Donald Trump has been implicated by his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in his violation of US electoral law. Mr Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a New York court to charges of impeding campaign finance laws. Amongst Cohen's plea deal made with the New York court, he placed a measure of blame on the President's shoulders, claiming that it was Mr Trump who instigated the payment of hush money to his alleged former mistresses.
Trump's alleged involvement in the scandal
According to the BBC, Donald Trump has previously admitted to re-paying Michael Cohen for the same amount of money Cohen gave as hush money to one of the women involved in the scandal.
However, so far Mr Trump had maintained that he had no prior knowledge of the plan to pay money to the group of women before the transaction actually took place.
In court, Cohen sensationally claimed that he had been told by "a candidate for federal office" to pay hush money to a number of figures, for the express "purpose of influencing [the] election." The "candidate" whom Cohen references is clearly Mr Trump and these allegations that the now President instigated these payments in order to keep the US public in the dark about his private life have re-ignited thoughts that Donald Trump may himself face legal proceedings soon.
The President has declined to comment on the statements made by his former lawyer in court, while suspicion around the murky tactics used by the Trump campaign team grows in the public and the media.
Michael Cohen is facing prison time for multiple crimes
Donald Trump's ex-lawyer has pleaded guilty eight charges on Tuesday in a plea deal with the courts to reduce his sentence from 65 years in prison to 5 years and three months. The eight guilty pleas include those to crimes of tax evasion, bank fraud, purposely causing an unlawful corporate contribution to the campaign for federal office and, most crucially to Mr Trump, making an excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate or campaign.
The last charge supposedly alludes to the payment which Mr Cohen claims the now President told him to make to his alleged former mistresses for the benefit of keeping the US public unaware of the details of Mr Trump's private life.
Michael Cohen's trial has made headlines across the world this week not least for the fact that he has admitted to knowingly and willfully breaking campaign finance laws in order to 'influence' the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election in the US, further throwing the legitimacy of the Trump administration into doubt.
While Mr Cohen will face sentencing on 12th December, rumours and the possibility of legal action will continue to follow this Presidency and commentators will keep looking for answers in the ongoing mystery of the 2016 election.
