Mueller investigation - live: Michael Cohen gave information about Russian attempts to reach Trump campaign dating back to 2015

Robert Mueller says Cohen has cooperated with his investigation and so does not ask for any extra jail time

Head of Special Counsel investigation Robert Mueller (Getty)

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have asked a judge to sentence former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to a “substantial term of imprisonment” for paying an adult film star hush money on the president's behalf and evading taxes.

Earlier in the day Mr Trump has attacked Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, although Mr Mueller and his team asked for no extra prison time for Cohen for lying to federal investigators, citing Cohen's cooperation with his investigation.

New court documents are also expected flesh out the case against Mr Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Mr Mueller’s team has accused Manafort of breaching a plea bargain agreement by lying to prosecutors – something Manafort has denied – and he has submitted information on those alleged lies.

Elsewhere, the former head of the FBI James Comey – a frequent target for attacks from Mr Trump – took part in a behind-closed-doors hearing with two congressional committees on decisions made by the Justice Department during the 2016 presidential election.

Follow live updates below

Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load

[7 December 2018 22:55 · Clark Mindock]

The Mueller memo says that Cohen met with the special counsel's office for seven interviews, "many of them lengthy", and indicates that Cohen has continued to make himself available for prosecutors.

[7 December 2018 23:00 · Clark Mindock]

While we have heard a lot about Cohen doing the bidding of the president during the 2016 campaign and before, here is a line in the Mueller memo that shows Cohen had interactions with the White House during the Trump presidency.

Of note here is that Cohen never worked for the White House, and Mueller's filing indicates it is of interest — though we are not told why the special counsel's investigation cares.

[7 December 2018 23:05 · Clark Mindock]

While the Mueller memo notes that Cohen has been an asset to the investigation, Mueller continues to note that the man had lied to investigators and negatively impacted federal investigations. Even though he came around to cooperating, that's still a serious offense, according to the Mueller memo.

[7 December 2018 23:10 · Clark Mindock]

Here's the passage that shows Cohen was in contact with Russian sources going back to at least 2015, the year that Mr Trump announced his candidacy to become president.

[7 December 2018 23:18 · Adam Withnall]

Prosecutors say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials. 

The disclosures have been made in a court filing on Friday evening. 

Prosecutors say Manafort violated his plea deal by telling "multiple discernible lies".

They say Manafort told investigators that he spoke with officials before and after they left the Trump administration. But they say a review of his electronic documents shows he had "additional contacts" with the officials. 

[7 December 2018 23:21 · Adam Withnall]

Donald Trump has just tweeted, presumably in reference to Mueller's memo on Cohen. In fact the memo very much does not clear the president. In it, he is accused of directing Cohen to break campaign finance rules.

[7 December 2018 23:24 · Adam Withnall]

A former federal prosecutor speaks out about Trump's latest tweet. 

[7 December 2018 23:28 · Adam Withnall]

[8 December 2018 00:36 · Chris Stevenson]

We are now closing our coverage, thanks for reading.