Reports: Michael Cohen Strikes a Plea Deal

The big question is whether that means he's cooperating with Robert Mueller
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 21, 2018 1:46 PM CDT
Reports: Michael Cohen Strikes a Plea Deal
Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building, in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Big news that surely will not please President Trump: His former "fixer," Michael Cohen, has struck a plea deal with prosecutors, reports ABC News and the New York Times. Other outlets don't go quite as far, saying that he's close to a deal, but all should be cleared up at a court appearance scheduled for 4pm Eastern. Trump's former attorney has been under investigation by prosecutors in New York's Southern District for bank and tax fraud, as well as his role in making financial payments to women alleged to have had affairs with Trump.

The AP reports that under his plea deal, Cohen would cooperate with the government, but exactly how that might affect the Robert Mueller investigation remains unclear. It was Mueller's office that referred the case to the New York prosecutors. Still, any such deal "could ratchet up the legal pressure on the president," per the Washington Post. The plea deal reportedly came about as prosecutors investigated whether Cohen improperly obtained millions of dollars in loans for his taxi business. (More Michael Cohen stories.)

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