The walls are closing in on the deplorable administration as President Donald Trumpβs personal fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, has reportedly entered into a plea agreement with Manhattan federal prosecutors Tuesday.
According to the New York Post, terms of the plea require Cohen to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller into his investigation of Russia meddling in the 2016 election.
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But CNN notes that terms of the agreement have yet to be confirmed and added that Cohen has not agreed to assist Mueller in his investigation.
Cohenβs plea agreement is a huge blow to Trump, as Cohen was Trumpβs personal attorney for years before Trump became president.
βThe guy who knows where all the bodies are buried,β Seth Hettena, a veteran journalist who has chronicled Trumpβs business career, told ABC News.
Sources told CNN that the potential plea deal would not require Cohen to cooperate with the government, but by having Cohen plea out, it would avoid the sensationalism that a potential trial would bring.
Hereβs how CNN explains the fallout since Cohenβs arrest:
Cohen was part of Trumpβs inner circle for more than a decade, working as his personal attorney at the Trump Organization and continuing to advise the President after the election. Cohen once said he would take a bullet for Trump, but the relationship between the two men has frayed since an FBI raid in April of Cohenβs office, hotel room and home.
Trump has distanced himself from Cohen, who has told friends he has felt isolated, according to the friends. Last month, Cohen told ABC News his loyalty is to his family and country first, not the President.
On Tuesday morning, Cohen was seen entering his attorneyβs office and did not respond to questions. Cohenβs attorneys, Guy Petrillo and Lanny Davis, didnβt immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the US attorneyβs office declined to comment.
The Cohen investigation was referred to the Southern District of New York by special counsel Robert Mueller. If the plea deal does not include cooperation by Cohen, then it is unclear if he would follow through on his previous assertion to friends, according to sources, that he is willing to talk to Mueller.
The majority of Cohenβs charges stem from personal financial dealings through Cohenβs taxi medallion business and βloans from two financial institutions that have catered to the taxi industry,β CNN reports. There are also questions as to whether Cohen properly reported income from the taxi business to the Internal Revenue Service.
Prosecutors declined the Postβs request for comment, and Cohenβs lawyer, Lanny Davis, did not immediately respond to the Postβs request for comment.
This news is breaking, please check back for updates.
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