Legal jeopardy
US President Donald Trump may be implicated in conspiring to commit campaign finance fraud as his two lieutenants, Cohen and Manafort, are found guilty.
NEW YORK: Donald Trump stood accused of conspiring to commit campaign finance fraud and two of his closest aides faced jail time, after court proceedings delivered a legal and political one-two punch to his embattled presidency.
In a drama that played out simultaneously across two US cities on Tuesday, a court found one former aide guilty of eight charges – and the other pleaded guilty to another eight – stemming from the federal investigation into the 2016 presidential election.
In New York, Trump’s long-time fixer, attorney Michael Cohen, admitted to charges that included making illegal campaign contributions.
Cohen detailed how he made pre-election hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both claim to have had affairs with Trump.
But in a sensational twist, Cohen also pointed to the president – or “individual 1” as a co-conspirator – alleging that he acted “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” in making those payments.
“I participated in this conduct with the purpose of influencing the election,” a visibly crestfallen Cohen told the judge, his voice trembling at times as he addressed the packed courtroom.
That admission put Trump himself in legal jeopardy. And it raised the prospect that a once-trusted lieutenant is ready to spill secrets, gathered over decades, in exchange for a reduced sentence.
In a statement, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said, “there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the President in the government’s charges against Mr Cohen”.
Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis explained his client’s about face after years spent vowing to “take a bullet” for Trump.
“This is Michael fulfilling his promise ... to put his family and country first and tell the truth about Donald Trump,” said Davis.
“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,” the lawyer continued.
While the Cohen drama was unfolding in New York, a jury in Virginia found Trump’s one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty on eight counts, including bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to declare foreign bank accounts.
Trump expressed regret, calling Manafort “a good man”.
“I feel very sad about that,” Trump told reporters as he arrived in West Virginia for a rally on Tuesday, claiming the conviction was part of a “witch hunt” after the 2016 election.
“It’s a very sad thing that happened, this has nothing to do with Russian collusion.”
At the rally, Trump made oblique but impassioned comments about Manafort and the Mueller probe.
“Where is the collusion?” he asked the crowd.
“They are still looking for collusion, where is the collusion? Find some collusion. We want to find the collusion.” — AFP