Jailed Michael Cohen  Insists Trump Knew Daniel £130k Hush Money Was Wrong

Jailed Michael Cohen Insists Trump Knew Daniel £130k Hush Money Was Wrong

By Aaron Miller-

President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen has accused Donald Trump of knowing it was wrong to make hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal in the weeks leading up to the election.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Cohen said Trump “was very concerned” about how Daniels’ and ABC McDougal’s allegations of sexual encounters with him “would affect the election.”

“I knew what I was doing was wrong,” Cohen told ABC. “I stood up before the world [Wednesday] and I accepted the responsibility for my actions.”

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday, criminal offences including tax evasion, campaign-finance violations, and lying to Congress. Cohen’s trial was brought about as part of the  New York’s criminal investigation into Cohen, and the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Cohen told ABC News that Trump knew it was wrong to make the payments, Cohen replied, “Of course,” and added that the purpose was to “help [Trump] and his campaign.” Cohen’s sentencing came as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s criminal investigation into Cohen, as well as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe with which Cohen cooperated.

He accepted responsibility for making a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. McDougal was also paid $150,000 by the American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, to conceal her alleged affair with Trump. According to federal prosecutors, the company admitted it made the payment “in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure the woman did not publicise damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election.”

Image:ABC News

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