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Michael Cohen asserts Fifth Amendment rights in Stormy Daniels case
Michael Cohen, the longtime personal attorney for President Donald Trump, filed court papers Wednesday indicating he would assert his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination regarding his involvement in a hush money deal involving porn star Stormy Daniels and the President.
Cohen cited FBI raids of his residence, office and hotel room and the seizure of "Various electronic devices and documents in my possession," in his filing in US District Court in Los Angeles.
"Based upon the advice of counsel, I will assert my Fifth Amendment rights in connection with all proceedings in this case due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York," Cohen said. Ref. CNN.
Exclusive: Mueller's team questions Russian oligarch about payments to Cohen. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company's US affiliate made to President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of asset manager Renova Group, is an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and last month the Trump administration placed him on a list of sanctioned Russians for activities including election interference. The purpose of the payments, which predate the sanctions, and the nature of the business relationship between Vekselberg and Cohen is unclear.
The scrutiny of the payments could add to the legal troubles for Cohen, whose home and office were raided last month as part of a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. In court documents, the prosecutors said at least part of their inquiry stemmed from a referral from Mueller's office. Ref. CNN.
Cohen recorded Trump discussing payment to ex-Playmate. The FBI is in possession of a recording between President Donald Trump and his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in which the two men discuss a payment to a former Playboy model who has alleged an affair with Trump, Rudy Giuliani and a source familiar with the matter told CNN Friday.
The recording was among the troves of documents and materials seized in the FBI raid of Cohen's hotel, residence and office earlier this year. A transcript of the recording was reviewed by the Trump legal team, which does not believe it is a legal problem for the President.
The revelation was first reported by The New York Times, which said Cohen secretly made the recording two months before the 2016 presidential election. Ref. CNN.
Michael Cohen pleads guilty, implicates Trump. Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to eight criminal counts and said that "In coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office" he kept information that would have been harmful to the candidate and the campaign from becoming public.
The charges against Cohen, an attorney for Trump until earlier this year and a member of his inner circle throughout his presidential campaign, bring an end to a months-long investigation by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Ref. CNN.
President Trump abruptly cancels meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin hours after Michael Cohen's guilty plea. President Donald Trump said via tweet Thursday that he canceled the planned meeting with Russia's leader at the G-20 summit in Argentina due to Russia's skirmish with three Ukrainian ships over the weekend. But the decision to cancel the Saturday meeting also came hours after Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower development project in Moscow. Ref. USAToday.