Donald Trump's Former Lawyer Michael Cohen and Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Convicted of Financial Crimes

Washington: A setback to Donald Trump, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and ex-lawyer Michael Cohen have been convicted of fraud, with the latter implicating the US President over campaign finance violations. Within the space of an hour on Tuesday, Manafort was convicted of eight counts of bank and tax fraud by a jury in Alexandria, Virginia. However, Judge T.S. Ellis declared a mistrial over the 10 other charges Manafort faced, with the jurors unable to come to a decision.

Meanwhile, in New York, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of his own, including campaign finance violations ahead of the 2016 presidential election as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Cohen, one of Trump’s closest associates for more than a decade, said he arranged to make payments “for (the) principal purpose of influencing the election” at the direction of a “candidate” for federal office. He did not give the candidate’s name although he was working for Trump at the time.

The 51-year-old told the judge in the Manhattan courtroom that he was aware of what he was doing before pleading guilty to the charges, admitting that the “candidate” had directed him to arrange payments to two women during the 2016 campaign to keep them from speaking publicly about their affairs with him, CNN reported. Cohen admitted to paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 and also to conspiring with a media company, perceived as the publisher of The National Enquirer, to silence another woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both Daniels and McDougal allege that Trump engaged in extramarital sexual relationships with them. The White House has denied the claims. (IANS)