NEW YORK (AP) - The unveiling of federal criminal charges against President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer came with drama as attorney Michael Cohen went farther than prosecutors were willing to go in pointing fingers. Not only did Cohen plead guilty to all eight charges, but he directly implicated the president in the payment of hush money to two women who claim they had affairs with him.

How did the court appearance play out and what are the implications? Some questions and answers:

Cohen, Trump's longtime "fixer," claimed his ex-boss - described only as the "candidate," was to blame for hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the 2016 election.

He told U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III that he arranged a $150,000 payment from a media company to the model "in coordination with, and at the direction of, a candidate for federal office." He said it was "for the principle purpose of influencing the election."

In the second instance, Cohen said he arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels "in coordination with, and at the direction of, the same candidate."

The emotional Cohen, who shook his head repeatedly during the 40-minute proceeding and cried outside court, did not name the two women either. But the amounts and the dates all lined up with payments made to Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal in the weeks and months leading up to the presidential election.

Other charges included tax evasion and making false statements to a bank.

A plea agreement with prosecutors calls for Cohen, 51, to get about four to five years in prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 12. He remains free in the meantime.

Before the guilty plea, speculation swirled about whether Cohen could deliver more dirt on his former boss as part of the deal. His legal team, as if to prove his value, took the unusual step of going public with a tape recording his client made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments.

But a plea agreement Cohen signed on Tuesday made no mention of cooperation.

By contrast, the agreement struck last year with Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, spelled out that he had to fully cooperate with the expectation he could be rewarded with a more lenient sentence.

Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said there's still a chance that Cohen could be cooperating under a separate agreement that's under seal.

"For a variety of reasons, prosecutors may not want to announce to the world that a defendant has agreed to cooperate," he said. Still, he added, prosecutors also could "have concluded that any additional information that he could provide beyond his public statements doesn't rise to the level of substantial assistance."

WHAT WAS THE REACTION TO COHEN'S GUILTY PLEA?

As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the dueling conviction and plea bargain by two former loyalists, Trump boarded Air Force One in the afternoon on the way to a rally in West Virginia. He ignored shouted questions from reporters about both former aides, retreating to his private stateroom on the airliner.

As Cohen left the courthouse, a couple of people outside chanted, "Lock him up!"

"If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?" Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted.

Daniel Petalas, former prosecutor in the Justice Department's public integrity section, said, "This brings President Trump closer into the criminal conduct."

Michael Avenatti says Cohen's plea should open the door to questioning Trump about "what he knew, when he knew it, and what he did about it."

Avenatti told The Associated Press that he was certain "cooperation was occurring" between Cohen and prosecutors, saying he had been made "very familiar" with what's going on.

Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, noted the possibility of Cohen cooperating should be worrying to the president and his allies.

"What it shows is that the people close to the president have criminal exposure and it may mean they don't need Cohen to cooperate," she said.

Associated Press writers Stephen R. Groves and Michael R. Sisak in New York, Jonathan Lemire and Catherine Lucey in Washington and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report.</s>Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying Trump directed him to arrange the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to fend off damage to his White House bid.

Cohen’s extraordinary account marks the first time that any Trump associate has gone into open court and implicated Trump himself in a crime, though whether or when a president can be prosecuted remains a matter of legal dispute.

The guilty plea was part of a double dose of bad news for Trump: It came at almost the same moment his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of eight financial crimes in the first trial to come out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s sprawling Russia investigation.

In a deal reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight counts, including tax evasion. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing December 12.

In entering the plea, Cohen did not name the two women or even Trump, recounting instead that he worked with an “unnamed candidate” to influence the election.

But the amounts and the dates all lined up with the $130,000 paid to Daniels and the $150,000 that went to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to buy their silence in the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Both women claimed to have had affairs with Trump, which he denies.

Cohen, his voice shaky as he answered questions from a federal judge, said one payment was “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”

However, in the charging documents, a news release and comments outside the courthouse, prosecutors did not go as far as Cohen did in open court in pointing the finger at the president. Prosecutors said Cohen acted “in coordination with a candidate or campaign for federal office for purposes of influencing the election.”

As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the conviction and plea bargain by two of his former loyalists, Trump himself boarded Air Force One on his way to a rally in West Virginia and ignored shouted questions about the men.

Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, noted in a statement that “there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen.”

