Michael Cohen, formerly a lawyer for President Trump, leaves his hotel, in New York

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has pleaded guilty to eight felony charges including tax evasion and campaign finance violations stemming from payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claim they had an extramarital affair with the president.

During a court appearance in Manhattan on Tuesday, Mr Cohen told the judge that he was aware of what he was doing before pleading guilty to the charges, shocking those in attendance by admitting that he worked "at the direction of candidate" Trump to attempt to silence Karen McDougal — a former Playboy playmate who has claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump — in 2016, and worked "with and at the direction of the same candidate" to deliver a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to silence her own claims of an affair.

Mr Cohen did not specifically use his former boss' name while pleading guilty, but he was employed by Mr Trump — then a presidential candidate — at the time of the payments.

Mr Cohen is known for his previously close relationship with Mr Trump, and has repeatedly been described as his "fixer" for difficult matters. That proximity means Mr Cohen could potentially create substantial legal headaches for Mr Trump, whose 2016 presidential campaign is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller for any potential cooperation with Russian election meddling.

The guilty pleas came just minutes apart from the first jury convictions of Mr Mueller's investigation, when former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted on eight charges of bank or tax fraud at a federal courthouse in Virginia. Those chargers were not directly related to the president.

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