The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

by The Washington Post

August 21, 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to eight felony charges, including two counts of campaign-finance violations based on the payments he had made during the final weeks of the campaign to women who said they had affairs with the President.1044 During the plea hearing, Cohen stated that he had worked “at the direction of” the candidate in making those payments.1045 The next day, the President contrasted Cohen’s cooperation with Manafort’s refusal to cooperate, tweeting, “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. ‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’—make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!”1046 On September 17, 2018, this Office submitted written questions to the President that included questions about the Trump Tower Moscow project and attached Cohen’s written statement to Congress and the Letter of Intent signed by the President.1047 Among other issues, the questions asked the President to describe the timing and substance of discussions he had with Cohen about the project, whether they discussed a potential trip to Russia, and whether the President “at any time direct[ed] or suggest[ed] that discussions about the Trump Moscow project should cease,” or whether the President was “informed at any time that the project had been abandoned.”1048 On November 20, 2018, the President sub...