washington
CNN
—
Michael Cohen, former attorney for former President Donald Trump, told CNN on Wednesday that he has handed over his cellphone to Manhattan prosecutors.
Prosecutors are focusing on the Trump Organization’s involvement in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from speaking out about her alleged affair with Trump days before the 2016 presidential election. A grand jury in New York has been called to hear evidence related to the effort, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Cohen met with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office last month. Trump has denied the incident.
CNN reported that former National Enquirer publisher David Peck will meet with prosecutors this week as part of the investigation. In recent weeks, the district attorney’s office has also contacted Keith Davidson, who represented Daniels in the hush money deal.
Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether Trump and his companies falsified business records by improperly treating reimbursements as legitimate expenses. The charge is a misdemeanor in New York unless it can be tied to another crime, such as campaign finance law.
People familiar with the investigation told CNN that prosecutors working under former prosecutor Cy Vance had explored allegations related to the hush money scheme, but some lawyers on the team were not convinced the charges involving violations of federal election law would survive a legal challenge .
Prosecutors appeared to be emboldened last year when a jury found two Trump Organization entities guilty of a decade-long tax fraud scheme.
This story is happening and will be updated.
