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Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and “fix-it” guy, is facing legal scrutiny — potentially for bank fraud and violation of campaign finance law.
The FBI raided Cohen’s home, hotel, and office looking for, among other things, information about payments to women to quiet damaging stories about the president. Cohen paid porn actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump before he became president, $130,000 of his own money in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement. He also may be involved with a $150,000 payment from the National Enquirer to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, to bury another story about an alleged affair with Trump.
Investigators are reportedly also interested in whether Cohen made any behind-the-scenes efforts to prevent the infamous Access Hollywood tape from going public.
Cohen worked as a high-level executive in the Trump Organization for nearly a decade. During that time, he pursued business deals in the former Soviet Union and tried to get a Trump Tower Moscow built during the presidential campaign. Trump is outraged about the attention being aimed at his personal attorney, maintaining that the investigations are a “witch hunt.”