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Donald Trump finally responded to Michael Cohen's guilty plea today, after his former lawyer admitted to felony crimes designed to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

Cohen implicated the President in two counts of campaign finance violations - saying he had been acting under the instruction of his client, then candidate Trump.

But in his first response since the news broke last night, Trump sought to shift discussion away from his own alleged crimes and onto his predecessor.

He equated the violations to fines issued to Barack Obama's election campaign after the 2008 Presidential election.

But are the two comparable?

Here's everything you need to know.

What was Barack Obama's campaign fined for?

(Image: Getty Images)

Essentially, their paperwork wasn't up to snuff.

The Obama campaign was fined by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for failing to file a series of '48-hour notices' on their donations.

Candidates are required to file any donations above $1,000 taken within 20 days of the election, and must file them within 48 hours of receiving them.

When the FEC audited the campaign, they found they had failed to file notices in good time for 1,300 donations, worth around $1.8 million.

The campaign was fined $375,000 for the violation.

While it was among the highest fines ever doled out by the watchdog, the campaign paid up, it wasn't covered up, and so wasn't treated as a crime.

What did Michael Cohen admit to last night?

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

He admitted - and implicated the US President in - a felony conspiracy to influence the outcome of an election by paying women hush money.

Michael Cohen said in court that he had arranged payments to two women who claimed to have had affairs with his client - Trump - in order to buy their silence.

He said he was acting under instructions from the President.

And he said he arranged to make the payments "for (the) principal purpose of influencing (the) election".

Trump says what Cohen pleaded guilty to was not a crime - is that true?

(Image: AFP)

No.

The two charges that relate to the payments were both federal crimes.

One charged him with ‘willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution’ - a criminal offence which carries a maximum jail term of five years.

The other charged him with ‘making an excessive campaign contribution’, also a criminal offence, which also carries a maximum jail term of five years.