Daniel Petalas, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s public integrity section, said, “This brings President Trump closer into the criminal conduct.”

“The president has certain protections while a sitting president, but if it were true, and he was aware and tried to influence an election, that could be a federal felony offense,” Petalas said. “This strikes close to home.”

After the court hearing, which ended with Cohen released on $500,000 bail, the lawyer wiped away tears as he gazed out a courthouse window. He left the building and headed straight for a black SUV with tinted windows. A couple of people outside chanted, “Lock him up!” as they recorded the scene with their phones.

Under federal law, expenditures to protect a candidate’s political fortunes can be construed to be campaign contributions, subject to federal laws that bar donations from corporations and set limits on how much can be given.

“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted.

Cohen’s plea follows months of scrutiny from federal investigations and a falling-out with the president, for whom Cohen once said he would “take a bullet.”

The FBI raided Cohen’s hotel room, home and office in April and seized more than 4 million items. The search sought bank records, communications with Trump’s campaign and information on the payments to the two women.

According to prosecutors, the payment to McDougal was made through the parent company of the National Enquirer. Cohen made the payment to Daniels through his own company and then was reimbursed by Trump, he said.

Trump denied to reporters in April that he knew anything about Cohen’s payments to Daniels, but the explanations from him and Giuliani have shifted multiple times since.

The president has fumed publicly about the raid, branding it “a witch hunt,” an assault on attorney-client privilege and a politically motivated attack by enemies in the FBI. But privately he has worried about what information Cohen may have after working for the Trump Organization for a decade.

“Obviously it’s not good for Trump,” Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, said of the plea bargain.

“I’m assuming he’s not going to be indicted because he’s a sitting president, Wisenberg added. “But it leads him closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House.”

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has held that a president cannot be indicted while in office. Trump’s lawyers have said that Mueller plans to adhere to that guidance, though Mueller’s office has never confirmed that. There would presumably be no bar against charging a president after he leaves the White House.

Daniels said Tuesday that she and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, feel vindicated and look forward to apologies “from the people who claimed we were wrong.”

Nothing made public so far indicates Cohen has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but Avenatti said he is certain that is happening.

Mueller’s team, which is looking into Russian interference in the presidential election, came across some of the evidence against Cohen in the course of its investigation and referred the matter to federal prosecutors in New York.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said that in addition to the campaign finance violations, Cohen failed to report more than $4 million in income between 2012 and 2016, including $1.3 million from his taxi medallion holdings.

Cohen also lied to a financial institution by failing to disclose more than $14 million in debt and obtaining a $500,000 home equity line of credit he wasn’t entitled to, Khuzami said. Cohen used that credit line to fund the Daniels payment, prosecutors said.

After making the hush money payments, Cohen submitted phony invoices to Trump’s company, ostensibly for services rendered in 2017, the prosecutor said.

“Those involves were a sham,” Khuzami said. “He provided no legal services for the year 2017. It was simply a means to obtain reimbursement for the unlawful contributions.”

Before the election, Cohen had been a trusted member of the Trump organization, working out of an office in Trump Tower next to one used by his boss. He raised millions for Trump’s campaign.

The president’s initial support for Cohen after the raid soon degenerated into a public feud, with Cohen hinting he might cut a deal with prosecutors.

When Cohen’s team produced a recording he had made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments, Trump tweeted: “What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!”

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer,” pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.

Cohen’s account appears to implicate Trump himself in a crime, though whether — or when — a president can be prosecuted remains a matter of legal dispute.

The guilty plea came almost at the same moment former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of eight financial crimes in the first trial to come out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s sprawling Russia investigation.

In a deal reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight counts in all, including tax evasion and making a false statement to a financial institution. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12.

In entering the plea, Cohen did not name the two women or even Trump, recounting instead that he worked with an “unnamed candidate.” But the amounts and the dates all lined up with the payments made to Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal in the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 White House election.

Cohen, his voice shaky as he answered questions from a federal judge, said one payment was “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”

As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the dueling conviction and plea bargain by two former loyalists, Trump boarded Air Force One in the afternoon on the way to a rally in West Virginia. He ignored shouted questions to reporters about both former aides, retreating to his private stateroom on the airliner.

Cohen left the building and headed straight for a black SUV with tinted windows. A couple of people outside chanted, “Lock him up!” as they recorded the scene with their phones.

Cohen’s plea follows months of scrutiny from federal investigations and a falling-out with the president, whom he previously said he would “take a bullet” for.

The FBI raided Cohen’s hotel room, home and office in April and seized more than 4 million items. The search sought bank records, communications with Trump’s campaign and information on a $130,000 payment to Daniels and a $150,000 one to McDougal. Both women claimed Trump had affairs with them, which he denies.

Trump denied to reporters in April that he knew anything about Cohen’s payments to Daniels, though the explanation from the president and his attorney Rudy Giuliani have shifted multiples times since.

The president has fumed publicly about what he felt was government overreach, while privately worrying about what material Cohen may have after working for the Trump Organization for a decade. Trump branded the raid “a witch hunt,” an assault on attorney-client privilege and a politically motivated attack by enemies in the FBI.

“Obviously it’s not good for Trump,” Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, said of Cohen plea bargain.

“I’m assuming he’s not going to be indicted because he’s a sitting president, Wisenberg added. “But it leads him closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House.”

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal advice and guidance to executive branch agencies, has held that a president cannot be indicted while in office. Trump’s lawyers have said that Mueller plans to adhere to that guidance, though Mueller’s office has never confirmed that. There would presumably be no bar against charging a president after he leaves the White House.

Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, noted that the deal does not require Cohen to cooperate, but does not preclude it from happening, which should be worrying to the president and his allies.

“What it shows is that the people close to the president have criminal exposure and it may mean they don’t need Cohen to cooperate,” she said.

Levenson argued that the deal also knocks back the argument that the investigations swirling around Trump are a “witch hunt.”

“No longer can you say Mueller is on a witch hunt when you have his own lawyer pleading guilty to things that were designed to impact the election,” she said.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement: “The factual basis of the plea, potentially implicating the president in illegal campaign finance violations, adds to the president’s legal jeopardy.”

Mueller’s team, which is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, came across the some of the evidence against Cohen in the course of its investigation and referred the matter to federal prosecutors in New York.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said that in addition to the campaign finance violations, Cohen failed to report more than $4 million in income between 2012 and 2016, including about $2.5 million from interest payments on a personal loan and $1.3 million from his taxi medallion holdings.

Cohen also lied to a financial institution by failing to disclose more than $14 million in debt and obtaining a $500,000 home equity line of credit he wasn’t entitled to, Khuzami said.

After making the hush money payments, Cohen submitted phony invoices to Trump’s company, ostensibly for services rendered in 2017, the prosecutor said.

“Those involves were a sham,” Khuzami said. “He provided no legal services for the year 2017. It was simply a means to obtain reimbursement for the unlawful contributions.”

Before the election, Cohen had been a trusted member of the Trump organization, working out of an office in Trump Tower next to one used by his boss.

He raised millions for Trump’s campaign and, after being interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee last year, told Vanity Fair that Trump had no part in the suspected Russian conspiracy to tamper with the election.

The president’s initial support for Cohen after the raid soon degenerated into a public feud, prompting speculation that, to save himself, Cohen might be willing to tell prosecutors some of the secrets he helped Trump keep.

When Cohen’s team produced a recording he had made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments, Trump tweeted: “What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!”</s>NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying Trump directed him to arrange the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.

Cohen’s account appears to implicate Trump himself in a crime, though whether — or when — a president can be prosecuted remains a matter of legal dispute.

The guilty plea was part of a double dose of bad news for Trump: It came at almost the same moment his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of eight financial crimes in the first trial to come out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s sprawling Russia investigation.

In a deal reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight counts, including tax evasion. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12.

In entering the plea, Cohen did not name the two women or even Trump, recounting instead that he worked with an “unnamed candidate.”

But the amounts and the dates all lined up with the $130,000 paid to Daniels and the $150,000 that went to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to buy their silence in the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 White House election. Both women claimed to have had affairs with Trump, which he denies.

Cohen, his voice shaky as he answered questions from a federal judge, said one payment was “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”

Daniel Petalas, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s public integrity section, said, “This brings President Trump closer into the criminal conduct.”

“The president has certain protections while a sitting president, but if it were true, and he was aware and tried to influence an election, that could be a federal felony offense,” Petalas said. “This strikes close to home.”

