Prosecutors Say Trump Directed Illegal Payments During Campaign.

Federal prosecutors said that President Trump directed illegal payments to ward off a potential sex scandal that threatened his chances of winning the White House in 2016, putting the weight of the Justice Department behind accusations previously made by his former lawyer.

The lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, had said that as the election neared, Mr. Trump directed payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump. In a new memo arguing for a prison term for Mr. Cohen, prosecutors in Manhattan said he “acted in coordination and at the direction of” an unnamed individual, clearly referring to Mr. Trump.

In another filing, prosecutors for the special counsel investigating Russia’s 2016 election interference said an unnamed Russian offered Mr. Cohen “government level” synergy between Russia and Mr. Trump’s campaign in November 2015. 

In a separate case, the special counsel accused Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, of lying about his contacts with an individual they accuse of ties to Russian intelligence, and about his interactions with Trump administration officials after he was indicted on criminal charges. Mr. Manafort was convicted on financial fraud and conspiracy charges unrelated to his work for the Trump campaign. President Trump has repeatedly defended Mr. Manafort as a “brave man” and dangled the possibility of a pardon for his 10 felonies, likely to result in a prison term of at least 10 years. 

Together, the filings laid bare the most direct evidence to date linking Mr. Trump to potentially criminal conduct, and added to an already substantial case that Russia was seeking to sway the 2016 election in his favor.

Mr. Trump sought on Friday to dismiss the news, claiming. inexplicably, it “Totally clears the President. Thank you!” 

The prosecutors in New York mounted a scathing attack on Mr. Cohen’s character. They argued that he deserved a “substantial” prison term that, giving him some credit for his cooperation, could amount to just under four years. “His offenses strike at several pillars of our society and system of government: the payment of taxes; transparent and fair elections; and truthfulness before government and in business,” they wrote.