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New York prosecutors are investigating whether Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, committed tax fraud, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reports that federal prosecutors are looking into whether Cohen’s “income from his taxi-medallion business was underreported in federal tax returns,” including ”hundreds of thousands of dollars” in cash and other means of payment. They are also reportedly looking at Sterling National Bank, which may have given Cohen loans to fund his taxi-medallion business without “adequate documentation.” Prosecutors are probing potentially false statements Cohen may have made on loan applications, as well. The Journal reports that the potential charges could put Cohen under “additional pressure” to cooperate with prosecutors, who have also subpoenaed Cohen’s former accountant, Jeffrey Getzel.
Cohen was involved with the hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom say they had affairs with Trump. This comes as former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is currently facing trial in Virginia on bank and tax fraud charges. While Manafort’s charges stem from Robert Mueller’s investigation, the special counsel handed off part of the Cohen case to prosecutors in New York earlier this year.