However, in the charging documents, a news release and comments outside the courthouse, prosecutors did not go as far as Cohen did in open court in pointing the finger at the president. Prosecutors said Cohen acted “in coordination with a candidate or campaign for federal office for purposes of influencing the election.”

As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the conviction and plea bargain by two of his former loyalists, Trump himself boarded Air Force One on his way to a rally in West Virginia and ignored shouted questions about the men.

Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, noted in a statement that “there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen.”

After the court hearing, which ended with Cohen released on $500,000 bail, the lawyer wiped away tears as he gazed out a courthouse window. He left the building and headed straight for a black SUV with tinted windows. A couple of people outside chanted, “Lock him up!” as they recorded the scene with their phones.

Under federal law, expenditures to protect a candidate’s political fortunes can be construed as campaign contributions, subject to federal laws that bar donations from corporations and set limits on how much can be given.

“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted.

Cohen’s plea follows months of scrutiny from federal investigations and a falling-out with the president, for whom Cohen once said he would “take a bullet.”

The FBI raided Cohen’s hotel room, home and office in April and seized more than 4 million items. The search sought bank records, communications with Trump’s campaign and information on the payments to the two women.

According to prosecutors, the payment to McDougal was made through the parent company of the National Enquirer. Cohen made the payment to Daniels through his own company and then was reimbursed by Trump, he said.

Trump denied to reporters in April that he knew anything about Cohen’s payments to Daniels, but the explanations from him and Giuliani have shifted multiple times since.

The president has fumed publicly about the raid, branding it “a witch hunt,” an assault on attorney-client privilege and a politically motivated attack by enemies in the FBI. But privately he has worried about what information Cohen may have after working for the Trump Organization for a decade.

“Obviously it’s not good for Trump,” Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, said of the plea bargain.

“I’m assuming he’s not going to be indicted because he’s a sitting president, Wisenberg added. “But it leads him closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House.”

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has held that a president cannot be indicted while in office. Trump’s lawyers have said that Mueller plans to adhere to that guidance, though Mueller’s office has never confirmed that. There would presumably be no bar against charging a president after he leaves the White House.

Daniels said Tuesday that she and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, feel vindicated and look forward to apologies “from the people who claimed we were wrong.”

Nothing made public so far indicates Cohen has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but Avenatti said he is certain that is happening.

Mueller’s team, which is looking into Russian interference in the presidential election, came across some of the evidence against Cohen in the course of its investigation and referred the matter to federal prosecutors in New York.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said that in addition to the campaign finance violations, Cohen failed to report more than $4 million in income between 2012 and 2016, including $1.3 million from his taxi medallion holdings.

Cohen also lied to a financial institution by failing to disclose more than $14 million in debt and obtaining a $500,000 home equity line of credit he wasn’t entitled to, Khuzami said. Cohen used that credit line to fund the Daniels payment, prosecutors said.

After making the hush money payments, Cohen submitted phony invoices to Trump’s company, ostensibly for services rendered in 2017, the prosecutor said.

“Those involves were a sham,” Khuzami said. “He provided no legal services for the year 2017. It was simply a means to obtain reimbursement for the unlawful contributions.”

Before the election, Cohen had been a trusted member of the Trump organization, working out of an office in Trump Tower next to one used by his boss. He raised millions for Trump’s campaign.

The president’s initial support for Cohen after the raid soon degenerated into a public feud, with Cohen hinting he might cut a deal with prosecutors.

When Cohen’s team produced a recording he had made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments, Trump tweeted: “What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!”

Associated Press writers Tom Hays, Stephen R. Groves and Michael R. Sisak in New York; Jonathan Lemire and Catherine Lucey in Washington; and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM</s>Yana Paskova/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Michael Cohen, the former longtime fixer and personal attorney for Donald Trump, appeared in federal court Tuesday afternoon, pleaded guilty to eight counts and said in open court that he made illegal campaign contributions “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office.”

The campaign finance violations are associated with Cohen’s role in alleged hush money agreements with two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, who claim to have had affairs with Trump.

The “candidate” Cohen referred to was not named in court but the criminal information identifies Cohen as the personal attorney “to Individual-1, who at that point had become the President of the United States.”

