trump, who denies the allegations.

Cohen told a Manhattan court that he paid hush money to the two women “in co-ordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” — the then Republican presidential candidate Mr Trump.

“I participated in the conduct for the purposes of influencing the election,” Cohen said in court.

When it was revealed this year that Cohen had made the payment to Daniels, Mr Trump initially said he knew nothing about it. He then admitted he was later made aware of the payment.

It was not immediately clear what the legal implications were for the President. Even if he were considered a party to the crime, legal opinion is divided about whether a sitting president can be charged with such an offence.

Mr Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, tried to play down the implications, saying: “There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the President in the government’s charges against Mr Cohen.”

But 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

Mr Davis said Cohen was ­willing to tell all he knew to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is ­investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Mr Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel, and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows — not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democratic system in the 2016 election, which the Trump Tower meeting was all about, but also knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on,” Mr Davis said.

Although Cohen’s plea agreement does not require him to co-operate with prosecutors in New York, he is free to co-operate if he wishes with the Mueller Russia probe. The Mueller team could recommend a reduced sentence in return for co-operation.

Speaking outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan where Cohen pleaded guilty, deputy US Attorney Robert Khuzami said Cohen had pleaded guilty to eight felony charges.

These included five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank and two campaign finance violations: making an unlawful corporate campaign contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.

“These are very serious charges and reflected a pattern of lies and dishonesty over a long period of time,” Mr Khuzami said.

He described Cohen’s breaking of campaign finance laws as a “core violation”.

Cohen agreed in his plea deal to not challenge any sentence from 46 to 63 months.

Cohen was Mr Trump’s long-time personal lawyer with the Trump Organisation and later as President. He once said he would take a bullet for Mr Trump but the relationship between the two men soured after it was revealed last month that Cohen had taped some conversations with Mr Trump.

Cohen said last month the President was no longer his main priority in facing his legal problems. He told the court yesterday that he used a home-equity line of credit to finance the payment to Ms Daniels in October 2016, a month before the US election.

Court records show he failed to report more than $US4 million in ­income to avoid paying taxes. He also concealed a $US100,000 ­profit on the sale of property and $US200,000 in consulting fees.

Prosecutors started in probing Cohen late last year over irregularities in his business dealings. In April the FBI raided his home and office, taking material that included his confidential communications with Mr Trump.

Cohen also used claims of his close access to the President to win contracts worth millions of dollars from businesses including AT&T and Novartis.

Prosecutors prepare fraud charges

Earlier Federal prosecutors prepared fraud charges in a move which would pressure Mr Cohen to co-operate fully with Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The revelation comes amid soaring tensions between Mr Trump and the Mueller team, with the President yesterday describing Mr Mueller and his team as discredited thugs who were ruining people’s lives.

“Disgraced and discredited Bob Mueller and his whole group of Angry Democrat Thugs spent over 30 hours with the White House Counsel (Donald McGahn),” Mr Trump tweeted.

“Anyone needing that much time when they know there is no Russian collusion is just someone looking for trouble. They are ­enjoying ruining people’s lives.”

But while Mr Trump has stewed over the revelation that Mr McGahn was questioned for so long by the Mueller team, the disclosure Mr Cohen may face criminal charges could pose a more serious threat to the President.

Authorities are believed to be examining possible bank and tax fraud relating to about $US20 million ($27m) in loans obtained by Mr Cohen for his taxi business.

They are also reported to be ­examining whether the lawyer broke the law by making clandestine financial deals with women who alleged they had ­affairs with Mr Trump before he became President.

Michael Cohen in New York. Picture: AFP

Ever since Mr Cohen’s home and office were raided by authorities in April it has been speculated that the Mueller team would seek to use criminal charges to pressure Mr Cohen to reveal more about his dealings with the President.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Cohen, who worked for the Trump organisation for more than a decade ­before becoming Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, would never roll over to investigators.

But since then relations between Mr Cohen and Mr Trump have soured after it was revealed the lawyer had taped some calls with Mr Trump. Those taped calls included one relating to the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels who says she had an affair with Mr Trump.

US reports yesterday said charges against Mr Cohen were likely to be laid by the end of this month. If charged, Mr Cohen is reported to be willing to provide information to investigators in ­exchange for a more lenient sentence. Last month Mr Cohen hinted at this when he said, “to be crystal clear: My wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty”.

Among the issues being examined by authorities is whether Mr Cohen failed to report income related to his taxi medallions to the Internal Revenue Service. They are also probing whether he ­obtained the $US20m in loans by lying about the value of his assets. News of the likely charges against Mr Cohen came as the White House tried to learn more about the extent of testimony given to Mr Mueller by Mr McGahn.

Although Mr Trump gave permission for Mr McGahn to speak with the Mueller team, the administration is deeply concerned by the revelation the White House counsel was interviewed under oath for such a long time. The White House says it doesn’t ­believe Mr McGahn said anything damaging to the President, but Mr McGahn’s lawyer has only provided a limited account of the ­interview to the White House.

As tensions continued to rise yesterday Mr Trump launched a volley of angry tweets, asking why Mr Mueller was refusing to look at the “real corruption” on the Democrats side — “the lies, the firings, the delated emails and soooo much more!”.

“Mr Mueller’s Angry Dems are looking to impact the election. They are a National Disgrace!” the President tweeted.

In another tweet he said: “Where’s the Collusion? They made up a phony crime called Collusion … if you FIGHT BACK or say anything bad about the Rigged Witch Hunt, they scream ­Obstruction.”

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia