Back-to-back legal blows in Trump circle jolt presidency

President Donald Trump confronted one of the most perilous moments of his presidency on Aug. 21 after two onetime members of his inner circle simultaneously were labeled “guilty” of criminal charges.

Although Trump largely ignored the jarring back-to-back blows at a campaign rally in West Virginia, questions mounted about his possible legal exposure and political future.

In a split screen for the history books, Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of financial crimes at nearly the same moment Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a series of felonies, including campaign finance violations that the lawyer said he carried out in coordination with Trump.

Before week’s end, additional players in the Trump orbit were being offered immunity.

Trump’s longtime friend David Pecker, the CEO of National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., had also been granted immunity in the Cohen probe, as well as the company’s chief content officer, Dylan Howard.

The president’s business finance chief, a close confidant who has worked for the family’s real estate business since the early 1970s, was granted immunity in the federal probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, media outlets reported Friday.

Depending on the extent of the immunity granted to Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, which was not immediately known, it could be a major development in the ongoing investigations surrounding the president. The 71-year-old Weisselberg is likely to have knowledge of every major personal and business deal Trump has been involved in since his career as a real estate mogul began.

With Cohen and Manafort, two men who played prominent roles on the president’s campaign convicted of multiple criminal charges, the investigations circled ever closer to Trump.

But for all that, Trump spent more than an hour at a rally in Charleston on Tuesday night painting a rosy view of his accomplishments in office, ticking off developments on trade, taxes, North Korea and even his plans for a Space Force.

“What we’re doing is winning,” Trump told cheering supporters.

“Where is the collusion?” he demanded, underscoring that Manafort’s crimes had occurred before he became involved with the Trump campaign. “You know they’re still looking for collusion.”

The president did say he felt “badly for both” men, but he largely ignored Cohen’s guilty pleas to eight felonies.

Manafort was convicted Tuesday in Virginia on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential obstruction of justice. Cohen pleaded guilty in New York, saying he and Trump had arranged the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.

The family of a man who was found dead in a ravine in the Tolbert Town area of Polk County finally got to give him a chance to be at peace last week.

After having to wait many days for the return of the body of 49-year-old Terry Rayburn from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab, his family was able to hold funeral services late last week in Rockmart, arranged by Alvis Miller and Son Funeral Home. He was laid to rest after a Thursday, Aug. 23 service in the Aragon Cemetery.

His cause of death is still unknown, according to Polk County Coroner Tony Brazier.

In an effort to assist the Cedartown Police Department with the investigation into the 2016 shooting death of Kenneth Albert, his family is offering a reward in the amount of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of any person or persons responsible for his murder.

Kenneth Albert was found shot to death in his home on Barnes Alley in Cedartown on May 22, 2016.

The Cedartown Police Department is handling the investigation.

The reward has been up for offer in the unsolved homicide since March 2017.

Any person desiring to provide information in this case should call the Cedartown Police Department at 770-7484123 and speak with Det. Chris Reed.