The information states that Cohen made a contribution to “Individual-1” and “did so by making and causing to be made an expenditure, in cooperation, consultation, and concert with, and at the request and suggestion of one or more members of the campaign, to wit, COHEN made a $130,000 payment to Woman-2 to ensure that she not publicize damaging allegation before the 2016 presidential election and thereby influence that election.”

“I participated in this conduct for the principal purpose” of influencing an election, Cohen said.

The president’s current personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was quick to react.

“There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the President in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen. It is clear that, as the prosecutor noted, Mr. Cohen’s actions reflect a pattern of lies and dishonesty over a significant period of time,” Giuliani said in a statement.

An attorney for Cohen, Lanny Davis, issued a statement as well.

“Michael Cohen took this step today so that his family can move on to the next chapter,” he said.

“This is Michael fulfilling his promise made on July 2nd to put his family and country first and tell the truth about Donald Trump,” Davis continued, referring to comments Cohen made in an interview with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.

“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. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Davis said.

Cohen had agreed to a deal with federal prosecutors in New York that required him to plead guilty to the violations of campaign finance law as well as several felony charges of bank fraud and tax evasion.

The tax charges stem from Cohen’s personal business dealings and investments in real estate and the taxi industry.

When the federal judge asked Cohen if he understood that he could get a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison if sentenced consecutively, Cohen said “yes.”

The government estimates Cohen would face some significant prison time under the deal, which will also require Cohen to make a substantial monetary forfeiture.

Though Cohen has been for weeks publicly signaling a willingness to consider a cooperation pact with authorities, it is unclear if there is a provision in the deal that requires Cohen to cooperate in ongoing federal investigations, either in New York or in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

There was no immediate indication of a cooperation agreement with the government — but the absence of a cooperation deal – while it would be notable – would not completely eliminate the possibility that Cohen could subsequently provide information to investigators that might result in a more lenient sentence.

Given Cohen’s proximity to Trump during the past decade, including throughout his meteoric rise from mogul and reality television star to the White House, observers consider him one of most potent legal thorns to confront Trump’s presidency since he took office.

“The guy who knows where all the bodies are buried,” said Seth Hettena, an author and veteran journalist who has chronicled Trump’s business career.

The investigation into Cohen was referred to New York’s Southern District by special counsel Robert Mueller, and if Cohen agrees to cooperate, the information he provides could benefit the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But it remains unclear if he has committed to cooperate.

Cohen’s relationship with Trump dates to the mid-2000’s after Cohen, who owned condominiums in multiple Trump buildings in New York, took Trump’s side in a legal dispute with the condo board at Trump World Tower on Manhattan’s East Side. Cohen eventually went to work for the Trump Organization, where he held the positions of executive vice president and special counsel to Donald J. Trump.

“Michael Cohen has great insight into the real estate market,” Trump said of Cohen in a 2007 New York Post interview. “He has invested in my buildings because he likes to make money – and he does.”

In addition to working inside the Trump Organization as a lawyer and problem solver, Cohen built a diverse portfolio of investments.

At one point that included running 260 yellow cabs with a Ukrainian-born partner – a partnership that ended in 2012. He also invested millions in real estate, often turning a tidy profit. For instance, a building he bought in 2011 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for $2.1 million, sold three years later for $10 million in cash.

The FBI raid on Cohen’s home and office in April gave the most significant indication his business dealings could become a legal problem for him.

Then in May, Evgeny Friedman, 46, a Russian immigrant known as the “Taxi King,” struck a plea deal that included a commitment to assist federal prosecutors investigating Cohen’s business practices.

At the time, veteran defense attorney Michael Volkov, who is not tied to this case, told ABC News he thought that spelled trouble for Cohen’s legal prospects.

“The government now has a strong inside witness who can assist in explaining many of Cohen’s business activities and potential fraud schemes, especially when it came to valuing the medallions for loan purposes,” Volkov said at the time.

In a Tweet shortly after Friedman’s plea arrangement, Cohen sought to distance himself from Friedman.

“I am one of thousands of medallion owners who entrust management companies to operate my medallions according to the rules of the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission,” Cohen wrote. “Gene Freidman and I are not partners and have never been partners in this business or any other.” Hettena, author of the book Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, said Cohen’s legal trouble is not a surprise to anyone who closely studied his legal career.

“This is a pattern with him,” Hettena said. “This is a guy who is willing to cut corners. To bend rules. Whatever is going to help whatever interest he is serving.”

