Tag: Michael Cohen

Trump Org CFO granted immunity in Cohen investigation: report

The following article by Morgan Ostalter was posted on the Hill website August 24, 2018:

Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has been granted immunity by federal prosecutors working on the criminal investigation into Michael Cohen, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Weisselberg testified before a federal grand jury earlier this year as prosecutors investigated Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer.

Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance violations relating to the hush-money payments provided to women who alleged affairs with President Trumpduring the 2016 campaign.

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Prosecutors grant immunity to Enquirer’s David Pecker: report B

The following article by Megan Keller was posted on the Hill website August 23, 2018:

Prosecutors reportedly granted immunity to David Pecker, the CEO of the company that publishes National Enquirer, as part of their investigation into President Trump‘s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.

Pecker met with the prosecution to discuss Cohen’s involvement in Trump’s hush-money deals with women leading up to the 2016 presidential election, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Pecker has emerged as a central figure in the scandal involving the payments. CNN last month released audio of Trump and Cohen discussing payment to a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, in which Cohen apparently references Pecker, telling Trump that he needs “to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David.”

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Trump accuses Cohen of lying to get deal

The following article by Jordan Fabian was posted on the Hill website August 22, 2018:

President Trump on Wednesday accused Michael Cohen of making up stories to “get a ‘deal'” after the former Trump lawyer implicated the president in a campaign finance case.

Trump said in a tweet he has “such respect” for his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who was convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud, because he did not “break” like Cohen by providing damaging information to prosecutors.

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. ‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ — make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!” he wrote.

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After two convictions, pressure mounts on Trump

The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website August 21, 2018:

In one hour on Aug. 21, the presidency of Donald Trump was dramatically altered with the conviction of Paul Manafort and the guilty plea of Michael Cohen. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post)

No day during President Trump’s 19 months in office could prove as dangerous or debilitating as Tuesday. Everything that happened in a pair of courtrooms hundreds of miles apart strengthened the hand of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and weakened that of the president of the United States.

This was a day when truth overran tweets, when facts overwhelmed bald assertions. Presidential tweets, however provocative, eventually disappear into the ether. Tuesday’s convictions could send two people who have had close relationships with Trump to prison for several years, while one of them brought the investigation to the doorstep of the White House. Continue reading “After two convictions, pressure mounts on Trump”

After Tough Tuesday, No Mention of Former Aides at Trump Rally

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 22, 2018:

President Trump at a rally on in Charleston, WV. Paul Manafort, his former campaign manager and a longtime political operative, was found guilty in a Washington court earlier in the day on federal charges. Credit: Spencer Platt, Getty Images

As Donald Trump began to speak Tuesday evening at a political rally in West Virginia, there was a problem with his microphone. In a way, it was a fitting moment near the end of a very rough day for the president.

Trump lost Tuesday on optics alone. And the fallout from two dramatic court scenes could deliver him legal and political headaches — though he has a certain Teflon quality that allows him to absorb negative developments and retain support of around 40 percent of the U.S. electorate.

About two hours before Trump departed the White House for the Charleston rally, news broke that Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney and fixer,  would plead guilty to multiple campaign finance, bank fraud and tax fraud charges. That came just before the president’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was found guilty on eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud by a jury in Virginia. Manafort faces up to 80 years in prison.

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Trump’s company approved $420,000 in payments to Cohen, relying on ‘sham’ invoices, prosecutors say

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig and Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website August 21, 2018:

President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty Aug. 21 to eight violations of banking, tax and campaign finance laws. (Video: Monica Akhtar/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump’s real estate company authorized paying $420,000 to lawyer Michael Cohen in his effort to silence women during the presidential campaign and then relied on “sham” invoices from Cohen that concealed the nature of the payments, according to legal filings released Tuesday.

The payments began flowing in February 2017, soon after Trump took office, when Cohen approached Trump Organization executives seeking to be reimbursed for “election-related” expenses, prosecutors said.

That included a $130,000 payment Cohen had made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels so she would remain silent about an alleged affair with Trump, according to the court documents.

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Want to Know More About: The Michael Cohen Guilty Plea?

Major Garrett: “Another Complication For The President In This Midterm Political Climate, The Number Of People Close To Him Who Have Either Pled Guilty, Been Convicted Or Implicated In Wrongdoing Continues To Multiply.” [CBS This Morning, CBS, 8/22/18; Video]

Alisyn Camerota: “Cohen, Mr. Trump’s Personal Lawyer, Directly Implicated The President Of The United States As An Unindicted Co-Conspirator Of A Federal Crime.” ALISYN CAMEROTA: “And Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, directly implicated the president of the United States as an unindicted co-conspirator of a federal crime. Cohen testified under oath that the president told him to make those hush money payments to two women who accused the president of affairs for, quote, principle purpose of influencing the election.” [New Day, CNN, 8/22/18; Video] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: The Michael Cohen Guilty Plea?”

What Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea Means for Donald Trump

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 21, 2018:

Here are 3 takeaways from the former fixer’s admission he broke the law

President Donald Trump enters the Capitol for a meeting with House Republicans in June. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to a list of charges on Tuesday. Credit: Bill Clark, CQ Roll Call file photo

ANALYSIS — By striking a plea deal, Michael Cohen essentially signed a disloyalty pledge to his former boss: Donald Trump. And it should give the president ample reasons to sweat.

Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday in a surprise hearing in New York to multiple campaign finance, bank fraud and tax fraud charges. The hearing culminated several weeks of the former “fixer” and his team publicly criticizing Trump — and the president firing back.

Trump reportedly has grown agitated in recent weeks that Cohen could attempt to ward off a stiffer penalty by providing federal investigators damaging information about his business and political dealings.

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Cohen reaches plea deal in tax fraud case: reports

The following article by Tal Axelrod and Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website August 21, 2018:

Longtime Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors in Manhattan regarding banking and tax fraud allegations, according to multiple reports.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s office is running the probe, but any cooperation could extend to other federal investigations.

Beyond the banking and tax fraud charges, Cohen is being investigated for campaign finance violations for his role in alleged payments he coordinated to women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with President Trump in order to buy their silence about their allegations.

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Trum Campaign Chair Paul Manafort and Trump Fixer Michael Cohen

Composite: Jim Lo Scalzo/Mandel Ngan/Mike Segar, EPA, Gett, Reuters

The seriousness of yesterday’s developments cannot be overstated. The culture of corruption that Donald Trump brings with him everywhere is a disgrace to the presidency and a threat to our democracy.

The special counsel’s investigation has never been a “witch hunt.” Trump’s former campaign chairman being found guilty of eight counts of financial crimes proves it. Paul Manafort wasn’t just Trump’s campaign chair, he was one of his most trusted advisors; the two have known each other for nearly four decades and reportedly spoke to each other nearly 20 times a day. Continue reading “Trum Campaign Chair Paul Manafort and Trump Fixer Michael Cohen”