MICHAEL COHEN/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The sentencing of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer might mark the end of a wrenching chapter for Michael Cohen, but the political and legal implications of Cohen’s capitulation have only darkened the shadow that looms over the Trump White House. The worst of what New York federal prosecutors and Russia special counsel Robert Mueller revealed in court papers last week – Trump’s alleged implication in hush money payments to mistresses and Cohen’s early campaign contacts with Russians – probably represents only a fraction of what they have gathered in multiple probes that have reached deep into Trump’s inner circle. Trump sought to brush away the hush money payments to two women who claimed to have had affairs with him as ‘civil’ matters, but the detailed description of Cohen’s conduct outlined Wednesday by a federal judge and prosecutor will be difficult for the White House to dismiss. U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley said Cohen’s ‘smorgasbord’ of crimes, including the payments that prosecutors said were directed by Trump, highlight a level of ‘deception’ and ‘sophistication’ motivated by ‘personal greed.’ Prosecutor Jeannie Rhee, a top aide to Mueller, signaled that Cohen’s assistance to the Russia investigation – and its examination of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin – has yet to be fully revealed.”
–Brad Heath, Kevin McCoy, Bart Jansen and Kevin Johnson, “Cohen takeaways: As Trump’s former lawyer heads to prison, political and legal implications grow for White House,” USA Today, December 12, 2018 8:05 pm