Michael Cohen, a longtime personal lawyer and consigliere for President Donald Trump, is in a Manhattan courtroom at this hour to plead guilty to federal charges. He faces 3-5 years in federal prison.
Cohen, pictured 2nd from right, plead guilty to campaign violations for making payments to women including an adult film actress, according to Fox News.
Cohen told a federal judge on Tuesday that he made payments to 2 women under the direction of a candidate for public office to “influence the outcome of the election.”
“I used a company under my control to pay $130,000 to a person to keep information from becoming public,” Cohen told a federal court judge of one of the payments.
Cohen said he was later paid back by the candidate.
When the judge asked whether he knew what he did was illegal, Cohen said “Yes,” according to NBC News.
Federal agents seized more than 1 million files from 3 of Cohen’s cell phones during separate raids on his home and office in April.
Cohen allegedly paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence after she claimed to have an intimate relationship with Donald Trump in 2006.
Campaign violations could spell trouble for President Trump if Trump knew Cohen paid Daniels with money from campaign donations.
Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
