What Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea Means for Donald Trump

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 21, 2018:

Here are 3 takeaways from the former fixer’s admission he broke the law

President Donald Trump enters the Capitol for a meeting with House Republicans in June. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to a list of charges on Tuesday. Credit: Bill Clark, CQ Roll Call file photo

ANALYSIS — By striking a plea deal, Michael Cohen essentially signed a disloyalty pledge to his former boss: Donald Trump. And it should give the president ample reasons to sweat.

Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday in a surprise hearing in New York to multiple campaign finance, bank fraud and tax fraud charges. The hearing culminated several weeks of the former “fixer” and his team publicly criticizing Trump — and the president firing back.

Trump reportedly has grown agitated in recent weeks that Cohen could attempt to ward off a stiffer penalty by providing federal investigators damaging information about his business and political dealings.

View the complete article here.