He’s Number 1!

U.S. President Donald J.Trump has been implicated by Michael Cohen, his former attorney, in violating campaign finance law. In Mr. Cohen’s plea agreement, the unindicted co-conspirator in the White House is simply identified as “Individual-1.”

“Of all the things Trump has been called, ‘Individual 1’ may be the most damaging,” John Dickerson, CBS News

More:

“How Michael Cohen’s guilty plea implicates Trump,” Sam Baker, Axios

“Michael Cohen Attorney: ‘Donald Trump Directed Him To Commit A Crime,’” Matt Shuham, TPM Livewire

“With Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea, President Trump Has Been Implicated in a Criminal Conspiracy,” Adam Davidson, The New Yorker

“‘He’s Unraveling’: Why Cohen’s Betrayal Terrifies Trump,” Michael Kruse, Politico

Related:

“Cohen Has ‘Knowledge’ of Ru,ssia Campaign Conspiracy, Lawyer Says,” Shannon Pettypiece,  Jennifer Jacobs , and Terrence Dopp, Bloomberg

“Is Donald Trump Above the Law?” James Risen, The Intercept

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Manafort: Guilty. Now for the next trial. Oh, and Michael Cohen.

Paul Manafort’s new LinkedIn photo.

Former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort has been found guilty of filing false income tax returns, failing to report his foreign bank accounts, and bank fraud, 8 counts in all, carrying a combined maximum penalty of 80 years in prison. The jury could not reach unanimity on the remaining 10 counts, and Judge T.S. Ellis declared mistrials on those, meaning prosecutors may ask for a new trial on those counts. Mr. Manafort’s next federal trial begins on September 17th in Washington DC on charges alleging he acted as an unregistered foreign agent and additional fraud charges. Paul Manafort is the fourth former Trump aide to be convicted of crimes charged by special counsel Robert Mueller.

In unrelated GOP crime news, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, pleaded guilty today to income tax evasion, making an unlawful corporate campaign contribution, bank fraud, and making an excessive campaign contribution, 8 counts in all. While combined penalties could  total as much as 65 years imprisonment, this plea deal means Mr. Cohen probably faces up to 5 years in prison. The plea agreement does not preclude him from providing information to special counsel Mueller, a deal that would involve sentence reduction. In his plea, Mr. Cohen said he made the illegal campaign payments – hush money – at the direction of a presidential candidate. Sentencing is scheduled for December 12th.

More:

“Michael Cohen says he worked to silence two women ‘in coordination’ with Trump to influence 2016 election,” Devlin Barrett, Carol D. Leonnig, and Renae Merle, Washington Post

“Why Donald Trump can’t distance himself from Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, in one tweet,” Dara Lind, Vox

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How Much Do You Charge to Review Michael Cohen’s Documents?

In the case against Trump fixer and attorney Michael Cohen, federal judge Kimba Wood appointed Barbara Jones as special master to review the 12,543 pages of papers and 291,000 electronic files (from two phones and an iPad) the FBI seized from Mr. Cohen’s office, hotel room, and home. Ms. Jones reviewed all of them in 6 long days, identified 162 privileged items, invoiced for $47,390, and didn’t even bill for rubber gloves or barf bags.

That’s $700 an hour, because Big Law.

Michael Cohen’s attorneys will finish reviewing the documents on Friday, after which they will quit.

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Trump Wants Better ‘TV Lawyers’

Celebrity Apprentice star and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to mount a more powerful legal defense, according to the Washington Post:

“The president vents to associates about the FBI raids on his personal attorney Michael Cohen — as often as ’20 times a day,’ in the estimation of one confidant — and they frequently listen in silence, knowing little they say will soothe him. Trump gripes that he needs better ‘TV lawyers’ to defend him on cable news and is impatient to halt the ‘witch hunt’ that he says undermines his legitimacy as president.”

So, ‘TV Lawyers.’ But who? Rudy Giuliani is no Perry Mason, and Ben Matlock won’t leave Atlanta for DC.

