First Draft on Politics: Trump Directed Illegal Payments, Cohen Says

Two extraordinary legal setbacks could expose President Trump to the possibility of impeachment. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, August 22, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, said in court that he made illegal payments to two women in 2016 “at the direction of a candidate for federal office.”]( President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, said in court that he made illegal payments to two women in 2016 “at the direction of a candidate for federal office.” Jeenah Moon for The New York Times Good Wednesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, [told a Manhattan judge]( that Mr. Trump directed him to arrange payments to two women during the 2016 campaign to ensure their silence about alleged affairs with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws and other charges, a pivotal moment in the investigation into the president. - Minutes later, Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, was [convicted of five counts]( of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The verdict, in a federal courtroom in Virginia, was a victory for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. - Facebook said it had identified [new influence campaigns]( aimed at sowing misinformation around the world. The activity originated in Iran and Russia, according to the social network, which said it had taken down 652 fake accounts, pages and groups. - The Trump administration analyzed its own overhaul of restrictions on coal-burning power plants, finding that the new rules [could lead to as many as 1,400 premature deaths per year]( by 2030. - Representative Duncan Hunter, Republican of California, was [indicted by a federal grand jury]( in San Diego on charges of misusing campaign funds. He and his wife, Margaret, “dipped into campaign coffers as if they were personal bank accounts” and falsified reports to cover it up, a United States attorney said. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT OTTAWA | SEPTEMBER 5 [Canada and the U.S. Midterm Elections]( New York Times journalists will discuss one of the United States’ most consequential congressional elections in a generation. The White House correspondent Julie Hirschfeld Davis will join the political reporters Jonathan Martin and Astead Herndon for a conversation about the midterms. Ian Austen, a Times reporter and author of the Canada Letter newsletter, will moderate the conversation. [• Get tickets here »]( News Analysis [A One-Two Punch Puts Trump Back on His Heels]( By MARK LANDLER, MICHAEL D. SHEAR AND MAGGIE HABERMAN [President Trump arrived in Charleston, W.Va., for a rally on Tuesday, hours after judgments against two of his former confidants.]( President Trump arrived in Charleston, W.Va., for a rally on Tuesday, hours after judgments against two of his former confidants. Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times In two courtrooms 200 miles apart on Tuesday, President Trump’s almost daily attempts to dismiss the criminal investigations that have engulfed his White House all but collapsed. Mr. Trump has long mocked the investigations as “rigged witch hunts,” pursued by Democrats and abetted by a dishonest news media. But even the president’s staunchest defenders acknowledged privately that the legal setbacks he suffered within minutes of each other could open fissures among Republicans on Capitol Hill and expose Mr. Trump to the possibility of impeachment. [Read more »](  [Michael D. Cohen, a longtime personal lawyer for President Trump, leaving Federal District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday after pleading guilty to eight counts brought against him.]( [6 Takeaways From Cohen’s Guilty Plea]( By ALAN FEUER Here’s what we learned from the disclosures by federal prosecutors in the investigation into President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen. [President Trump at Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va., on Tuesday. The Justice Department has long taken the position that sitting presidents are not subject to criminal prosecution.]( [Cohen Implicates Trump. What Do Prosecutors Do Now?]( By ADAM LIPTAK AND JIM RUTENBERG The Justice Department has long said that sitting presidents can’t be indicted. But impeachment remains an option. [Paul Manafort, left, and Michael D. Cohen.]( [Cohen, Manafort and Trump: What the Day’s Developments Mean]( By SARAH MERVOSH AND MATT STEVENS It was a big day in court (two courtrooms, actually) for the president, his former fixer and his former campaign manager. [In addition to abortion, Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh discussed gun rights during their more than two-hour meeting on Tuesday.]( [Roe Is ‘Settled Law,’ Kavanaugh Tells Collins. Democrats Aren’t Moved.]( By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG The vote of Senator Susan Collins, a Republican who backs abortion rights, is critical to the confirmation of Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court choice, Brett Kavanaugh. [The federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va., on Friday as the jury deliberated in Paul Manafort’s trial.]( [Takeaways From the Manafort Conviction]( By EMILY COCHRANE AND SHARON LAFRANIERE A jury found Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, guilty on eight counts of financial and tax fraud. Here are the biggest takeaways. [President Trump’s rally in Charleston, W.Va., on Tuesday is among the many midterm campaign stops he is expected to make over the coming weeks.]( [Trump Attacks Democrats at Rally, but Mostly Steers Clear of Scandals]( By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS AND KATIE ROGERS Invoking fears of immigrant crime, the president worked a West Virginia crowd into a frenzy, calling Democrats coddlers of lawbreakers who would take the country down a dangerous path. [“Russia is a menace on so many different levels today that Congress can be compelled to act with a single voice,” said Senator Michael D. Crapo, Republican of Idaho.]( [Facing New Russian Hacking, Senators Signal They Are Ready to Act]( By NICHOLAS FANDOS AND CATIE EDMONDSON After Microsoft revealed new Russian attacks, senators in three hearings prodded the Trump administration to do more to protect America’s political infrastructure. [The CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, left, on Tuesday with Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for the adult-film actress whom Michael D. Cohen acknowledged paying off. MSNBC featured an in-studio appearance by Mr. Avenatti.]( [‘We Have Some Breaking News’: A Wild Day Makes Networks Scramble]( By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM Over the course of a whipsawing hour of television, journalists struggled to keep up with developments involving Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen. [Shipping containers at the port of Vladivostok in Russia. The Trump administration announced sanctions targeting Russian ships based in Vladivostok that deliver oil to North Korea.]( [New U.S. Sanctions Target Russia for Defying Rules on North Korea]( By GARDINER HARRIS The administration’s targets include ships that were transferring oil to North Korean vessels, which imported the oil despite international sanctions. [Jakiw Palij in Queens in 2003. He is believed to have been the last surviving Nazi war crimes suspect living in the United States.]( [Ex-Nazi Guard in U.S., Now 95, Is Deported to Germany]( By KATRIN BENNHOLD AND JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS Jakiw Palij, the last known Nazi war crimes suspect on American soil, lived in New York quietly for decades, and his removal handed President Trump a political victory. [Levi Sanders delivered his closing statement to a room of voters and volunteers during the forum for Democratic candidates for Congress in New Hampshire’s 1st District this month.]( [Levi Sanders Is Not His Father. (He Keeps Telling Voters That.)]( By SYDNEY EMBER Bernie Sanders’s son is running for a House seat in New Hampshire. The name and the mannerisms are familiar, but he is quick to remind voters, “I am my own person.” [Stallone Laurel Dias, originally from India and currently serving in the United States Army, at a naturalization ceremony in July.]( [Red Flags for Immigrant Recruits: Calling Parents, Not Laughing at Jokes]( By DAVE PHILIPPS Records detail the reasons, some seemingly trivial or erroneous, that the Army has been labeling immigrant recruits as security risks. [Mark Gordon celebrated with supporters at his watch party in Buffalo, Wyo., on Tuesday. He won the Republican nomination for governor of Wyoming.]( [Wyoming Republicans Snub Trump-Endorsed Candidate for Governor]( By JEREMY W. PETERS Primary voters chose Mark Gordon, the state treasurer, brushing off the president’s 11th-hour endorsement of Foster Friess, a donor to conservative causes. [Protesters celebrated after the Confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday.]( [Confederate Statue Is Toppled in North Carolina]( By JESSE JAMES DECONTO AND ALAN BLINDER “Silent Sam,” a feature of the University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill campus for more than a century, had become a focus of protests and vandalism. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. And consider [subscribing to get unlimited access to nytimes.com and our apps.]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). 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