Manafort, Cohen court rulings ‘a bad day for the home team’
WASHINGTON/CHARLESTON: President Donald Trump suffered twin setbacks yesterday as two exadvisers faced prison sentences — and one of them saying Trump told him to commit a crime — possibly hurting his Republican Party’s election prospects and widening a criminal probe that has overshadowed his presidency.
Within minutes of each other in separate courts, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty on tax and bank fraud charges, while Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to a range of charges.
Cohen also testified that Trump directed him to commit a crime by arranging payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence two women who said they had had affairs with Trump.
The setbacks refocused attention on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow and whether Trump obstructed justice by firing thenFBI director James Comey, who was formerly in charge of the investigation.
Of the two latest developments, Cohen’s plea deal was the more troublesome, said those around Trump.
‘‘We’ve dubbed him Michael ‘the Rat’ Cohen,’’ said one source close to the president.
‘‘A bad day for the home team,’’ the source said, adding that the legal woes could depress voter turnout and increase Republicans’ risk of losing their 23seat majority in the House of Representatives in November’s congressional elections.
‘‘This hurts our midterm prospects.’’
A Democratic victory in November would limit Trump’s ability to push through legisla tion and increase the risk of calls for his impeachment.
Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, said his client was ‘‘more than happy’’ to tell Mueller’s legal team everything he knows about Trump.
Democrats pounced on the Cohen and Manafort cases, saying they bolstered their argument that the Trump White House was weighed down by scandal.
Still, there were no immediate calls for Trump’s impeachment and Republican lawmakers did not join the chorus of criticism from Democratic ranks.
At a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, yesterday, a relatively subdued Trump did not mention either the Cohen or Manafort case.
Instead, as supporters cheered him on, he made fun of his opponents’ focus on the Mueller investigation, saying they were desperate to find collusion with Russians.