Michael Cohen Says Trump Ordered Him To Illegally Interfere In Election

Michael Cohen , President Donald Trump s former lawyer and personal fixer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to illegally interfering in the 2016 election at the direction of the president.

Cohen says he worked at the direction of a candidate for federal office, ostensibly Trump, for the purpose of influencing the election. He has pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion, two counts related to an illegal campaign contribution and one count of making a false statement.

The revelation is a bombshell. Cohen was the keeper of Trumps secrets, and this admission reveals that the two men colluded to illegally affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. And the news came the same day onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts , likely destined to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

These are very serious charges and reflect a pattern of lies and dishonesty over an extended period of time, Deputy U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York Robert Khuzami said at a press conference.

The announcement came shortly after multiple outlets reported that Cohen had reached a plea deal with prosecutors of the Southern District of New York. The deal is specifically related to payments Cohen made to women on behalf of Trump, according to The New York Times .

The attorney is at the center of a yearslong legal entanglement between the president and adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump back in 2006. While Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti claimed last month that Trumps team paid off three additional women ahead of the election, Khuzami said the charges against Cohen were related to payments made to two women. He did not reveal their names, but the total amount, $280,000, aligns with payments made to Daniels and Karen McDougal, another woman who says she had an affair with Trump.

The president has denied the claims. Still, Cohen felt the two women had information that would be detrimental to the candidate and his campaign, Khuzami said.

Cohen then sought reimbursement for the hush money from an unspecified Trump company after the election, in 2017, he added.

In a tweet seemingly reacting to Cohens plea, Daniels took a swipe at critics whove questioned her story:

How ya like me now?! # teamstormy

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How ya like me now?! # teamstormy
Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) August 21, 2018

The Times reported over the weekend that prosecutors had been zeroing in on potential bank and tax fraud violations related to the Cohen familys taxi medallion business, citing people familiar with the matter. The investigators were said to be evaluating $20 million in loans the attorney obtained from two New York area banks to determine whether he misrepresented the value of his assets. They also looked into whether Cohen failed to report income from the taxi business to the IRS.

Khuzami said Cohen failed to report $4.3 million in income over five years, and did not disclose $14 million in debt on a $500,000 home equity application.

A lawyer for Cohen said in April that federal prosecutors in New York were investigating his client on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller , who is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Cohen, 51, had reportedly been expecting an indictment for some time. Combined with his deteriorating relationship with the president, the attorneys legal quagmire could push him to cooperate with prosecutors in any way he can.

Following the announcement, Cohens personal attorney Lanny Davis stirred the pot by asking why his client is now facing charges on his own when they also involve the president.

If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldnt they be a crime for Donald Trump ? Davis said in a statement posted to Twitter.

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?

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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

In an April 9 raid on Cohens New York home, office and hotel room, the FBI took recordings and material from his cellphones, tablet and laptop and from a safe deposit box, according to the Times. Prosecutors had already obtained many of Cohens emails, the paper noted.

Days after the FBI seized Cohens belongings a rare thing for lawyers to endure prosecutors said they were investigating his personal business dealings . The Washington Post reported that authorities were looking for evidence of Cohens potential involvement in bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations. Some of the information seized was reportedly related to the $130,000 in hush money Cohen paid to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Cohen used to be known as Trumps loyal fixer, the man who tamped down the scandals that brewed during the former reality TV stars presidential run. Im the guy who protects the president and the family, he told Vanity Fair last year. Im the guy who would take a bullet for the president.

The president reacted to the FBIs spring raids with fury on behalf of Cohen , tweeting Attorney-client privilege is dead! and TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!

Their relationship was brought to rocky ground, though, when news media reported that prosecutors had obtained a recording made by Cohen in which he and Trump appear to discuss how to silence another woman, Karen McDougal, who also says she had an affair with Trump. Cohen was known to tape conversations and store them digitally, but it had not been clear before that those tapes included talks with Trump.

CNN published the McDougal recording in July. The Washington Post reported that prosecutors may have upwards of 100 other such files in hand.

Media reports indicated that Cohen might be willing to turn on his former boss, divulging information that could be damaging to the president and his administration as Cohens main priority became protecting his own family .

Trump hit back. His new personal lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, made the cable news circuit to attack Cohens reputation, calling him a pathological manipulator and a liar. Meanwhile, Trump continued to brush aside the notion that he might have done anything wrong.