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Michael Cohen's lawyer says his client would testify to Congress about Trump without immunity

<p>Michael Cohen, the president's personal lawyer for more than a decade, has reached a plea deal with U.S. attorneys. Two of the eight counts, on campaign finance fraud, relate directly to the president.</p><p>Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said, "What he did was he worked to pay money to silence two women who had information that he believed would be detrimental to the 2016 campaign and to the candidate and the campaign."</p><p>Those women are believed to be ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actress Stormy Daniels. Both are rumored to have had affairs with Donald Trump and been paid to keep it quiet.</p><p>Cohen told a judge in court Tuesday afternoon he coordinated those payments in 2017 with a candidate for federal office. That candidate, not named in court, was Donald Trump. Cohen also said he was reimbursed.</p><p>We spoke with political science professor Keith Whittington on Monday ahead of these developments. Cohen directly implicated the president with his own guilty plea, but we don't know whether or not Cohen cooperated specifically. </p><p>"If I were the president, I wouldn't be confident in that Cohen would be willing to go to jail before dealing information that may be harmful to the president," Whittington said.</p><p>Senate intelligence committee Chairman Richard Burr and Vice Chairman Mark Warner said they've been working with Cohen, meaning the president may not be out of the woods.</p><p>"We recently re-engaged Mr. Cohen and his team following press reports that suggested he had advance knowledge of a June 16 meeting between campaign officials and Russian ... and a Russian lawyer at the Trump Tower," Burr said. "We hope that today's developments and Mr. Cohen's plea agreement will not preclude him from an appearance before our committee as needed for an ongoing investigation."</p><p>The other six counts deal with tax fraud and misrepresentation liabilities for a loan. Cohen is facing between three and a half and six years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12. </p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/prisoners-organize-nationwide-protests-over-conditions/">Inmates Organize Nationwide Protests Over Prison Conditions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/hawaii-s-complicated-road-to-statehood-took-4-decades/">Hawaii's Complicated Road To Statehood Took 40 Years</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/parents-are-letting-their-kids-decide-gender-for-themselves/">More Parents Are Raising Their Kids As Gender Creative</a></li></ul>
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Michael Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said Wednesday that he believes his client is willing to testify before any congressional committee without being granted immunity.

"Yes, I believe I can say that," Davis told CNN's John Berman on "New Day." "I have not specifically asked my client that question, but I'm stating my belief that the answer to that question is yes," Davis clarified.

Cohen pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to eight criminal counts, including campaign finance violations tied to his work for President Donald Trump during the 2016 election.

Following Cohen's plea deal, Sens. Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Mark Warner, the ranking member on the committee, offered a rare, joint statement before reporters Tuesday, saying they had "re-engaged" with Cohen. Burr said the committee re-engaged "following press reports that suggested he had advance knowledge of the June 2016 meeting between campaign officials and Russian lawyers at Trump Tower."

Davis also told "New Day" on Tuesday that Cohen will not seek a pardon from Trump.

In his guilty plea, Cohen directly implicated the President, saying that he kept information that would have harmed Trump from becoming public during the 2016 election cycle "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office."

The counts against Cohen included tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations tied to his work for Trump, including payments Cohen made or helped orchestrate that were designed to silence women who claimed affairs with the then-candidate.

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