For more than a decade around the office in Trump Tower – and around New York – Cohen’s loyalty to Trump was unquestioned as he developed a reputation as Trump’s “pit bull.”

“It means that if somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn’t like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump’s benefit,” Cohen said in a 2011 interview with ABC News. “If you do something wrong, I’m going to come at you, grab you by the neck and I’m not going to let you go until I’m finished.”

In 2010, Cohen was among the creators of a website, ShouldTrumpRun.org, that sought to encourage the New York real estate tycoon and reality television star to pursue a challenge to President Barrack Obama in the 2012 election.

“I think the world of [Trump],” Cohen told ABC News in the 2011 interview. “I respect him as a businessman, and I respect him as a boss.”

Cohen’s dealings at the Trump family business covers a broad sweep of its global empire – including several projects that have caught the attention of federal investigators. Cohen played an integral role in early discussions about a possible Trump Tower in Moscow – negotiations that were going on during the early months of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Cohen has confirmed he attended a lunch meeting with a Ukrainian politician one week after Trump took office, where the two men discussed the potential for Cohen to share a Ukraine peace proposal with his contacts at the White House.

“He could be extremely valuable,” said Matthew G. Olsen, a former federal prosecutor and ABC News contributor. “He was not just a personal lawyer but also was President Trump’s so-called fixer for a number of years. So he would have had access to lots of very personal information involving his business dealings.”

Cohen’s name appeared repeatedly in the now infamous dossier of unverified allegations, which included salacious claims about Trump, prepared by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele.

The agent, who was hired by Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm that was paid initially by Republicans and later by Democrats, alleged in the dossier that Cohen was involved in attempting to covering up contacts between Russian operatives and members of Trump campaign, according to the document.

In January, he tweeted “Enough is enough of the #fake #RussianDossier” before filing a lawsuit against Buzzfeed, the news outlet that first published the document – a suit he later withdrew.

In January – the Wall Street Journal first revealed Cohen’s role in negotiating a secret non-disclosure agreement with adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels. The deal – which was executed less than two weeks prior to the November presidential election – paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence.

Government watchdog groups quickly filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice, asking the agencies to investigate for possible violations of campaign finance law.

Following the disclosure of the Daniels’ deal, Cohen insisted that he had acted on his own in the Daniels deal and that he had not been reimbursed by the campaign or the Trump Organization.

He told ABC News that the funds used to pay Daniels came from an existing home equity line of credit.

Two sources familiar with the search warrant that led to the raids on Cohen properties told ABC News in April that federal agents were hunting for records tied to Cohen’s personal business dealings and secret deals with Trump’s alleged mistresses, media organizations during the 2016 presidential campaign.

On April 5, four days before the authorities raided Cohen’s properties in New York, President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he didn’t know why Cohen had paid Daniels or where he had gotten the money to pay her. The president later acknowledged, in a financial disclosure form filed last month with the Office of Government Ethics, that he had reimbursed Cohen.

Then there is Karen McDougal, who in August 2016 signed a $150,000 deal with American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, that transferred to the company the rights to her story of an alleged ten-month romantic affair with Trump in 2006. The magazine never published her story. McDougal alleged in a lawsuit filed earlier this year that Cohen had allegedly conspired with her former attorney to bury the story. McDougal settled her lawsuit.

President Trump, through his representatives, has denied the allegations of McDougal and Daniels.</s>Federal investigators are examining whether President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, committed bank and tax fraud worth more than $20 million, according to a media report.

The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, said authorities were focusing on loans obtained for taxi businesses owned by Cohen and his family. The bank loans under examination were provided by Sterling National Bank and Melrose Credit Union, the Times reported. Investigators are looking into whether Cohen obtained the loans by misrepresenting his assets.

Investigators were also considering whether Cohen had violated campaign finance and other laws when he made financial arrangements to pay women to stay silent about alleged affairs with then-candidate Trump in 2016.

Prosecutors may file charges by the end of August, two sources told the Times.

Cohen, who long served as Trump's fixer, has been under investigation for months. In April, federal investigators for the Southern District of New York seized roughly 4 million files from Cohen's home, business office and hotel room.

Last week, a court-appointed special master who reviewed the material said investigators would have access to most of those records.

