Lawyer says Trump told him to pay ‘hush money’
Michael Cohen tells court he broke finance law ‘at the direction’ of his former employer
DONALD TRUMP was last night accused of ordering his personal lawyer to break the law by paying hush money to two women – a porn star and a former Playboy model – before the 2016 US election.
Michael Cohen implicated the US president in the breaking of campaign finance laws as he admitted facilitating payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal in an attempt to influence the election.
In a court appearance, he went on to suggest Mr Trump was a co-conspirator. He said that the payments to the women, who claimed to have had affairs with Mr Trump, were made at the “direction of” the candidate at the time – meaning the now president.
It came on the same day as Paul Manafort, Mr Trump’s former campaign chairman, was found guilty of eight charges of tax and bank fraud, leaving him facing 80 years in prison.
Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s lawyer, issued a statement last night hitting out at Mr Cohen’s “pattern of lies and dishonesty”.
The exact implications of Cohen’s claims on Mr Trump were unclear last night. US Department of Justice guidelines say the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting president would “unconstitutionally undermine” his ability to perform his duties. However the issue is a point of legal debate.
Cohen was Mr Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer for more than a decade, but cut ties with the president in recent months after the FBI raided his office and home before launching a criminal investigation. Cohen yesterday pleaded guilty to eight charges – five relating to unpaid tax, one relating to a house loan and two relating to campaign finances.
The final two relate to payments of $150,000 to Ms Mcdougal, a Playboy model, and $130,000 to Ms Daniels, a porn star, before the 2016 US election.
Cohen admitted facilitating the payments in court. He said both were made at the “direction of ” the candidate – Mr Trump, though his name was not said explicitly in court. Cohen also said the payments were for the “principal purpose of influencing the election”.
Lanny Davis, Mr Cohen’s lawyer, said: “Today [Cohen] 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?”
Mr Giuliani said: “There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr Cohen.”
In a separate development, Mr Manafort, who served as Mr Trump’s campaign chairman during the summer of 2016, was found guilty of eight charges in a fraud case.
Mr Cohen and Mr Manafort are the latest Trump aides to end up in court. George Papadopoulos, the former foreign policy adviser, and Rick Gates, former deputy campaign chairman, both admitted criminal charges.
Mr Trump last night called Mr Manafort a “good man” and said the charges had nothing to do with Russian collusion. He stayed silent on Mr Cohen’s claims.