Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, has spent multiple days in the last month with special counsel Robert Mueller's team and the questions have focused on Russia.
Mueller is investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump and his team colluded, a charge the president has repeatedly denied.
Cohen, who Trump slammed for 'flipping' on him when he cut a deal with prosecutors, has heavy ties to the president have worked for the Trump Organization in addition to being his attorney.
Michael Cohen has spent hours talking to the special counsel's team about Trump and Russia
President Trump has criticized his former personal attorney for 'flipping'
The questioning of Cohen has focused primarily on all aspects of Trump's dealings with Russia, ABC News reported, including financial and business dealings in addition to the election.
Investigators also wanted to know whether Trump or any of his associates discussed the possibility of a pardon with Cohen, sources told the network.
When Cohen was at the Trump Organization he was involved in discussions to build a Trump Tower in Moscow - a plan that never came to fruition.
And the man known as Trump's fixer also paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, which the president has denied.
The interviews with Cohen happened in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Some of them were attended by prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, which is the office that Cohen struck a plea deal with last month.
Cohen's participation has been voluntary and without any guarantee of leniency from prosecutors, ABC reported.
Additionally, Cohen is cooperating with a separate probe by New York state authorities into the inner workings of the Trump family charity and the Trump Organization.
The news of Cohen's cooperation follows last week's report that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort came to a plea deal with Mueller's team to avoid a second federal trial. He has reportedly agreed to cooperate.
Some consider the state investigation more of a threat to Trump as he has no pardon power there.
'Both of these guys want to be loved and they both want loyalty,' says a person close to both men told ABC. 'Cohen's disavowal of Trump has triggered a series of events that turned once very good friends into permanent enemies. The consequences for both will be ugly.'
Trump and his team have been turning on Cohen, questioning his honesty.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating if Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia, which the president has repeatedly denied
Cohen pleaded guilty the same day former campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted on eight counts
Rudy Giuliani, who's on the president's legal team, says Cohen is making up stories in order to protect himself
Rudy Giuliani, who's on the president's legal team, says Cohen is making up stories in order to protect himself.
'There's nobody that I know that knows him that hasn't warned me that if his back is up against the wall, he'll lie like crazy, because he's lied all his life,' Giuliani told CNN in July.
In August Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felonies in cases Mueller's team had referred to federal prosecutors in New York. Part of those pleas included his payment to Daniels and how he arranged for American Media Inc. to pay former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal $150,000 for her story of an alleged affair with Trump.
The president has denied the allegation and the National Enquirer never printed the story in a practice known as catch and kill. American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker is said to be cooperating with investigators.
At his August plea hearing, Cohen told a federal judge he had arranged for the payments to the women 'in coordination with, and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,' referring to then-candidate Trump, and noted he participated in the transactions to influence the election.
On the day of Cohen's court appearance, Trump wrote on Twitter: 'If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!'
Cohen has also been in contact with the New York Attorney General's office, according to multiple people close to the matter.
In June, the acting New York Attorney General, Barbara Underwood, filed a civil lawsuit accusing Trump's charitable foundation and its directors of having violated New York's charity laws.
The lawsuit names Trump, his sons Don Jr. and Eric, and his daughter, Ivanka, as defendants.
A representative of the Trump Foundation said the lawsuit was 'politics at its very worst.'
Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced in New York federal court on December 12.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/21/michael-cohen-has-spoken-for-hours-to-muellers-team-about-russia/
Main photo article Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump‘s former personal attorney, has spent multiple days in the last month with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and the questions have focused on Russia.
Mueller is investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election and...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/09/20/22/506AA2F300000578-0-image-a-4_1537479903007.jpg
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий