WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has had multiple lengthy interviews over the last month with investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller, two people familiar with the matter said.
Cohen has been one of Trump's closest associates over the past decade and admitted he made illegal campaign contributions in the 2016 presidential election at the behest of Trump. He was asked by investigators about Trump's business and any business dealings with Russia, the people said.
Cohen pleaded guilty in August to five counts of tax evasion, one count of lying on a loan application, and two counts of campaign finance violations.
The meetings took place after his guilty plea, according to the people, who described the discussions on condition of anonymity. The New York-based lawyer traveled to Washington for at least one of the interviews with the Mueller team, one of the people said.
Mueller, whose probe is looking into Russian meddling into the election, originally referred the Cohen investigation to federal prosecutors in Manhattan to look into hush money payments and other matters.
Two of the charges Cohen pleaded guilty to stem from payments made to Playboy model Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford, an adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels, to keep them from talking about their affairs with Trump.
He entered the guilty plea without a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.
ABC News reported Cohen's interviews with the Mueller team earlier Thursday.
