In a scathing interview with \u2018Good Morning America\u2019, Donald Trump\u2019s former lawyer Michael Cohen says Trump \u2018does not deserve loyalty\u2019<\/b>
\nMichael Cohen, US President Donald Trump\u2019s former lawyer, said Trump authorised hush money to two alleged mistresses because he was worried about how their stories would affect his chances for election in 2016.
\u201cHe knows the truth, I know the truth, others know the truth,\u201d Cohen told ABC\u2019s Good Morning America in a scathing interview broadcast Friday. \u201cAnd here is the truth: People of the United States of America, people of the world, don\u2019t believe what he is saying.\u201d
Cohen added of Trump: \u201cThe man doesn\u2019t tell the truth. And it is sad that I should take responsibility for his dirty deeds.\u201d
ABC News broadcast the interview two days after a federal judge sentenced Cohen to three years in prison for campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress.
Trump has blamed Cohen for the hush money scheme, saying Thursday on Twitter that \u201cI never directed Michael Cohen to break the law.\u201d
\u201cHe was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law,\u201d he added.
During a Fox News interview later in the day, Trump insisted that whatever Cohen did, \u201che did on his own.\u201d
Trump also accused Cohen of talking in order to get a reduced sentence, and to protect members of his family \u2013 a claim that Cohen said incensed him and prompted him to agree to the ABC interview.
\u201cInstead of him taking responsibility for his actions, what does he do?\u201d Cohen said. \u201cHe attacks my family.\u201d
A US attorney\u2019s office in New York is conducting the hush money investigation that implicates Trump.
Cohen has also provided information to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian efforts to influence the 2016 campaign by hacking Democratic critics of Trump.
Cohen told ABC he didn\u2019t talk with prosecutors \u201cto embarrass the president\u2026 He knows the truth.\u201d
\u201cI gave loyalty to someone who, truthfully, does not deserve loyalty.\u201d
Trump and his lawyers claimed the payments to two women did not relate to campaign finance, and, even if they did, they would amount to a civil case and not a criminal one.
Legal analysts said Trump could be vulnerable to a felony if prosecutors can prove he authorised and sought to conceal the payments for the purpose of influencing an election.
That is what Cohen says happened.
The payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels were not reported at the time and amounted to improper campaign contributions, prosecutors said.
In the Good Morning America interview, Cohen said he \u201cjust reviewed the documents\u201d behind the payment to McDougal. The National Enquirer paid for the rights to McDougal\u2019s story about her relationship with Trump, but killed the story instead of publishing it.
Prosecutors in New York said they have a cooperation agreement with the parent company of The National Enquirer, saying it paid the money \u201cin order to ensure that the woman did not publicise damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election.\u201d
Cohen said Trump knew about the payments and knew they were wrong because their purpose was to help the campaign.
Trump \u201cwas very concerned about how this would affect the election\u201d if allegations of extramarital affairs became public, he said.
Now that Trump is president, Cohen told ABC he has advice for his former client: \u201cLay off Twitter. Run the country the way that we thought that you would.\u201d<\/p>\n