2016 ELECTION/CAMPAIGN FINANCE/MEDIA/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday [12-12-18] for crimes including orchestrating hush payments to women in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election, and he promised to keep cooperating with the U.S. government against his former boss. The sentence, which capped a stunning about-face by a lawyer who once vowed to ‘take a bullet’ for Trump, was handed down by a judge in New York on the same day as news that the publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid had struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid charges over its role in one of two hush payments involving Trump. The publisher admitted the payment was aimed at influencing the 2016 election, contradicting Trump’s statements. The twin developments highlighted the growing political and legal risks for Trump from a months-long investigation into the payments by federal prosecutors. Some legal experts said Trump could be charged after leaving office. Justice Department policy is not to indict a sitting president.”
–Reuters, “Trump Ex-Lawyer Cohen Given Three Years in Prison as Risks Rise for Trump,” The New York Times online, December 12, 2018