Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to eight criminal counts and
implicated Trump himself in a remarkable courtroom moment.
Cohen admitted that "
in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office," he kept information that would have harmed Trump from becoming public during the 2016 election cycle.
The charges against Cohen, an attorney for Trump until earlier this year and a member of his inner circle throughout his presidential campaign, bring a climactic end to a months-long investigation by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. And they expose, through the criminal information filed against Cohen in court,
that he acted with Trump and his allies, including David Pecker, the CEO of the National Enquirer's publisher, American Media Inc., to suppress potentially damaging claims against the now-President.
Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer, told a federal judge that
Donald Trump had directed him during the 2016 campaign to buy the silence of two women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cohen made the statement as he pleaded guilty Tuesday to eight criminal charges,
including campaign-finance violations. He said he paid
$130,000 to adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, and coordinated a $150,000 payment by the publisher of the National Enquirer to
former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Mr. Cohen, who has described himself as Mr. Trump’s “fixer,” said he made both payments “f
or the purpose of influencing the election” and
acted at the direction of “the candidate,” referring to Mr. Trump. That was the first time Mr. Cohen has admitted to coordinating with the president on the hush-money deals with women, both of which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Cohen, 51 years old, pleaded guilty to a total of eight criminal counts: two counts of illegal campaign contributions related to payments to women; five counts of evading personal income taxes from 2012 to 2016; and one count of making false statements to a financial institution.
I'm sure it's nothing...nothing will come of it. No need to worry. It's all good. LMAO!
Fake news. Witch hunt. Nothing related to the campaign. No collusion. LMAO!