Michael Cohen: Attorney for Trump's former lawyer says he 'has information on president that may be of interest to Mueller'

President's ex-fixer 'wants to tell the truth about Mr Trump'

The attorney representing Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has suggested his client “has information” on the president that would interest special counsel Robert Mueller.

Lanny Davis said Mr Cohen “wants to tell the truth about Mr Trump” and may also speak to state prosecutors in New York.

On Tuesday Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including campaign finance violations ahead of the 2016 presidential election, on a disastrous day for the American leader who also saw his former campaign manager Paul Manafort convicted of bank and tax fraud.

Mr Cohen admitted paying hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both alleged to have had extramarital affairs with Mr Trump.

The president’s personal “fixer” implicated Mr Trump - for whom he once said he would “take a bullet” – in his crimes by saying he was working “at the direction of the candidate”.

“Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election,” Mr Davis said.

He added: “If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”

Mr Davis implied his client may also have incriminating information on the Trump Foundation, the president’s charity which is being sued by New York’s attorney general for “persistently illegal conduct” including alleged misuse of funds.

“Michael Cohen, being a lawyer for Donald Trump for many, many years, knows almost everything about Mr Trump,” Mr Davis told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “We’ll see whether the level of corruption alleged concerning the Trump Foundation is a topic of concern for the New York attorney general.”

Asked if his client would speak to Mr Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and alleged collusion with the Trump campaign, Mr Davis said: “I do believe that he has information about Mr Trump that would be of interest both in Washington as well as New York state.

“I know that he wants to tell the truth about Mr Trump and when he first came to me we had long conversations about his views, about the suitability of Mr Trump to be president of the United States, and I believe that Michael Cohen is motivated for his country as well as concern about his family.

“And he will tell the truth.”

Former US attorney Harry Litman said it was “clear that the president has co-conspirator liability” in Mr Cohen’s crimes.

“He didn’t stand trial today but he’s as good as having been found guilty of campaign finance and wire fraud crimes and crimes that are not incidental to the presidency but really central to it because they involve a kind of attempt to exploit and corrupt the system in order to get himself elected in the first place,” he told Sky News.

Mr Trump has yet to publicly respond to Mr Cohen’s guilty pleas, and ignored questions about his former lawyer as he arrived for a pre-scheduled rally in West Virginia on Tuesday evening. The White House also declined to comment.

The American leader dismissed Mr Manafort’s conviction as a “witch hunt” and said his former campaign manager was “a good man”.