More: Feds win access to records seized from ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

More: Michael Cohen tapes: Here's what we know about the secret recordings

The investigation has ruptured the once close relationship between Cohen and Trump. In July, Cohen reportedly said the president had been aware of a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower to obtain damaging about Hillary Clinton.

Cohen also released a tape in which he and Trump discuss buying the rights of former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story about having an affair with Trump.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — The unveiling of federal criminal charges against President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer came with drama as attorney Michael Cohen went farther than prosecutors were willing to go in pointing fingers. Not only did Cohen plead guilty to all eight charges, but he directly implicated the president in the payment of hush money to two women who claim they had affairs with him.

How did the court appearance play out and what are the implications? Some questions and answers:

Cohen, Trump's longtime "fixer," claimed his ex-boss — described only as the "candidate," was to blame for hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the 2016 election.

He told U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III that he arranged a $150,000 payment from a media company to the model "in coordination with, and at the direction of, a candidate for federal office." He said it was "for the principle purpose of influencing the election."

In the second instance, Cohen said he arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels "in coordination with, and at the direction of, the same candidate."

The emotional Cohen, who shook his head repeatedly during the 40-minute proceeding and cried outside court, did not name the two women either. But the amounts and the dates all lined up with payments made to Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal in the weeks and months leading up to the presidential election.

Other charges included tax evasion and making false statements to a bank.

A plea agreement with prosecutors calls for Cohen, 51, to get about four to five years in prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 12. He remains free in the meantime.

Before the guilty plea, speculation swirled about whether Cohen could deliver more dirt on his former boss as part of the deal. His legal team, as if to prove his value, took the unusual step of going public with a tape recording his client made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments.

But a plea agreement Cohen signed on Tuesday made no mention of cooperation.

By contrast, the agreement struck last year with Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, spelled out that he had to fully cooperate with the expectation he could be rewarded with a more lenient sentence.

Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said there's still a chance that Cohen could be cooperating under a separate agreement that's under seal.

"For a variety of reasons, prosecutors may not want to announce to the world that a defendant has agreed to cooperate," he said. Still, he added, prosecutors also could "have concluded that any additional information that he could provide beyond his public statements doesn't rise to the level of substantial assistance."

WHAT WAS THE REACTION TO COHEN'S GUILTY PLEA?

As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the dueling conviction and plea bargain by two former loyalists, Trump boarded Air Force One in the afternoon on the way to a rally in West Virginia. He ignored shouted questions from reporters about both former aides, retreating to his private stateroom on the airliner.

As Cohen left the courthouse, a couple of people outside chanted, "Lock him up!"

"If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?" Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted.

Daniel Petalas, former prosecutor in the Justice Department's public integrity section, said, "This brings President Trump closer into the criminal conduct."

Michael Avenatti says Cohen's plea should open the door to questioning Trump about "what he knew, when he knew it, and what he did about it."

Avenatti told The Associated Press that he was certain "cooperation was occurring" between Cohen and prosecutors, saying he had been made "very familiar" with what's going on.

Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, noted the possibility of Cohen cooperating should be worrying to the president and his allies.

"What it shows is that the people close to the president have criminal exposure and it may mean they don't need Cohen to cooperate," she said.

