New York attorney general’s office to pursue criminal probe of Cohen’s taxes: report

The New York state attorney general’s office is set to begin pursing a criminal probe of President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen’s potential state tax law violations, CNN reported on Friday.

The move comes days after Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal counts total, including five counts of tax evasion and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.

The office of state Attorney General Barbara Underwood (D) reportedly received a criminal referral from the state’s Department of Taxation and Finance, a person familiar with the matter told the outlet.

Underwood had to request a criminal referral from the office to potentially file charges against Cohen, The Associated Press first reported Thursday. 

{mosads}Referral requests are almost always granted, the outlet noted.

Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, reportedly owes at least $1.4 million to the IRS after allegedly evading federal taxes by failing to report at least $4 million of his income.

It is unclear if he also misstated his income on New York state tax returns.

A lawyer for Cohen declined to comment to CNN regarding the development.

The campaign finance violation to which Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday relates to his nondisclosure payments to adult-film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claim to have had affairs with Trump. 

Cohen can be charged at both the state and federal level for tax crimes because the the federal charges don’t apply to New York state’s double jeopardy laws, CNN noted. 

The judge set a sentencing hearing of Dec. 12 for Cohen, who was released on $500,000 bond.