Cohen admits paying hush-money to Stormy Daniels at 'the direction of Trump'

In a stunning admission that implicates US President Donald Trump, his former lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to buying the silence of two women about their alleged affairs with Trump.

The extraordinary admission yesterday came the same day as Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 10 counts, and the judge declared a mistrial on those charges.

Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to charges of tax evasion, making false statements to a federally-insured bank, and campaign finance violations. The most-stunning admission he made in court before US District Judge William Pauley was that in 2016, Cohen had made payments of USD 280,000 to silence two women, who otherwise planned to speak publicly about their alleged affairs with a presidential candidate, thereby "intending to influence the 2016 presidential election".

The presidential candidate here is Trump and the payments were to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy playmate, a clear implication of the president. Cohen's sentencing is scheduled for December 12.