Meet key players in the Michael Cohen case
WASHINGTON – Three men with connections to President Donald Trump have reportedly been offered immunity by federal prosecutors in the criminal case against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges Tuesday, telling a federal court he violated campaign-finance laws by paying off two women to silence them before the 2016 election. He said he did so at Trump’s direction.
Here’s a look at the three men who have reportedly been granted immunity to provide information in the case:
Allen Weisselberg
Weisselberg is chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, the Trump family real estate and branding empire.
As the longtime financial gatekeeper, Weisselberg likely knows a great deal about the company’s payments to Cohen. According to court filings released this week, Cohen submitted invoices totaling $420,000 for legal expenses and other costs to Trump Organization executives.
Those payments were, in part, to reimburse Cohen for the hush money he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump in 2006, received $130,000 from Cohen shortly before the 2016 election to keep quiet.
In addition, Cohen twice mentioned Weisselberg’s name in a September 2016 recorded conversation with Trump in which the two men discussed buying the rights to the story of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who also claims a sexual relationship with Trump.
Weisselberg, who also serves as one of two trustees of the trust that controls Trump’s assets, was granted immunity to provide information about Cohen, according to The Wall Street Journal.
He started at the Trump Organization in 1973, working as a staff accountant for Trump’s father, Fred.
David Pecker
Pecker is the CEO of American Media Inc., which includes the National Enquirer tabloid magazine.
He is a close Trump ally who has been accused of helping to quash negative stories about the president, in part by buying the rights to those stories and refusing to publish them.
One of the stories Pecker reportedly buried was that of McDougal.
Pecker was granted immunity in the Cohen case in exchange for describing Trump’s role in reaching “hush” agreements with women to prevent them from talking before the 2016 election about their alleged affairs with Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair.
Dylan Howard
Howard is vice president and chief content officer for American Media Inc., which means he works as Pecker’s top lieutenant. He reportedly oversees the National Enquirer, US Weekly, Star and other publications for the company in New York.
Howard, a former TV journalist in Australia, was also asked by prosecutors to discuss “hush” agreements with women who alleged they had affairs with Trump.