WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has been consistently inconsistent about Michael Cohen and hush money to alleged former mistresses.

Since spring, Trump has gone from denying knowledge of any payments to women who claim to have been mistresses to apparent acknowledgement of those payments – and claims they wouldn't be illegal in any case.

Trump went with the blanket denial amid initial news reports of a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. During an April 6 trip aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters they would "have to ask Michael Cohen" about the payments to the adult film actress.

In the months since, however, Trump has basically confirmed the payments, but said they are not illegal.

In May, Trump and his attorneys began saying Cohen received a monthly retainer from which he made payments for non-disclosure agreements like the one with Daniels.

During a May 3 tweet storm, Trump said: "Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA."

Trump said these agreements are "very common among celebrities and people of wealth," and "this was a private agreement."

In July, however, CNN broadcast taped evidence that Trump was in on organizing at least one payment.

On the tape, Trump and Cohen can be heard discussing plans to set up a company to buy the rights to a story from Playboy model Karen McDougal about her alleged affair with Trump. The company would the purchase the rights from American Media, which publishes the National Enquirer.

On Twitter, Trump claimed – without evidence – that the tape was somehow doctored: "Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things?"

He offered no explanation for the apparent payoff discussion.

Trump began arguing making the payments wasn't a crime in August, after Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.

After a tweet mocking his former attorney – "if anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!" – Trump argued it was a civil dispute.

He then tweeted: "Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime. President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!"

Cohen pleaded guilty to felonies because of the size of the payments and that they were made with the knowledge of evading campaign-finance laws. Cohen set up invoices and schedules for the payments.

But the Federal Election Commission handles smaller campaign-finance violations, where the actions aren't willful, with civil penalties that are typically fines.

Trump tweeted Tuesday comparing his situation to one involving President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. The FEC fined the Obama campaign $375,000 for regulatory civil violations that included missing filing deadlines for disclosing large donations late in the campaign, reporting wrong dates for some contributions, and not returning excessive donations quickly enough.

Legal analysts said the accusations against Trump could amount to a felony because they revolve around an alleged conspiracy to conceal payments from campaign contribution reports – and from voters.

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said Obama's violation "consisted of failing to submit certain forms in time," while the Trump allegations involve large payments through shell companies and his lawyer.

"The former is negligent and the latter is knowing and willful," he said. "That is the difference – the mental state required."

On Friday, federal prosecutors in New York said Cohen admitted acting "in coordination with and at the direction of" Trump in making he payments to both women, and that neither woman spoke to the press before the election.

More:President Trump defends payments to women as 'private transaction'

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Contributing: Bart Jansen