More:

“Trump expresses need for better ‘TV lawyers’ to combat Mueller probe: report,” Joe Concha, The Hill

“It’s Probably Killing Trump That Stormy Daniels’ Attorney Is Attractive And Great On TV,” Michelangelo Signorile, Huffington Post

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Client Number Three

After the FBI seized documents from his office, home, and hotel room, Trump fixer Michael Cohen is on trial in New York for as-yet unspecified federal crimes, most likely bank fraud and campaign law violations relating to his hush money payoffs to women on behalf of his adulterous clients Donald Trump and Elliott Broidy. Mr. Cohen isn’t much of a lawyer, but he’s had one more client, whose identity he tried to withhold.  Judge Kimba Wood wasn’t having it, and “client number three” turned out to be Sean Hannity, the vociferous defender of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen on Fox News. Hilarity ensued.

More:

“Yes, Sean Hannity was a legal client of Michael Cohen’s,” Philip Bump, Washington Post

“No Disclosure? No Problem. Sean Hannity Gets a Pass at Fox News.” Michael M. Grynbaum and John Koblin, New York Times

“Sean Hannity’s idea of ‘attorney-client privilege’ was right out of ‘Breaking Bad,’”  Kyle Swenson, Washington Post

“Sean Hannity’s Ties to Two More Trump-Connected Lawyers,” Rosie Gray, The Atlantic

“Michael Cohen and the Busting of the Trump Crime Family,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“Trump Should Be Worried by Cohen Probe. Really Worried.” Noah Feldman,  Bloomberg View

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Michael Cohen Goes to Court Today

Michael Cohen, personal lawyer of Donald Trump, will be in U.S. District Court in New York this afternoon, trying to exclude thousands of documents seized by the FBI from the federal case against him. Mr. Cohen has been charged by Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami, not (as in the SNL skit above) Robert Mueller. Since Mr. Cohen has only one client, Donald Trump, the case against Michael Cohen is more of a present threat to Mr. Trump than the Mueller investigation. And since Michael Cohen serves Donald Trump in the capacity of bagman and fixer, not as a lawyer, attorney-client privilege does not apply. In any case, a lawyer abetting a client in criminal acts cannot hide behind privilege.

More:

“Trump advisers see Cohen probe as greater threat to Trump than Mueller: report,” Max Greenwood, The Hill

“What Exactly Was Michael Cohen Doing for Donald Trump?” David A. Graham, The Atlantic

“Trump Wants to Review Seized Michael Cohen Materials Before Federal Prosecutors,” Margaret Hartmann, New York Magazine

“Michael Cohen and the End Stage of the Trump Presidency,” Adam Davidson, The New Yorker

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Trump Lawyer Says He Paid Off Porn Star Before Election

Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen admitted on Tuesday that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money in 2016, right before the election, so she wouldn’t blab about her 2011 extramarital affair with the married Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen says the payoff came out of his own pocket, and not from Mr. Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump businesses.

That doesn’t mean it’s legal. Even if Mr. Cohen didn’t coordinate his pre-election payoff with the candidate or the campaign, it could be considered an unreported in-kind campaign contribution in excess of the $2,700 individual cap. Common Cause has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to that effect. The FEC has a Republican majority and reports violations to Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice for enforcement, though, so that dog won’t hunt.

That doesn’t mean Mr. Trump is out of the woods. Stormy Daniels claims that Michael Cohen’s payoff revelations invalidate their nondisclosure agreement, so she’s free to talk about the president’s adulterous romps.

More:

“The Coming Storm? Hush Money and the Federal Election Campaign Act,” Thomas Frampton, Harvard Law Review blog

Related:

“Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity,” Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker

“The latest alleged Trump affair coverup is a damningly familiar tale,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post

“Alleged Ex-Trump Paramour Says ‘Catch And Kill’ Practice Kept Her Quiet,” Amy Held, NPR

“Tools of Trump’s Fixer: Payouts, Intimidation and the Tabloids,” Jim Rutenberg, Megan Twohey, Rebecca R. Ruiz, Mike McIntire and Maggie Haberman, New York Times

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