Michael Cohen's lawyer has suggested that Donald Trump is just as guilty as his client after he 'directed' him to make the hush money payments, as he warned that Cohen is prepared to tell Robert Mueller 'all he knows' about the president's prior knowledge of the 2016 Tower meeting and Russian DNC hacking scandal. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations relating to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels (left inset) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run-up to the 2016 election. Minutes earlier, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts following his trial on tax and fraud charges.
On Tuesday evening, his attorney, Lanny Davis (left), said that Cohen only made the payment 'at the direction' of Trump making the president 'as much guilty of a felony.' '(Trump) just hasn't owned up to it, but he tried to hide by asking his lawyer to do something he wasn't willing to do because he feared the electoral consequences,' he said.
Michael Cohen's lawyer has suggested that Donald Trump is just as guilty as his client after he 'directed' him to make the hush money payments, as he warned that Cohen is prepared to tell Robert Mueller 'all he knows' about the president and the 'conspiracy to collude and corrupt the 2016 election'.
Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations relating to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run up to the 2016 election.
Minutes earlier, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts following his trial on tax and fraud charges.
On Tuesday evening, Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, said Trump's ex lawyer only made the payment 'at the direction' of Trump making the president 'as much guilty of a felony.'
'(Trump) just hasn't owned up to it, but he tried to hide by asking his lawyer to do something he wasn't willing to do because he feared the electoral consequences,' he said.
And Davis warned that Cohen had been Trump's personal lawyer for 'many, many years' and so 'knows almost everything about Mr Trump.'
'Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows,' Davis said on MSNBC's 'Rachel Maddow Show.'
'Not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democracy system in the 2016 election, which the Trump Tower meeting was all about, but also knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on,' he added.
He added that Cohen had information about Trump 'that would be of interest in Washington and New York State.
In another interview with CNN on Tuesday, Davis also hinted that Cohen may have incriminating information about the Trump Foundation.
The New York Attorney General has filed a civil suit against Trump and his three eldest children alleging 'persistently illegal conduct' with respect to foundation money and using the money in their own self-interest.
'We'll see if the level of corruption alleged concerning the Trump Foundation is a topic of concern for the New York Attorney General,' Davis said after being asked if Cohen could offer any new information about Trump's alleged wrongdoing or criminal activity.
'We know that the pardon power wouldn't apply in New York State.'
Davis said that Trump should be prepared to see 'a liberated Michael Cohen speaking truth to power.'
And that he was prepared to spill 'everything about Donald Trump that he knows.'
'It's truth that Michal Cohen is committed to, and it's the truth that so threatens the president of the United States.
Davis would not say whether Cohen has already been in contact with the special counsel, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but said that Mueller 'will have a lot of interest in what Michael has to say.'
But even with the potential new revelations aside, Davis said that Trump could face federal charges after Cohen stated under oath that the then-presidential candidate directed him to commit a crime 'making Donald Trump as much guilty of that felony as my client Mr Cohen.'
Cohen had pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations.
'Why didn't President Trump do this himself? Why didn't he write or sign the check himself? Was he covering up because he knew that there was something wrong in what he was doing, so he directed his lawyer to do something that he didn't want anyone to know that he did? I think the answer to that is obvious.'
He added that Trump 'didn't have the courage or at least didn't want to expose himself politically so soon before the election so he directed his lawyer to do that which he was not willing to do.'
Michael Cohen's lawyer suggested that Donald Trump was also guilty of a federal crime after he reportedly directed his client to make hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels (pictured with Trump, left) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal (with Trump, right)
'So there's a cover up by our now President of the United States which is undeniable.'
Davis said he had no qualms about saying that Trump had directed his client, because the president's own lawyer Rudy Giuliani had 'thrown his client under the bus' by admitting that himself.
'The word 'directed' came from Donald Trump's lawyers who wrote the special counsel and said that Donald trump directed Michael Cohen to make that payment,' he added.
Davis, who said Cohen had reservations about Trump's suitability to be president, told CNN's Chris Cuomo that his client was 'motivated for his country' and 'will tell the truth.'
Cohen pleaded to eight different counts, including those related to Daniels and McDougal.
Although he didn't mention Trump by name, Trump's former lawyer and fixer spoke in open court about a $130,000 payment as well as a deal he helped negotiate with a publisher involving McDougal.
He said he did so 'in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,' CNN reported – in an obvious reference to Trump, his former employer. Federal law bars donors from coordinating with a campaign while placing strict limits on the amount of contributions.
Both women claim they had affairs with Trump, and both got payments, Daniels from Cohen directly and McDougal from a publisher.
Trump said Tuesday that he felt very sorry for Manafort ahead of his Charleston evening rally speech. Yet he completely ignored Cohen's implication that he participated in federal crimes.
He then failed to mention either Manafort or Cohen at his rally.
But he tore into the Mueller probe, calling it the 'Russian witch hunt' hours after investigators achieved their biggest conviction yet of former Trump campaign chair Manafort.
Michael Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis (pictured) has suggested that Donald Trump is just as guilty as his client after he 'directed' him to make the hush money payments
Via - DailyMail
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