Double trouble for Trump as Cohen implicates president

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US President Donald Trump suffered an extraordinary double blow late on Tuesday as his former lawyer implicated him in a crime and his former campaign chair was convicted of financial wrongdoing.

In a remarkable hour on one of Trump's worst days as president, long-time personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts and former senior aide Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight charges.

Donald Trump with Michael Cohen in Ohio, US, September 21, 2016. /VCG Photo

The verdicts could prove a turning point. Both men now face lengthy prison sentences, and will likely come under pressure from prosecutors – including Special Counsel Robert Mueller – to cooperate in exchange for leniency.

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The accusations of wrongdoing are also likely to add to voices calling for impeachment of Trump – who probably can't be indicted as president – as Democrats campaign to win both houses of Congress in November's midterm elections.

Cohen implicates Trump

The most consequential element of an astonishing day was Cohen's claim that Trump directed him to make illegal campaign finance payments, directly implicating the US president in a crime.

The 51-year-old testified that he acted "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office" to pay off two women – Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal – who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

"Today he (Cohen) stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election," Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis said.

"If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?"

Michael Cohen, former lawyer to US President Donald Trump, exits the Federal Courthouse on August 21, 2018 in New York City. /VCG Photo

Trump, who held a campaign rally in West Virginia on Tuesday night, has not commented. The Trump legal team claims the payments to the women were made to avoid family embarrassment, and were unrelated to the campaign.

As part of a plea deal, which includes a possible sentence of five years and three months, Cohen pleaded guilty to one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate campaign contribution, one of making an excessive campaign contribution, five counts of tax fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution.

"Michael Cohen is committed to telling the truth, and nothing but the truth," Davis added on CNN. He refused to comment on whether his client had entered into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.

Manafort faces decades in jail

The Cohen investigation was referred to the Southern District of New York by Mueller, and the special counsel had his first court win in his investigation of Russia's role in the 2016 US election with the conviction of Manafort.

Shortly before Cohen made his admission in a New York court, Trump's former campaign chair was found guilty in Virginia of eight counts of financial wrongdoing.

US President Donald Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort at the US District Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, US, in this August 21, 2018 courtroom sketch. /VCG Photo

The 12-member jury found Manafort guilty on two counts of bank fraud, five counts of tax fraud and one charge of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. It said it could not reach a verdict on 10 of the 18 counts with which Manafort was charged.

Manafort, who faces a second trial on separate charges of money laundering in September, could be jailed for decades.

'It doesn't involve me'

Trump sought to distance himself from Manafort's conviction in remarks to reporters before the West Virginia rally.

During the rally, Trump again attacked the Mueller probe but didn't mention Manafort or Cohen.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a political rally at Charleston Civic Center in West Virginia, August 21, 2018. /VCG Photo

"Paul Manafort is a good man. ... It doesn't involve me, but I still feel – you know, it's a very sad thing that happened. This has nothing to do with Russian collusion. This started as Russian collusion; this has absolutely nothing to do – this is a witch hunt and it's a disgrace."

In a third blow for Trump on Tuesday, Republican Representative Duncan Hunter was indicted on charges of using campaign funds for personal expenses.

Hunter was the second congressman to endorse Trump's campaign for president. The first, Chris Collins, was charged with securities fraud earlier this month.