New probe adds to legal woes for Trump
President Donald Trump knew it was wrong to order election-eve hush money paid to two women who claimed affairs with him, his former lawyer Michael Cohen said in an interview yesterday.
Trump acted because he “was very concerned about how this would affect the election,” Cohen told ABC News of the women’s allegations in his first comments since being sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday.
Trump has said he never directed Cohen to break the law. But Cohen, asked if Trump knew the payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal were wrong, said “of course.”
Problems mount
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal problems mounted as federal prosecutors in New York are looking into whether his inaugural committee misspent more than $100 million (Dh367 million) it raised from donors, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter.
The Journal said many of the president’s biggest campaign supporters were contributors to his inaugural fund. Donating in exchange for political favours or using funds for purposes other than the inauguration could violate federal laws.
The newspaper reported that the investigation is in its early stages, and stemmed from materials obtained during an FBI raid earlier this year of Cohen.