Prosecutors Bolster Evidence of Trump Role in Hush-Money Payments

After securing 3-year prison term for Michael Cohen, government reveals cooperation deal with National Enquirer publisher.

The sentencing of one former ally of President Trump and the disclosure of a key agreement with another strengthened the evidence that Mr. Trump helped coordinate efforts to suppress the stories of two women to protect his 2016 campaign.

The dual developments on Wednesday escalated a legal saga that has led Mr. Trump’s own Justice Department to directly implicate the sitting president in federal crimes, exposing him to potential legal and political peril as he enters the second half of his presidential term.

Mr. Trump on Monday described the payments Mr. Cohen arranged as a “simple private transaction” and said if the payments were illegal, it was his lawyer’s “mistake.” The president has denied the sexual encounters with the women as well as ordering Mr. Cohen to arrange the payments to them.

Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said in an interview after the sentencing that the payments were legal.

Whether a payment was intended to influence the election has been a key question in prior campaign-finance prosecutions. When the Justice Department accused John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, of using illegal campaign contributions to conceal an affair during his 2008 presidential run, he argued the money was meant to hide his mistress from his wife, not to influence the election. A jury acquitted him of one charge and deadlocked on the rest.

Sitting presidents cannot be indicted under Justice Department guidelines, but Democrats will take over control of the House in January, enabling them to subpoena records. They have said they plan to investigate Mr. Trump’s involvement in the hush-money payments, which incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) has described as “impeachable offenses.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), who is expected to take control of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday: “Is a crime directed and coordinated by the president which helped him obtain office sufficient to warrant his removal from that office? That’s a legitimate question to ask.”

Republicans in Congress have largely dismissed the president’s involvement in the payments. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), after being told New York prosecutors had alleged the president ordered Mr. Cohen to arrange the hush-money payments, said: “OK, but I don’t care. All I can say is he’s doing a good job as president.”

Once the special counsel investigation concludes, Mr. Mueller is expected to submit a report to the Justice Department that is also anticipated to reach Congress. That report could incorporate any findings related to the president by New York prosecutors.

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