Two Trump lieutenants found guilty, president implicated

Donald Trump stood accused of conspiring to commit campaign fraud and two of his closest aides faced jail time, after court proceedings that delivered a legal and political one-two punch to his embattled presidency.

In a drama that played out simultaneously across two US cities yesterday, two key aides each faced eight separate charges stemming from a federal investigation into the 2016 presidential election.

In New York, Trump's long-time attack-dog fixer Michael Cohen pled guilty to eight counts including making illegal campaign contributions. In a sensational twist he pointed to the president as a coconspirator.

Cohen pled guilty to illegally making pre-election hush payments, including to porn star Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump. But as part of a plea deal Cohen said he acted "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office."
The White House refused to comment on Cohen's allegation, with press secretary Sarah Sanders tersely telling reporters: "Refer you to the President's outside counsel."
Trump expressed regret, calling Manafort "a good man." "I feel very sad about that," Trump told reporters as he arrived in West Virginia for a rally, claiming the conviction was part of a "witch hunt" after the 2016 election. "It's a very sad thing that happened, this has nothing to do with Russian collusion."
Questioned by a federal judge in Manhattan, Cohen indicated he had paid sums of USD 130,000 and USD 150,000 each to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump. The two women are believed Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who the president also denies having an affair with. Cohen said he made the payments "at the request of a candidate" to silence "information that would be prejudicial to the candidate and the campaign."