Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, reaches plea deal

Court hearing is scheduled for 4pm ET, barricades have been set up around the Manhattan court house.

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former longtime personal attorney, tentatively reaches a plea deal: Sources
By Matthew Mosk and James Hill
Aug 21, 2018, 2:11 PM ET

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former longtime personal attorney, has tentatively reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, ABC News has learned.

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.

Ex-Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen to Plead Guilty to Charges Stemming From a Federal Investigation in New York, Sources Say
The specific details of that arrangement weren't immediately clear, but two sources tell News 4 the expected deal will include charges related to tax fraud, bank fraud and a campaign finance violation
By Sarah Fitzpatrick Joe Valiquette, Jonathan Dienst and Tom Winter
Published 3 hours ago | Updated 6 minutes ago

President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen will plead guilty to charges stemming from a federal investigation in New York, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News and News 4.

The specific details of that arrangement weren't immediately clear, but two sources tell News 4 the expected deal will include charges related to tax fraud, bank fraud and a campaign finance violation.

Cohen is expected to appear in Manhattan court later Tuesday.

SpicyFiles @SpicyFiles 55 minutes ago

SpicyFiles Retweeted Ale

https://twitter.com/aliasvaughn/status/1031960243708805120

Question remains what KIND of plea deal.
Is he a proactive cooperating witness?
Is he merely a “global” witness?
Is he secular to crimes in NYC -cough- Trump Org?
More importantly is Cohen cooperating with Mueller and that Investigation?
So many questions...

Here’s another thing, this -might- be merely a plea deal versus a cooperating witness as part of a plea deal. That’s a relatively YUGE distinction most will conflate When it comes to Cohen always know to look deeper, he’s not exactly a kosher business man. Just saying.

Trump’s Former Fixer, Michael Cohen, Reaches a Plea Agreement Over Payments to Women
By William K. Rashbaum, Maggie Haberman and Ben Protess
Aug. 21, 2018

Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, on Tuesday reached a plea agreement with prosecutors investigating payments he made to women on behalf of Mr. Trump, a deal that does not include cooperation with federal authorities, two people familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Cohen is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts of bank and tax fraud charges and campaign finance violations. For months, prosecutors in New York have been scrutinizing him for those crimes and focusing on his role in helping to arrange financial deals to secure the silence of women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump.

Ale @aliasvaughn 31 minutes ago

BREAKING:@MIchaelAvenatti on @MSNBC "Cohen is going to provide investigators with intel that's very damaging for Trump, starting from his financial dealings with Trump over the past 12 years. It's broader than just this but it includes this. THere's NO DOUBT he is cooperating."

MSNBC Verified account @MSNBC 6 minutes ago

.@danielsgoldman tells @SteveKornacki that when he was working for the SDNY that he would tell witnesses "you can not pick and choose who you cooperate against, if you are going to cooperate you need to be all in."

What takes Trump down is if Trump himself is found guilty of committing crimes. Don't break the law and you don't go to jail, that simple.

No, I will not make any friendly wagers because I don't relish what this country is going through at all. This is not a game, it's not funny, and it's nothing to celebrate. We have a long road ahead of us to clean up the corruption that has taken root due to our apathy. We must begin fixing our democratic processes so as to prevent this insidiousness from happening again and it's going to take all of us together to do that.

From KDVR FOX31: Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen pleads guilty, implicates Trump in hush-money scheme
Posted 1:21 pm, August 21, 2018, by Associated Press

NEW YORK — 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 'more than happy' to talk to Mueller, tell 'all that he knows,' lawyer says
By Edmund DeMarche | Fox News

Lanny Davis, the attorney for President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, said Tuesday that his client is “more than happy” to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller “all that he knows.”

Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges. He said Trump directed him to arrange the payments of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to fend off damage to his 2016 White House bid.

In entering the plea, Cohen did not specifically 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 McDougal.

Michael Cohen: Trump ex-lawyer 'happy' to aid Russia probe
BBC

Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to violating finance laws during the 2016 presidential election by handling hush money for Mr Trump's alleged lovers.

Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis says his client has knowledge of whether Donald Trump knew in advance about the computer hacking which undermined his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Cohen also has knowledge, Mr Davis said, of a meeting at Trump Tower in New York in June 2016 between Trump campaign aides and a Russian delegation which was promising political "dirt".

Undisclosed payments to bury embarrassing stories about a political candidate can be treated as a violation of US campaign finance laws.