Michael Cohen (Image: Getty)
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump‘s longtime personal attorney, struck a plea deal with prosecutors on Tuesday over payments he made to several women with whom Trump had extramarital affairs.
Cohen reportedly told the judge he made the payments to silence the women “at Trump’s direction” in order to “influence” the 2016 election. The agreement does not include cooperating with federal investigators, according to the New York Times. Cohen is set to plead guilty to several tax and bank fraud charges, as well as campaign finance violations. Trump’s so-called “fixer” also surrendered to the FBI in New York on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Cohen invoked the Fifth Amendment in the case involving porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006. Daniels and her lawyer Michael Avenatti sued Cohen and Trump for defamation over the affair, which resulted in a non-disclosure agreement and a $130,000 payment in hush money just weeks before the 2016 election. Daniels claimed the NDA was invalid because the former Apprentice host never signed it. This case was heard in Manhattan, New York.
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For months, Cohen voiced his unwavering loyalty to Trump, saying he was willing to do anything to protect his wealthy client, even “take a bullet” for him. Earlier this summer, however, Cohen said he puts “family and country first” in any criminal investigations into himself or Trump. Cohen’s home, hotel room and office were raided by the FBI in April for documents related to the payment to Daniels, including emails and text messages Trump and his lawyer exchanged. A thorough review months later showed less than one percent of the millions of materials seized were subject to attorney-client privilege, something Trump furiously claimed the raids had violated. It was also recently revealed that Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with Trump about plans for a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, one of the many women the president had an affair with.
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On Sunday, the Times reported that prosecutors were looking into more than $20 million in loans to taxi businesses owned by Cohen and his family.
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