TRUMPED UP
Donald Trump says his only error was beating ‘Crooked Hillary’ and says Stormy Daniels hush payments were legal
DONALD Trump says payments to Stormy Daniels were legal and that his only mistake was beating "Crooked Hillary".
Talking to , Trump insisted he only found out about hush payments "later" - and insist they did not come from campaign funds.
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He said: “Later on I knew. Later on. What he did—and they weren’t taken out of the campaign finance, that’s the big thing.
"Did they come out of the campaign? They didn’t come out of the campaign, they came from me.”
The US president also said those kinds of cash pay-offs were ";very common among celebrities and people of wealth".
Earlier in the evening he tweeted: "The only thing that I have done wrong is to win an election that was expected to be won by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats."
What do we know so far?
- Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to paying hush money to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump
- Cohen said he acted "in coordination with and at the direction of" Trump who has always denied the allegations
- At almost the same time, a jury found former Trump adviser Paul Manafort guilty of financial crimes on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller
- They were big wins for Mueller, though neither were connected to his probe into Russian election interference
- Trump says the hush payments were not made from campaign money and he found out about them "later"
- Cohen's case could strengthen the case to impeach Trump for "high crimes and misdemeanours", should the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives and Senate at the mid-term elections
- Trump considering presidential pardon for Manafort
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Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to paying hush money to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump.
Cohen said he acted "in coordination with Trump, who has always denied the allegations.
Trump told Fox: "My first question when I heard about it was 'did they come out of the campaign?', because that could be a little dicey.
"And they didn’t come out of the campaign and that’s big."
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Cohen will assist the investigation into Russia meddling with the 2016 election.
He is said to have "information of interest", according to Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis.
Davis said yesterday: "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.
“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.”
also reports that Trump is considering pardoning former adviser Paul Manafort, who faces up to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of financial crimes.
He will likely be jailed unless the president intervenes.
Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt said tonight: "I think he feels bad for Manafort. They were friends, he didn’t work for him for very long."
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Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to paying Stormy Daniels hush money
Earlier today, Trump blasted Cohen, tweeting: "If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!"
In a separate tweet, Trump added: “Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime.
“President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!”
What led to Michael Cohen's conviction?
Porn star Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, said Cohen paid her £130,000 days before the 2016 election to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump.
Cohen also recorded a meeting in which he and Trump discussed buying the rights to a kiss-and-tell interview with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claimed to have had a "romantic relationship" with him.
It was made two months before Americans voted.
Secret payments made to bury embarrassing stories about a political candidate could be considered a violation of US campaign finance laws.
Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that his client is prepared to tell the special council "everything".
The Presidents' former fixer would be prepared to testify in public and without immunity to any congressional committe
Davis told the Clinton aide turned anchorman: “President Trump committed a criminal act that corrupted our democracy.”
He added Cohen would not accept a pardon and was now "dedicated to telling the truth".
Norman Eisen, a former special counsel to President Barack Obama for ethics and government reform tweeted that: “This is the worst hour of Trump’s entire presidency – no, make that entire life.”
The judge told the hearing that Cohen, who will be sentenced on December 12, faces a possible prison sentence of up to five years and three months.
He set bail at $500,000 (£390,000).
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Who is Paul Manafort and what was he convicted of?
Cohen's conviction came in the same hour that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of eight charges of tax and bank fraud, as well as failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.
It was the first big victory for US Special Counsel Robert Mueller whose team is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
The jury convicted Manafort on five counts of filing false tax returns on tens of millions of dollars which came from political consulting income.
Prosecutors claimed Manafort collected £50million in foreign bank accounts from 2010 to 2014 and spent around £11million on luxury purchases at around the same time.
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US President Donald Trump doesn't mention Michael Cohen or Paul Manafort at West Virginia rally amid political storm
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Could Trump be prosecuted or impeached?
Cohen's lawyer Davis took aim at Trump after the court case, saying his client was living up to his vow to put his "loyalty to family and country" above his old boss.
He said: "Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election."
It's the Cohen case that places Trump in the most jeopardy, legal experts say.
Most believe a sitting president cannot be charged - but the Constitution does allow Congress to impeach and sack a president from office for "high crimes and misdemeanours".
Cohen's accusation increases political pressure for Trump ahead of November's congressional elections, where Democrats will try to regain control of the House of Representatives and Senate.
Ross Garber is a lawyer who has represented four Republican governors in impeachment proceedings.
He said Cohen's statement makes it more likely that, were Democrats to take control of Congress, there would be an impeachment probe.
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What does this mean for the Mueller probe?
The trials did not resolve the central question behind Mueller's investigation - whether Trump associates coordinated with Russia to influence the election.
But Cohen, the man who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, has said he would be "more than happy" to talk to Mueller and tell him "all that he knows".
that Cohen has information that would be "of interest" to his investigation and suggested he had inside knowledge of key meeting which took place at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016.
Donald Trump Jr, as well as other key figures including Kushner and Manafort, met with individuals who had connections with Russia.
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Davis added: "The obvious possibility [exists] 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 [there's the possibility of] knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and cheered it on."
There were also occasional references to Manafort's work on the campaign, including emails showing him lobbying Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on behalf of a banker who approved £12million in loans because he wanted a job in the Trump administration.
Stormy Daniels blasts US president Donald Trump on Loose Women claiming he's 'gotten in over his head'
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