Michael Cohen sentenced to three years in prison; Tabloid publisher signs deal with federal government: NPR

Every new dawn seems to be making headlines in the investigation of Russia, including a number of new developments in the courtroom this month.

Here's what you need to know about what has happened so far this week in a situation that is often complex and fast. saga in motion.

Michael Cohen goes to jail but says he did not finish

Former Trump attorney was sentenced Wednesday to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty

Cohen admitted to arranging payments to two women before election day in 2016 to prevent them from actually making politically damaging accusations against Trump about sexual relations that they say they had with him years before his presidential candidacy – allegations that Trump denies.

Cohen also admitted to having lied to Congress about the negotiations that Trump's affairs conducted with powerful Russians in 2016 over a possible agreement for the construction of a trump tower in Moscow. Cohen had told lawmakers that these discussions had ended in January 2016, but he then said, in a recent plea agreement, that these discussions lasted until June 2016, including after that Trump has become the leader of the GOP.

suggested that he has even more to say about Trump when the time has come. In a sometimes moving speech at Wednesday's hearing in Manhattan, he made it clear that he felt liberated from the hold that Trump was holding him one day.

"Blind loyalty to this man," he said, "led me to choose

Now, said Cohen, he regained his "freedom" despite the prison sentence, and his advisor swore that Cohen had not finished speaking publicly about what he knew about Trump.

"In due course, after [special counsel Robert] Mueller finishes his investigation and publishes his final report.I look forward to helping Michael to publicly declare everything he knows about Mr. Trump – and especially everything. Congressional committee interested in finding the truth and the difference between facts and lies., "said Lanny Davis in a statement after the sentencing hearing.

What does it mean? Cohen has already created a legal and political danger for Trump: He In his guilty plea in August, Trump ordered him to pay the two women an indemnity, which prosecutors describe as an offense under the federal law. campaign funding. This raises questions about Trump's guilt in these actions.

But what Cohen also did on Wednesday was clear: even though he is at the end of the road legally, he still has a lot to say about Trump and could continue to pose political problems for the president.

A tabloid publisher admitted his role in the hidden money ploy

Cohen did not pay any direct payments to the film actress for Stormy Daniels adults and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in 2016 to silence their stories about Trump.

He creates an intermediary front company to transfer the funds to Daniels. In the case of McDougal, he worked for the tabloid publisher American Media, Inc., owner of National Enquirer and other magazines.

The company had earlier denied having paid anyone to remain silent about Trump,

AMI signed an agreement with the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, in which he obtained the $ 50,000. immunity from prosecution in exchange for admission that he had actually collaborated with Cohen to pay McDougal. in order to prevent his article from appearing before the election day 2016.

American Media CEO David Pecker met with Cohen in August 2015 and "offered Help to deal with negative stories about the relationship between [Trump’s] and women, including helping the campaign to identify these stories to buy them and avoid their publication, "according to documents released Wednesday by prosecutors.

Pecker and AMI will not be subject to criminal charges but cooperate with prosecutors and documents issued by the US prosecutor's office suggest that cooperation could continue.

Meaning of what? Are there any other "negative stories" that Pecker helped choke on for Trump's 2016 campaign? If this is the case, this information could be in the hands of the federal authorities.

The agreement also states that AMI agreed to "implement specific improvements in internal compliance to prevent future violations of federal campaign finance laws," suggesting that Other celebrities or politicians may no longer want to use publishers in the same way to catch and kill harmful stories.

A Russian agent is on the verge of pleading guilty Thursday

A nested action in Russia returns to Washington, DC on Thursday, while the Russian woman accused of having served 39, illegal foreign agent should plead guilty in federal court.

Maria Butina was arrested during the summer and linked to a project to establish diverted links between the Russian government, the Trump campaign and conservative organizations.

Booty has become a cause apart Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Putin said this week that officials of his intelligence agency did not know anything about it.

Butina and her boyfriend, sometimes GOP fundraiser Paul Erickson, participated in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign to try to set up a meeting between the campaign leaders and the powerful Russians. Although at least one brief meeting followed, the effort ultimately failed to connect Trump and Putin.

Butina and Erickson, however, continued to evolve in political circles after the election, including at the national prayer breakfast.

Thursday could tell more about how the two men cultivated these relationships in circles of influence with conservatives, including with the National Rifle Association.

Blood Trump

President Trump said he was indifferent to the developments of the week.

He told Reuters on Tuesday that the campaign finance laws involved in Cohen's case did not apply because the payments are not "campaign contributions" and even if the law had been violated, it was a civil violation and not a criminal case.

Trump also asserts that if Cohen broke the law, that responsibility lay with him. Trump said he was not responsible. "19659008]" Michael Cohen is a lawyer. I guess he would know what he's doing, "Trump told Reuters.The president also said that the focus on the violations of campaign funding represented an opposition between his opponents, who had failed to prove that his campaign could have conspired with the Russians who had attacked the 2016 election.

The investigators will find no such evidence. Trump states that contacts between his Assistants and Russians who have been revealed are "peanut problems."

Flynn learns his fate

Sentencing scheduled for next time is significant A week in the world case of Michael Flynn, former national security adviser at Trump

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his negotiations with the Russian ambassador Assador in the United States and then turned the proof of the state. The government hinted that he was a star witness – he had already stated in a previous report that a judge might even consider not granting him a prison sentence.

It sounded good for Flynn and his lawyers, who said Tuesday in their own memoir After decades of military service at Flynn, his 62 hours of meetings with investigators and his cooperation, he should not get more of 39, one year of probation and 200 hours of public works.

A federal judge must decide the fate of Flynn in December. 18.