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New Charges in Trump Campaign Finance Inquiry Are Unlikely, Prosecutors Signal
The disclosure came as documents were released showing that the investigation had been expanded, but is now over.
By Ben Protess and William K. Rashbaum
Federal prosecutors signaled in a court document released on Thursday that it was unlikely they would file additional charges in the hush-money investigation that ensnared members of Donald J. Trump’s inner circle and threatened to derail his presidency.
In the document, the prosecutors said they had “effectively concluded” their inquiry, which centered on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of two women who said they had had affairs with Mr. Trump.
At the same time, other newly released documents from the investigation showed that Mr. Trump was in close touch with Michael D. Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and fixer, when he was arranging the payments.
The day before paying one of the women $130,000, Mr. Cohen spoke twice on the phone with Mr. Trump, according to the documents, which said that “less than thirty minutes after speaking to Trump,” Mr. Cohen took steps to open a bank account to pay the woman.
He also spoke with President Trump the day after wiring the money to the woman’s lawyer, the documents said. It is not known what was said during the phone calls.
For the first time, the prosecutors with the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan also revealed in one document that they had expanded their investigation from campaign finance violations to include whether “certain individuals” lied to investigators or tried to obstruct the inquiry.
The brief report did not identify the subjects of those investigations, although it contained redactions of what appeared to be at least one name. That investigation has also ended, prosecutors said.
As recently as this spring, prosecutors were still considering whether one Trump Organization executive was untruthful when testifying before the grand jury, according to people briefed on the matter.
The Trump Organization reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress. Mr. Cohen also urged American Media Inc., which publishes The National Enquirer, to buy the rights to a former Playboy model’s story of an affair with Mr. Trump. Both deals effectively silenced the women in the run-up to the 2016 election.
A lawyer for the Trump Organization could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty in the case. He has said he helped arrange the hush money at the direction of Mr. Trump, and prosecutors have since repeated the accusation in court papers. Mr. Cohen is serving a three-year prison sentence.
In a statement from a federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., Mr. Cohen criticized the decision to end the inquiry.
“The conclusion of the investigation exonerating the Trump Organization’s role should be of great concern to the American people and investigated by Congress and the Department of Justice,” Mr. Cohen said.
Mr. Trump has denied the affairs and any campaign finance violations.
The documents were related to a 2018 raid on Mr. Cohen’s home and office. The prosecutors initially had released the documents in March, with nearly every detail of the campaign finance evidence redacted.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Manhattan, William H. Pauley III, had ordered prosecutors to release the records without redactions.
The search warrant documents shed light on the breadth of evidence the prosecutors amassed against Mr. Cohen even before searching his property and interviewing a number of witnesses.
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
Ben Protess covers the Trump Administration, including its overhaul of Obama-era regulations and potential conflicts of interest arising out of the president's personal business dealings. He previously covered white collar crime, Wall Street lobbying and the private equity industry. @benprotess
William K. Rashbaum is a senior writer on the Metro desk, where he covers political and municipal corruption, courts, terrorism and broader law enforcement topics. He was a part of the team awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. @WRashbaum • Facebook
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