Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen strikes plea deal
It raises possibility that Cohen will provide information to US Special Counsel Mueller
US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has reached a plea bargain with federal prosecutors in New York on campaign finance violations, bank fraud and tax evasion, news media outlets reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources.
Cohen, 51, surrendered to the FBI, CNN said. He was to appear at the federal court in Manhattan at 4pm EDT yesterday, a court official told Reuters.
News that Cohen had entered into a plea agreement followed a report earlier in the day by NBC News, then others, that he was discussing a deal with prosecutors. The plea bargain could increase legal risks for the president, as it raises the possibility that Cohen will provide information to US Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and its possible coordination with the Trump campaign.
Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion and has called the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt”. Russia has also denied meddling in the election, but US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow did interfere.
Not the president’s man
Cohen was part of Trump’s inner circle for more than a decade, working as his personal attorney at the Trump Organisation and continuing to advise the president after the election. But their relationship has become frayed in recent months.
Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, declined to comment. Cohen and another of his lawyers, Guy Petrillo, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the earlier reports.
The probe is being led by the office of US Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan. A spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Federal agents had seized documents and files from Cohen in April that stemmed from a referral from Mueller’s office. Cohen once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, but their relationship has deteriorated since the April FBI raid on Cohen’s office, hotel room and home.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that federal prosecutors were focused on more than $20 million (Dh73.45 million) in loans obtained by Cohen, from taxi businesses owned by him and his family. The loans are part of the investigation into whether Cohen committed bank and tax fraud, and for possible campaign law violations linked to a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Mueller’s investigation, which began in May 2017, has resulted in the indictment of more than 30 people and five guilty pleas.
Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, is also currently on trial in Alexandria, Virginia, for 18 counts of financial crimes resulting from the Mueller probe. The jury in his case was in its fourth day of deliberations yesterday.