Report: Manhattan D.A. Considering Pursuing Charges Against Trump Organization

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is “considering pursuing criminal charges” against President Donald Trump’s namesake company and “two senior company officials” in relation to the payments Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen made to two women in “hush” agreements, The New York Times reports. The investigation will reportedly center around how the Trump Organization and the two individuals facilitated reimbursing Cohen for payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who were paid in exchange for their silence about their alleged affairs with Trump. Federal prosecutors have said the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen for the payment he made to Daniels with “sham legal invoices in connection with a nonexistent retainer agreement.” One source told the newspaper prosecutors were now focused on whether the Trump Organization falsified business records as well. The New York state attorney general’s office has also reportedly moved to open an investigation on whether Cohen violated state tax law, which is separate from the tax fraud charges he pleaded guilty to on Tuesday. Cohen told the court earlier this week that he paid two women before the 2016 election at the direction of Trump, with the intention of influencing the election.