In a setback to Trump, Cohen pleads guilty, Manafort convicted

“If you believe the theory that the payment was made exclusively for the objective of influencing a federal election, then the recipient of the benefit would be the Trump presidential campaign, and therefore they would have received an impermissible excessive contribution, ” said Charlie Spies, who served as counsel for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign. The searches – in which agents collected all of Cohen’s phones and electronic devices – set off panic in the White House that federal investigators were looking into Trump’s business dealings and communications with Cohen.

Cohen is due to appear in federal court in NY at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Cohen had surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier Tuesday. He faces a substantial monetary fine and could face over five years in prison.

Jail time was one of the sticking points in the negotiations between the two sides, according to one source.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said impeaching Mr. Trump is “not a priority” for Democrats, telling the Associated Press after the Cohen and Manafort court decisions that “impeachment has to spring from something else”.

Cohen has been concerned about asset forfeiture, and the possibility that he would leave his family with nothing.

The United States of America is facing a constitutional crisis following Michael Cohen’s guilty pleas in federal court yesterday, Washington Post columnist Max Boot argued on Wednesday.

Manafort was found guilty in the first criminal trial arising from the Mueller investigation, though none of the charges against him related to any collusion with Russian Federation.

Davis told CNN he believed his client had information that would be of interest to the special counsel, but did not give further details.

Neither prosecutors in Manhattan nor Cohen’s attorney would comment on the matter.

A plea deal could be a significant blow for Trump.

In Wednesday’s tweet, Mr Trump praised Manafort for withstanding “tremendous pressure” by the justice department of the president’s own administration.

The FBI raided Cohen’s home and office on a referral from Mueller.

On Tuesday morning, Cohen was seen entering his attorney’s office and did not respond to questions.

“It was evolutionary”, said attorney Lanny Davis.

No US president has ever been removed from office on the basis of impeachment.

The Cohen investigation was referred to the Southern District of NY by special counsel Robert Mueller.

There has been no indication that Cohen will talk to or cooperated with Mueller’s team.

Alan Dershowitz is claiming that the bombshell admission by Michael Cohen that U.S. President Donald Trump directed him to pay hush money to two women in the days leading up to the election is not as “deadly as it is being portrayed”. And, you know, based on the dates and other information, it’s clear that that relates to a payment made to former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal.

Mr. Cohen told a court on Tuesday that he made the payments “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office”, but the plea deal documents do not implicate Mr. Trump in the transaction.

Cohen initially denied making the payments to the women – McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels – or that Trump had any knowledge of them.

No charges have been filed yet as a result of the investigation into Cohen.

Prosecutors had been investigating Cohen for possible fraud related to his businesses for months. They also brought in bankers and accountants to tell jurors how when Manafort’s foreign consulting income dropped off, he turned to obtaining millions of dollars more in bank loans under false pretenses.

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