Michael Cohen reportedly interviewed as part of investigation into Trump Organization
Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer, was recently interviewed by prosecutors from the New York district attorney's office as part of an investigation into how the Trump Organization handled payments made to two women who say they had affairs with Trump, people with knowledge of the matter told CNN on Wednesday.
Cohen is currently serving a three-year prison sentence at a facility in Otisville, New York, after pleading guilty last year to campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. Cohen set up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal ahead of the 2016 presidential election, in order to keep the women quiet about their alleged affairs with Trump. He was reimbursed for the $130,000 he paid Daniels, and last year, prosecutors alleged the Trump Organization considered these fees legal expenses, even though Cohen did not do any actual work for the company in 2017.
This new investigation was launched in August, with federal prosecutors looking into whether the Trump Organization falsified records related to Cohen's reimbursement, CNN reports. Subpoenas have been sent to the Trump Organization and American Media Inc., publisher of the National Enquirer. AMI has admitted it paid McDougal $150,000 in order to keep her story about the alleged affair under wraps.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Could smaller cars bring down vehicle prices?Today’s Big Question Trump seems to think so, but experts aren’t so sure
-
2025’s most notable new albumsThe Week Recommends These were some of the finest releases of the past year
-
Trump aims to take down ‘global mothership’ of climate scienceIN THE SPOTLIGHT By moving to dismantle Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, the White House says it is targeting ‘climate alarmism’
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
