Longtime Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is preparing to plead guilty to federal prosecutors who are probing his business dealigns in New York, according to an explosive new report.
Sources told NBC about the negotiations over a possible plea, noting that no deal had been reached. Word of the talks comes following reports over the weekend that Cohen is being investigated for a $20 million bank fraud.
ABC followed with a report said Cohen had reached an agreement with prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. Cohen surrendered to the FBI in advance of a scheduled 4 pm court appearance, according to CNN.
The network reported on air that Cohen would plead guilty to campaign finance violations – an indication that his role negotiating a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Donald Trump, are part of what brought him down.
He also reportedly will plead guilty to tax fraud and bank fraud charges, and will agree to jail time as part of the agreement.
A plea deal would put in the corner of prosecutors a man involved in myriad business and political deals involving the president, including the negotiation of a non-disclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels, and talks on an effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow that fell through.
A plea also raises the possibility Cohen has negotiated an agreement to assist prosecutors overseeing the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, though no details were immediately available.
It was unclear if the deal involved cooperation with authorities.
News of Cohen’s talks came just as word broke that jurors in the trial of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort asked the judge overseeing the case a question about how to proceed if they fail to reach a verdict on a single count.
Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building, in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018. Cohen could be charged before the end of the month with bank fraud in his dealings with the taxi industry and with committing other financial crimes, multiple people familiar with the federal probe said Monday
That in turn led to speculation that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team might be on the verge of scoring critical conviction, even if it is on tax and fraud crimes that are not related to the campaign of President Donald Trump.
Mueller’s investigators prosecuted Manafort. In the case of Cohen, they handed information they uncovered during their probe to the SDNY for prosecution – although any plea deal could include cooperating with the Russia probe.
The report on Cohen’s intentions followed a series of maneuvers by Cohen that raised the prospect he might reach an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. These included praising the FBI agents who raided his home and apartment, and stating boldly that he would do what is best for his family.
He told ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ last month that: “My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will.’ He added: “I put family and country first.”
Cohen left his apartment in New York Tuesday dressed in a dark suit and tie.
His new lawyer, Lanny Davis, told NBC he couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation, having earlier sent signals that Cohen could cooperate. Cohen’s hiring of Davis, who has longtime Democratic ties and advised President Bill Clinton, was one such signal.
Michael Cohen, left, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building past his doorman, in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018. NBC reported he was in talks about a possible guilty plea
Were Cohen to decide to plead guilty to any alleged violations, it would come as prosecutors are considering filing charges against him that include include bank and tax fraud, as well as violations of campaign finance law, against Cohen by the end of the month, sources told the New York Times.
Investigators are looking into more than $20 million in loans which were made to taxi companies owned by Cohen and his family. The amounts reportedly involved only upped the pressure on Cohen, who was intimately involved with Trump as he navigated a variety of business deals in recent years.
Financial statements showed that Cohen used his 32 taxi medallions, then worth around $1 million each, as collateral for the loans from Sterling National Bank. Melrose Credit Union also supplied some of the loans made to 16 separate companies controlled by the Cohens. Cohen and his wife also personally guaranteed the loans, according to public findings.
Investigators are now looking to determine whether Cohen misrepresented the true value of his assets to obtain the loans.
They are also looking at when the lawyer violated campaign finance laws by arranging hush money deals to secure the silence of women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.
The FBI raided Cohen’s home and office earlier this year as part of their investigation into his alleged tax fraud.
President Trump’s (left) former personal lawyer Michael Cohen (right) is being investigated for a $20 million bank fraud, according to a new report
Investigators are looking at whether Cohen’s income from his taxi-medallion business was underreported in federal tax returns, The Wall Street Journal reported.
That income reportedly included hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and other payments over the last five years.
Donald Trump has criticized the probe into his former attorney, calling the raids an ‘attack on our country in a true sense.’
Cohen caught the attention of the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office during Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race.
Prosecutors are looking into whether Cohen inflated the value of any of his assets as collateral for bank loans, the Journal reported citing sources familiar with the investigation.
If convicted of tax- and bank-fraud, Cohen, who once said he’d take a bullet for President Donald Trump, could find himself subject to heavy jail time.
That threat could put pressure on Cohen, once known as Trump’s ‘fixer,’ to cooperate with prosecutors if he’s charged with these crimes.
Cohen was Trump’s personal attorney for years and has deep ties to the Trump Organization.
He is reportedly prepared to tell Mueller that the president knew about the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting ahead of time and approved of it.
That meeting was attended by Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a lawyer with ties to the Kremlin who claimed to have dirt on Trump’s presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
Trump has denied he knew about the meeting ahead of time.
But that gathering at Trump Tower has become a central focus of Mueller’s look into what role Russian played in the 2016 presidential election.
Meanwhile federal prosecutors are taking a deep dive into Cohen’s business dealings after Mueller’s team handed over documents discovered in an April 9th FBI raid.
They are looking closely at Cohen’s relationship with Sterling National Bank, which provided financing for his taxi-medallion business. Medallions are the permits taxi drivers need to operate in the city.
Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Jeffrey Getzel, Cohen’s former accountant who was responsible for preparing many of Cohen’s financial statements.
Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment to the newspaper ‘out of respect for the ongoing investigation.’
As of April 2018, Cohen owned 22 medallions in Chicago, and either he or his wife, Laura, controlled 32 medallions in New York City.
Taxi medallions were considered a solid investment that are bought and sold on a secondary market. Some in New York sold for an average $1.25 million per medallion in 2013 and 2014.
But their value has fallen sharply in recent years due to competition from ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. Some estimate the value of each medallion has dropped to $200,000 to $225,000.
As prosecutors look at whether Cohen under reported his income to avoid federal taxes they’re also examining whether he overstated it in loan applications.
Cohen has previously denied any wrongdoing.
He worked on projects for Trump ranging from Trump Tower Moscow that never got off the ground to a non-disclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump, and on a deal involving former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claimed an affair.
Trump has denied their allegations.
But Cohen also had his own business dealings including real estate, personal loans and investments in taxi medallions.
Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant known as ‘the Taxi King’ and who partnered with Cohen in the taxi medallion business, avoided jail time and got five years probation when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion in May.
As a condition, he is cooperating with prosecutors, who may find him to be a valuable witness as they investigate Cohen on potential tax, campaign finance, and bank fraud charges.
His deal came after an April 9th FBI raid on Cohen’s home, office, and hotel where he was staying. They scooped up 3.7 million digital documents.
If Freidman is able to provide useful information, it might strengthen prosecutors hands if they decide to charge Cohen.
Prosecutors are already combing through Cohen’s financial records, including big payments he got from major firms as he touted his access to President Trump after the elections.
Also under the microscope is his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who signed a nondisclosure agreement and claims she had an affair with Trump.
The president revealed last week on his financial disclosure that he ‘reimbursed’ Cohen for expenses related to a payment of up to $250,000.
Cohen is under investigation for possible bank fraud. He has said he took out a home equity loan in order to make the payment to Daniels, which he executed through a Delaware LLC he set up in October of 2016, weeks before the presidential election.