On August 21, Trump's longtime personal lawyer and "fixer" Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in a federal court in Manhattan to a series of felony crimes involving Trump.
Cohen entered guilty pleas to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution on October 27, 2016 — the day a $130,000 payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels was finalized.
During his plea entry, Cohen said he had made the illegal campaign and corporate contributions "at the direction of the candidate" and with the "purpose of influencing the election."
He did not identify said candidate by name, but the criminal complaint, which refers to said candidate as "individual 1," said that person became President of the United States in January 2017 — meaning it can be only be President Donald Trump.
On December 12, Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison.