Former IRS analysts pleads guilty to leaking information about Trump attorney

A former Internal Revenue Service analyst pleaded guilty to illegally leaking information about former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

Northern District U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson announced the plea deal. John C. Fry, 54, admitted to using the access his job provided to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to download Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) related to Cohen and his company, Essential Consultants.

Fry then shared these with Newport Beach attorney Michael Avenatti, a Trump critic and attorney for an adult star who alleged an affair with Trump, and with New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow. Details of this information, such as when a Russian oligarch transferred $4.4 million to Cohen for Trump's inauguration, then showed up in numerous media reports.

"Financial institutions trust that FinCEN will safeguard the sensitive information like SARs they are obligated to file, which is absolutely critical to protecting our national security," said FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco in a news release.

The deal calls for Fry to plead guilty to one charge of improper disclosure, with three other charges dropped in exchange for his cooperation. He could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at a Dec. 19 sentencing hearing.

-- Malcolm Maclachlan