Citing the Fifth Amendment in the Clifford case allows Mr. Cohen to avoid being deposed and revealing sensitive information in the more important criminal investigation. That investigation — which prosecutors say has been going on for months — became public in dramatic fashion on April 9, when agents from the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Mr. Cohen’s office, apartment and a room at the Loews Regency Hotel he had been using. The inquiry is said to be focusing on hush-money payments that Mr. Cohen made to — or helped arrange for — Ms. Clifford and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who has also said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Lawyers for Mr. Cohen suggested on Wednesday that they were already taking steps to gird themselves for battle. Two days later, the prosecutors and Mr. Cohen’s lawyers submitted to Judge Wood lists of potential candidates.

Source: New York Times April 25, 2018 23:39 UTC