"I AM A CROOK":

Here are eight major takeaways from what these developments:

1. SDNY Prosecutors named the President of the United States as a direct participant, if not the principal, in felonies

"The Department of Justice today, in the most explicit terms, said the President of the United States committed two felonies. Just said it. Came out and said it. Campaign violations. ... It's just plain as day," Jeffrey Toobin said live on CNN. Toobin is basically right, and that's the legal, political, and ethical bombshell of this day in history.

More specifically, the flagship U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York walked right up to the line of accusing Donald Trump (identified as "Individual 1") in a federal court filing of complicity and conspiracy in Cohen's felony campaign finance crimes related to the payment of hush money to women to squash sex stories. Specifically, the SDNY states:

During the campaign, Cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories - each from women who claimed to have had an affair with Individual-1 - so as to suppress the stories and thereby prevent them from influencing the election. With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen coordinated his actions with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1. As a result of Cohen's actions, neither woman spoke to the press prior to the election.

Trump is no mere accomplice, but is alleged to have directed the criminal activity. And this is no minor crime. The SDNY submitted to the court that "the nature and seriousness of the offenses" should "weigh heavily in favor of a substantial term of imprisonment." And as though they were speaking about Trump himself, the prosecutors state that the "two campaign finance crimes on the eve of the 2016 election for President of the United States struck a blow to one of the core goals of the federal campaign finance laws: transparency," "deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election," and should be met with a stiff penalty "to counter the public cynicism that may arise when individuals like Cohen act as if the political process belongs to the rich and powerful." That language is not reserved for Cohen, but presumably applies to the individual who directed Cohen's activities as well if not more so. [...]

2. Other Trump Campaign and Trump Organization officials may face criminal charges for the hush money scheme

The key allegation against the President also refers to "one or more members of the campaign," which suggests more indictments for the hush money scheme may still be in the offing. This also raises the prospect that we may soon see the prosecution of the campaign itself as an organization -- "United States vs. Trump Campaign" -- even if a sitting president (United States vs. Donald J. Trump) cannot be indicted. Something similar holds true for other executives in the Trump Organization and the company itself. The SDNY memo states that executives engaged in a scheme to create fraudulent payments to reimburse Cohen for his payoffs for the two women. It states, for example, that "Executives of the Company agreed to reimburse Cohen ... the Company then falsely accounted for these payments as 'legal expenses.' In fact, no such retainer agreement existed and these payments were not 'legal expenses' - Cohen in fact provided negligible legal services to Individual-1 or the Company in 2017."

3. The Special Counsel ties Trump directly to possible Russia collusion

The Special Counsel's sentencing memorandum for Cohen very deliberately tells the public that Trump himself was caught up in the connections to and embrace with Russia, and some of those actions were in fact the candidate's idea. The Special Counsel's memo says that it was Trump's idea to initiate contact with the Kremlin in the early stages of the campaign, and that he tasked his fixer, Cohen, to begin that process as early as September 2015. This information should now inform how we think about other subsequent events in the Trump-Russia timeline. At least some Russian overtures should be seen as a potential second step (a receptive response) in the two side's engagement, not the first step (an initial overture or invitation).

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