President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who is under investigation for potentially violating tax or campaign finance laws, has reportedly secured a plea deal with federal prosecutors and is expected to appear in court at 4 p.m. on Tuesday to plead guilty.
The plea deal reached Tuesday afternoon with prosecutors from the Southern District of New York was related to the payments to various women he paid on behalf of President Trump in exchange for their silence on alleged affairs with Trump, the New York Times reported. The deal reportedly does not require Cohen to comply with federal authorities in the future.
Cohen is slated to appear at a federal courthouse in Manhattan Tuesday afternoon and is anticipated to plead guilty to charges concerning bank and tax fraud, and campaign finance violation, according to the Washington Post. The plea deal was arranged after Cohen was warned he was in jeopardy of receiving more than 12 years behind bars, the Post reported.
NEW YORK (AP) — Trump ex-attorney Michael Cohen to appear in New York federal court this afternoon amid talk of plea deal in fraud case.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) August 21, 2018
The news came shortly after it was reported that Cohen prosecutors were preparing to charge Cohen by the end of August with committing bank fraud in excess of $20 million related to the taxi businesses owned by him and his family.
While Cohen once touted his loyalty to Trump, saying he would “take a bullet” to protect the president, more recently he has indicated that he may provide prosecutors damaging information on Trump. In an interview last month, he said that this family had his “first loyalty.”
“To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty,” he told ABC News.
Cohen has come under scrutiny for a variety of issues, including payments he arranged with various women who alleged affairs with Trump that could be considered violations of campaign finance law.
For example, porn star Stormy Daniels has been embroiled in a legal battle with Trump over an alleged extramarital affair. Cohen paid her $130,000 in exchange for her silence on the affair, but she filed a lawsuit earlier this year claiming the nondisclosure agreement she signed should be nullified because Trump didn’t sign it.
Cohen’s home and office were raided by the FBI in April, where agents seized computers, phones, and other materials, including documents pertaining to Daniels.
Trump has denied the alleged affairs with Daniels.
