JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/MICHAEL COHEN/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “Federal prosecutors said on Friday [12-7-18] that President Trump directed illegal payments to ward off a potential sex scandal that threatened his chances of winning the White House in 2016, putting the weight of the Justice Department behind accusations previously made by his former lawyer. The lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, had said that as the election neared, Mr. Trump directed payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump. But in a new memo arguing for a prison term for Mr. Cohen, prosecutors in Manhattan said he ‘acted in coordination and at the direction of’ an unnamed individual, clearly referring to Mr. Trump. In another filing, prosecutors for the special counsel investigating Russia’s 2016 election interference said an unnamed Russian offered Mr. Cohen ‘government level’ synergy between Russia and Mr. Trump’s campaign in November 2015. That was months earlier than other approaches detailed in indictments secured by prosecutors.”
–Sharon LaFraniere, Benjamin Weiser and Maggie Haberman, “Prosecutors Say Trump Directed Illegal Payments During Campaign,” The New York Times online, December 7, 2018