No collusion, says Trump after Russia probe

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump again denied that his presidential campaign colluded with Russian operatives, but made no comment on claims that he directly organised hush payments to ward off a possible sex scandal during his White House run.

Trump took to Twitter, his favourite means of communication, to address the multiple court filings that dropped on Friday in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s sweeping investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

”AFTER TWO YEARS AND MILLIONS OF PAGES OF DOCUMENTS ( and a cost of over $30,000,000), NO COLLUSION!” the president said.

While the filings indeed did not appear to reveal evidence of collusion, they did offer a wealth of new information about what Mueller’s team is looking into, along with other federal prosecutors in New York.

Prosecutors directly implicated Trump in efforts to buy the silence of two women who claimed they had had affairs with him, saying he directed his then-attorney Michael Cohen to offer them hush money.

“With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election,” the New York prosecutors said.

“In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1,” they added, referring to Trump.

The payments are technically unrelated to the Russia probe, but prosecutors painted a damning picture of the “extensive, deliberate, and serious criminal conduct” of Cohen -- once a member of Trump’s inner circle of trusted aides.

In August, the 52-year-old Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law in connection with the payments.

“Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election,” prosecutors said.

In a separate sentencing memo, Mueller said that Cohen was in contact with a Russian national as far back as November 2015 – months before Trump formally won the presidential nomination and well before previously reported contacts – who offered “synergy on a government level.” — AFP