demo

38 TIME September 3–10, 2018

operator who leased some of his Chicago

medallions. In another, Cohen failed

to report $1.3 million in income for a

diferent taxi operator who paid Cohen

personally for part of the leases, rather

than Cohen’s medallion company. Cohen

also didn’t report $100,000 he received

for brokering a Florida real estate deal,

or a $30,000 fee he charged in 2015

for arranging the sale of a Birkin bag, a

high-priced French handbag. In total,

he confessed to concealing more than

$4 million in personal income.

Suspicion that Cohen had engaged in

tax evasion and bank fraud led Mueller

to refer the matter to investigators

in New York’s Southern District. On

April 9, the FBI stormed Cohen’s

hotel room, apartment, law oice and

bank boxes, collecting computers, cell

phones, tax records and other materials.

The raid was unusual not only because

Cohen had been the President’s personal

lawyer but also because prosecutors

have to get special permission from a

judge before raiding a lawyer’s property

unannounced to avoid violating

attorney-client privilege.

The evidence uncovered led to the

Aug. 21 plea deal. Unveiling it, prosecutors

released new details about Cohen’s role

in arranging payments to two women,

formerPlayboymodel Karen McDougal

and pornographic actor Stephanie

Cliford, who performs under the name

Stormy Daniels, to quash embarrassing

stories about their alleged liaisons

with Trump. In the summer of 2015,

according to court documents, David

Pecker, a Trump friend and the chairman

of American Media Inc., the company

that publishes the National Enquirer,

told Cohen he would act as something

of a ixer for the campaign. Cohen told

prosecutors that Pecker agreed to “help

deal with negative stories” about Trump’s

“relationships with women.” He ofered

to assist the campaign in “identifying

such stories so they could be purchased

and their publication avoided,” a practice

known in the tabloid industry as “catch

and kill.”

In June 2016, a month before Trump

became the Republican nominee

for President, Pecker alerted Cohen

that McDougal had ofered to sell the

Enquirer the story of her afair with

Trump, which allegedly took place

shortly after Trump’s wife Melania gave

birth to their son Barron, according

to court documents. Cohen told

prosecutors he urged Pecker to buy

the story and promised to reimburse

the magazine. Pecker’s company paid

McDougal $150,000 for the rights to

the story, which the Enquirer never

published. The “principal purpose” of

the deal, Cohen told prosecutors, was

to suppress the story to prevent it from

inluencing the election. In late July

2018, Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis

released a secret audio recording from

September 2016 in which Cohen tells

Trump “we’ll have to pay” to purchase

the rights to McDougal’s story. Trump

responds, “Pay with cash.”

Around Oct. 8, 2016, an agent for

Cliford approached an editor at Ameri-

can Media about telling the story of her

own alleged afair with Trump. It was

the day after the release of the bomb-

shell videotape of Trump on theAccess

Hollywood set, bragging to “purchase

[her] silence,” according to Cohen’s plea.

When Cohen failed to pay Cliford

immediately, Cliford’s then attorney

told the editor that she would take

her story to another publication. The

editor texted Cohen, according to court

documents, telling him, we “have to

coordinate something... or it could

look awfully bad for everyone.” Two

days later, Cohen wired $130,000 to

Cliford’s attorney, and Cliford signed a

nondisclosure agreement, according to

the court documents.

Cohen was reimbursed for his payment

to Cliford by the Trump Organization

in monthly installments of $35,000,

the court records show. The Trump

Organization itemized the invoices as

legal services, even though Cohen had

Nation

PAUL MANAFORT

TRUMP CAMPAIGN

CHAIRMAN

Convicted of tax and

bank fraud. Awaiting

trial for unregistered

foreign lobbying

GATES

TRUMP DEPUTY

CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Pleaded guilty to lying to

the FBI and conspiring

to hide income earned

overseas

MICHAEL COHEN

TRUMP PERSONAL

LAWYER

Pleaded guilty to tax

evasion, bank fraud

and campaign-inance

violations

MICHAEL FLYNN

TRUMP NATIONAL

SECURITY ADVISER

Pleaded guilty to

lying to the FBI about

contacts with the

Russian ambassador

The investigation
by special counsel
Robert Mueller
and related work
by other federal
oicials have
already entangled
high-proile igures
within President
Trump’s orbit.
Here’s a look at who
has been convicted
and who is under
the microscope:

COHEN’S PLEA

OPENS UP

PROBLEMS FOR

THE PRESIDENT

THAT GO BEYOND

HIS IMPLICATION

IN A CRIME

UNDER FIRE

CK

CONVICTED PLEADED GUILTY UNDER SCRUTINY