Trump contradicts Cohen: 'Hush money payments came from me' – as it happened

President’s claim regarding payments to women at odds with former lawyer’s guilty plea over campaign finance violations Latest: Trump accuses Cohen of making up hush money stories Sign up to receive the day’s top stories 10.08pm BST We’re closing the liveblog for the day. Here’s a look at what’s unfolded in the aftermath of the verdicts against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and ex-lawyer Michael Cohen. Related: Donald Trump accuses Michael Cohen of making up hush money stories Related: Senior Republicans hesitate to criticise Trump after Manafort and Cohen verdicts Related: Donald Trump: 'worst hour' for president as Manafort and Cohen guilty 9.58pm BST Cohen is fast becoming investigators most sought-after witness. Congressional investigators have said they want to hear from him. And on Wednesday Cohen was slapped with a subpoena in a separate investigation into Trump’s charitable foundation. The New York state attorney general, Barbara Underwood, sued the Donald J Trump charitable foundation, Donald Trump and three of his children in June for allegedly violating state charity laws. “The foundation is little more than an empty shell that functions with no oversight from its board of directors,” the lawsuit alleged. Prosecutors allege that Trump had not contributed to the charity since 2008 but used millions contributed tax-free by outside donors as “little more than a checkbook” to settle legal claims against his Mar-a-Lago resort and against Trump National Golf Club. The suit additionally alleges that the charity paid $10,000 to buy a painting of Trump displayed at the Trump National Doral golf course, and that the charity operated as a wing of the Trump presidential campaign and not independently as a charity. “Trump ran the foundation according to whim, rather than law,” the suit said. Related: Michael Cohen hit with subpoena in case alleging Trump charity violations Continue reading... source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/news-blog/live/2018/aug/22/trump-turmoil-aftermath-cohen-manafort-verdicts-live #Headlines by: Lauren Gambino (now) and Mattha Busby (earlier)

Original Post: https://www.theguardian.com/world/news-blog/live/2018/aug/22/trump-turmoil-aftermath-cohen-manafort-verdicts-live