New York Law Journal: Trump’s Lawyer Pleads Guilty

Donald Trump’s former attorney pleaded guilty to lying to US Congress about Donald Trump’s attempts to secure a Russian real estate deal during the US presidential campaign. Michael Cohen is cooperating with the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Russian meddling in the US presidential election. Cohen admitted to considering plans for him and Trump to travel to Russia and communications with Vladimir Putin’s press office in 2016. Shortly after the plea as announced, Trump insisted such business discussions are not a crime: “I was allowed to do whatever I wanted to during the campaign. I was running my business. We had a position to possibly do a deal to build a building of some kind in Moscow. I decided not to do it. The primary reason was very simple – I was focused on running for president. There would be nothing wrong if I did do it.” Trump won the election by questioning foreign trade, immigration, influences on US institutions and other forms of globalization. Now his staff and voters must decide if they are satisfied with the president’s transparency on his own foreign deals. – YaleGlobal