Associated Press writers Stephen R. Groves and Michael R. Sisak in New York, Jonathan Lemire and Catherine Lucey in Washington and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — In his guilty plea, Michael Cohen says hush money payments to women were made “at the direction” of Trump .</s>Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying Trump directed him to arrange the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to fend off damage to his White House bid.Cohen's extraordinary account marks the first time that any Trump associate has gone into open court and implicated Trump himself in a crime, though whether - or when - a president can be prosecuted remains a matter of legal dispute.The guilty plea was part of a double dose of bad news for Trump: It came at almost the same moment his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of eight financial crimes in the first trial to come out of special counsel Robert Mueller's sprawling Russia investigation.In a deal reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight counts , including tax evasion. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12.In entering the plea, Cohen did not name the two women or even Trump, recounting instead that he worked with an "unnamed candidate" to influence the election.But the amounts and the dates all lined up with the $130,000 paid to Daniels and the $150,000 that went to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to buy their silence in the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Both women claimed to have had affairs with Trump, which he denies.Cohen, his voice shaky as he answered questions from a federal judge, said one payment was "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office," and the other was made "under direction of the same candidate."However, in the charging documents, a news release and comments outside the courthouse, prosecutors did not go as far as Cohen did in open court in pointing the finger at the president. Prosecutors said Cohen acted "in coordination with a candidate or campaign for federal office for purposes of influencing the election."As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the conviction and plea bargain by two of his former loyalists, Trump himself boarded Air Force One on his way to a rally in West Virginia and ignored shouted questions about the men.Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, noted in a statement that "there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government's charges against Mr. Cohen."Daniel Petalas, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department's public integrity section, said, "This brings President Trump closer into the criminal conduct.""The president has certain protections while a sitting president, but if it were true, and he was aware and tried to influence an election, that could be a federal felony offense," Petalas said. "This strikes close to home."After the court hearing, which ended with Cohen released on $500,000 bail, the lawyer wiped away tears as he gazed out a courthouse window. He left the building and headed straight for a black SUV with tinted windows. A couple of people outside chanted, "Lock him up!" as they recorded the scene with their phones.Under federal law, expenditures to protect a candidate's political fortunes can be construed to be campaign contributions, subject to federal laws that bar donations from corporations and set limits on how much can be given."If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?" Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted.Cohen's plea follows months of scrutiny from federal investigations and a falling-out with the president, for whom Cohen once said he would "take a bullet."The FBI raided Cohen's hotel room, home and office in April and seized more than 4 million items. The search sought bank records, communications with Trump's campaign and information on the payments to the two women.According to prosecutors, the payment to McDougal was made through the parent company of the National Enquirer. Cohen made the payment to Daniels through his own company and then was reimbursed by Trump, he said.Trump denied to reporters in April that he knew anything about Cohen's payments to Daniels, but the explanations from him and Giuliani have shifted multiple times since.The president has fumed publicly about the raid, branding it "a witch hunt," an assault on attorney-client privilege and a politically motivated attack by enemies in the FBI. But privately he has worried about what information Cohen may have after working for the Trump Organization for a decade."Obviously it's not good for Trump," Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, said of the plea bargain."I'm assuming he's not going to be indicted because he's a sitting president, Wisenberg added. "But it leads him closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House."The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has held that a president cannot be indicted while in office. Trump's lawyers have said that Mueller plans to adhere to that guidance, though Mueller's office has never confirmed that. There would presumably be no bar against charging a president after he leaves the White House.Daniels said Tuesday that she and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, feel vindicated and look forward to apologies "from the people who claimed we were wrong."Nothing made public so far indicates Cohen has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but Avenatti said he is certain that is happening.Mueller's team, which is looking into Russian interference in the presidential election, came across some of the evidence against Cohen in the course of its investigation and referred the matter to federal prosecutors in New York.Late Tuesday, Cohen's lawyer told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to Mueller and is "more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows."Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said that in addition to the campaign finance violations, Cohen failed to report more than $4 million in income between 2012 and 2016, including $1.3 million from his taxi medallion holdings.Cohen also lied to a financial institution by failing to disclose more than $14 million in debt and obtaining a $500,000 home equity line of credit he wasn't entitled to, Khuzami said. Cohen used that credit line to fund the Daniels payment, prosecutors said.After making the hush money payments, Cohen submitted phony invoices to Trump's company, ostensibly for services rendered in 2017, the prosecutor said."Those involves were a sham," Khuzami said. "He provided no legal services for the year 2017. It was simply a means to obtain reimbursement for the unlawful contributions."Before the election, Cohen had been a trusted member of the Trump organization, working out of an office in Trump Tower next to one used by his boss. He raised millions for Trump's campaign.The president's initial support for Cohen after the raid soon degenerated into a public feud, with Cohen hinting he might cut a deal with prosecutors.When Cohen's team produced a recording he had made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments, Trump tweeted: "What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!"----------</s>In his guilty plea, Michael Cohen says hush money payments to women were made "at the direction" of Trump

NEW YORK (AP) — In his guilty plea, Michael Cohen says hush money payments to women were made "at the direction" of Trump .
Michael Cohen, the ex-lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump, pleads guilty to eight felony financial charges. He admits that a $150,000 hush money payment in August 2016, "at the direction" of an unnamed candidate, was for the "principal purpose of influencing" the 2016 presidential election. He is released on $500,000 bail until his sentencing on December 12. He faces up to 65 years, though prosecutors recommend 46 to 63 months.