President Donald Trump is bracing for potential criminal charges in New York from a state investigation into hush-money payments he made to two women during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen admitted in federal court he arranged payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about affairs they said they had with Trump.
The president has denied the affairs. Prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether anyone, including Trump, directed or participated in the payments.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and his current lawyer, Jay Sekulow, has called the investigation “a political hit job.”
It is unclear if prosecutors will bring any charges against Trump. If they do, it could expose the president to criminal prosecution while he is still in office, a situation that would pose a constitutional crisis in the United States.
