Trump: Michael Cohen Very Guilty, But All Things Are ‘Unrelated’ To Me
Michael Cohen Image by Getty Images (8)
President Trump called for Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, to “serve a full and complete sentence,” Talking Points Memo reported Monday.
The president listed on Twitter the crimes that Cohen has pleaded guilty to, scoffing at his audacity to ask for a shorter prison sentence. He also claims the crimes were “unrelated to Trump,” despite that Cohen, in his testimony, alluded to lying and making payments at the his direction.
“You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?” Trump wrote. “He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself.”
Trump continued in another tweet: “He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”
“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in hopes of receiving a shorter prison sentence.
In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts in federal court for campaign finance violations — where he said Trump directed him to make hush money payments to women during the 2016 campaign — tax evasion and bank fraud. Last week, he pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about his attempts at a Trump Tower deal in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The latter was part of a plea deal with Mueller. Cohen currently faces 46 to 63 months in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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