US President Donald Trump

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump, on Thursday pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, local media reported.

According to images seen on Fox News, Cohen made no formal comments as he left the courthouse in New York City after entering the guilty plea to one charge of providing false statements.

“Cohen made a false statement to a Senate committee about plans for building a Trump Tower hotel in Moscow.

“Cohen admits he was talking about Trump Tower Moscow as late as August 2017, he had previously said that the deal was stopped in January 2016,’’ Fox News reported.

He however, made the plea after reaching a plea deal with Mueller.

His cooperation with the special counsel is potentially damaging to Trump.

The charge was separate from earlier charges Cohen pleaded guilty to in August.

He admitted then to committing eight counts of campaign finance violations, including making two payoffs with the intention of influencing an election. (dpa/NAN)