When Michael Cohen wired $130,000 to a former adult film actress in October 2016, the point was that everyone would stay quiet.

Instead, the transfer has blown up in his face, as President Trump's personal attorney has found himself in the center of a sordid scandal that has played out in television shows, front pages, and FBI raids. The actress, Stormy Daniels — real name Stephanie Clifford — had spoken publicly in 2011 about an affair she says she had with Trump, but Cohen's acknowledgement in February that he paid her to keep quiet just weeks before the election sparked a tabloid firestorm.

Daniels says the affair occurred in 2006, just one year after Trump married his third wife, Melania, and just a few months after the birth of their son, Barron. Trump has denied the relationship. In a somewhat somber picture of Cohen's place in the Trump orbit, The New York Times on Friday said that Cohen at one point even tried to make amends to the first lady for making the Daniels story national news:

In a Fox News interview last year, Mr. Cohen declared: "I will do anything to protect Mr. Trump." He told Vanity Fair in September that "I'm the guy who would take a bullet for the president," adding, "I'd never walk away."

At a Republican fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, Mr. Cohen went so far as to approach the first lady, Melania Trump, to try to apologize for the pain he caused her with the payment to [Daniels], the adult film actress who has claimed to have had the sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. [The New York Times]

The Times goes on to list many indignities reportedly suffered by Cohen at Trump's hands. As longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone told the paper: "Donald goes out of his way to treat [Cohen] like garbage." Read more at The New York Times. Kimberly Alters

A senior Justice Department official said Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will not recommend any further indictments, ABC News reports.

Mueller, whose inquiry into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian election interference was completed late Friday afternoon, had issued indictments for more than three dozen individuals over the nearly two-year investigation, including for former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

While the lack of new indictments may come as a disappointment to those who saw Mueller's report as a potentially crippling blow to the Trump administration, it is still unclear what the completed report contains — and NBC News notes that evidence uncovered by the special counsel's probe could be used in other investigations, like in the Southern District of New York. But the spectacle of former Trump associates being led into court as a result of Mueller's investigation appears to have come to an end. Jacob Lambert

Although Special Counsel Robert Mueller missed his chance to deliver his report to Attorney General William Barr on the Ides of March, he picked another significant date to finish the long-awaited conclusion.

On March 22, 1973, a conversation between former President Richard Nixon and his former attorney general, John Mitchell, was recorded — a conversation that was later used to indict Mitchell on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury for his role in the attempted cover-up of the Watergate scandal of 1972. In this recording, Nixon can be heard instructing Mitchell to "stonewall" the ongoing Watergate trial and "save the plan."

Comparisons between Presidents Nixon and Trump have been endlessly drawn since Trump assumed office in 2017, which makes this historical coincidence particularly noticeable. But we won't know if a conspiracy on the scale of Nixon's has occurred in the Trump White House unless the conclusions of Mueller report are made public — which could happen as soon as this weekend.

Read the full transcript of the Nixon tape in question here, or listen to all of the tapes played during the Watergate trial here, courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Shivani Ishwar

News that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had submitted his final report to the Justice Department on Friday fueled speculation that President Trump could be in for a very rough weekend, but several pundits weren't so sure.

While Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) warned that the Democratic-controlled House has "subpoena power" and promised "the American people will see every word, every comma, every period" of the report on whether the Trump campaign was involved with Russian election interference, but CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin thought eager viewers should cool their jets.

While Attorney General William Barr wrote that he could brief Congress on the report's conclusions "as soon as this weekend," Toobin said that if he does share the findings, "it's going to take a while," not come within days. Several agencies will have to weigh in on whether aspects of the report can be declassified, said Toobin, though he acknowledged the process was going quicker than he expected.

Toobin also asserted that Mueller was "never told no" during his investigation, something ABC News' Terry Moran agreed with, saying Mueller had "free reign" and still opted not to bring any more charges against Trump campaign officials. However, Moran said "it's possible that we will learn a conclusion, the broad conclusion, very quickly," suggesting no further indictments and a completed investigation will speak for themselves, forming a de facto "no collusion" conclusion. Summer Meza

The White House heard the news approximately 30 seconds before the rest of the world.

Right around 5 p.m. EST Friday, the Department of Justice announced Special Counsel Robert Mueller had finished his investigation into potential ties between President Trump's campaign and Russian election interference. The White House reportedly heard the news only a few minutes before the announcement — and this reaction from President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani seems to prove it.

As speculation mounted throughout the day that Mueller had finished his report, Giuliani delightfully told The Washington Post that all this hype was "like waiting for a baby." He also added that Trump's team was "not expecting" further indictments from the report. Yet as the first report surfaced confirming the rumors were true, Giuliani appeared shocked, telling The Hill "I can't believe they'd put out a report at 5 o'clock on a Friday — but they've surprised me before." He and fellow Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow then issued a full statement.

The White House also followed up the news with a statement of its own, confirming that the White House did not get to look at Mueller's report before its completion.

Meanwhile, officials who've talked with Trump tell ABC News that he's just "glad it's over." Kathryn Krawczyk

We knew this day would come.

Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins announced on Friday via Instagram that the show will come to an end after its 15th season. From their red eyes, it was clear the three actors had been crying over the news — which they had just broken to the crew before taking to social media.

"Well, it's official. One more round for the Winchester brothers," Padalecki wrote in his instagram caption. "Though nothing ever really ends in Supernatural ... does it?"

The series is currently in its 14th season and recently celebrated its 300th episode in November, reports E! News. Supernatural was renewed for a 15th season at the beginning of the year with no hint of the show ending soon, but after 20 episodes in the next season, it'll all be over.

"For us it has been an experience of a lifetime," said executive producers Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb in a joint statement. "It is now most important to us to give these characters that we love the send off they deserve."

Saying goodbye is never an easy task. But with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, is it really goodbye? Amari Pollard

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has finished his report, but hardly anyone knows what's in it.

The Department of Justice announced Friday afternoon that Mueller had finished his investigation into potential ties between President Trump's campaign and Russian election interference. Attorney General William Barr similarly told the House and Senate Judiciary committees he had received the report Friday — and said he might tell them what's in it "as soon as this weekend."

In a letter to the committees on Friday, Barr said that Mueller faced "no such instances" where he was blocked from taking an action he wanted to pursue. There had been concerns that President Trump would not submit to in-person questioning by Mueller, but if this was something Mueller attempted, it was seemingly not blocked.

"Only a few people" have seen the report so far, a Department of Justice official told CNN's Shimon Prokupecz after its conclusion. Barr has refused to commit to releasing the whole report to the public or even to Congress, but he said in his Friday letter that he may have Mueller's "principle conclusions" ready for the judiciary committee "as soon as this weekend." Barr continued to say that he would "consult with" Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "to determine what other information can be released to Congress and the public," and added that he "remain[s] committed to as much transparency as possible."

Read Barr's whole letter to Congress below. Kathryn Krawczyk