Prosecutors Had A Whopping 80-Page Indictment Ready For Michael Cohen
Image by Getty Images
President Trump was involved in approving the hush-money payments made to women who claimed to have had an affair with him, and directed the deals with his “fixer” Michael Cohen, according to an 80-page indictment prepared by federal prosecutors and seen by the Wall Street Journal.
The indictment would have been introduced if Cohen had pleaded not guilty to charges of violating tax and campaign finance laws for making those payments. Instead, Cohen pleaded guilty, with prosecutors penning a 22-page document that detailed many of his actions but did not directly use Trump’s name.
In an interview with the Journal late last month, Trump wouldn’t say whether he discussed the payments, made to model Karen McDougal and porn star Story Daniels, with Cohen during the campaign. The attorney’s office said they found evidence that proves otherwise — that he was involved in every step, which was made at his direction.
Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for the president, began distancing himself from the president over the summer before the guilty plea.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
