Michael Cohen, who arranged hush money payments for Trump, said his former boss’ indictment is just the beginning of a process towards accountability.
Cohen served three years in jail over the payoffs to two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump, with the intent of influencing the outcome of the 2016 elections. He was also convicted of tax evasion.
“Today’s indictment is not the end of the chapter. It’s rather the beginning, now that the charges have been filed,” Cohen told MSNBC.
“Accountability matters. I stand by my testimony and the evidence that I provided to the district attorney of New York,” he said.
Cohen was found to have facilitated payments of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels and $180,000 to Playboy model Karen MacDougal.
He testifed for three hours before a grand jury earlier this month.
We don’t yet know what charges Trump faces but paying hush money is not illegal. However, the former president allegedly recorded it as a business expense – and falsifying business records is illegal in New York.
Trump has strongly denied the affair and called the indictment “political persecution and election interference”. BBC
