I 'never directed Michael Cohen to break the law': Trump
US President Donald Trump says he has "never directed Michael Cohen to break the law" after his longtime attorney was sentenced to three years for campaign finance violations and other crimes.
"I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law," Trump tweeted.
"It is called 'advice of counsel,' and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid."
I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called “advice of counsel,” and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid. Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
Manhattan’s District Judge William Pauley on Wednesday sentenced Cohen to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to eight federal charges.
Cohen paid hush-money on behalf of his client to women alleging affairs with Trump in order to prevent damaging information from surfacing during the 2016 presidential campaign and for lying to Congress about a proposed project in Russia.
Cohen had pleaded guilty on the charges in a plea bargain with investigator for a reduced sentence.
In a follow-up tweets, Trump said Cohen agreed to charges "in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence."
"As a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!" the president added.
....stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance. Cohen was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
....guilty even on a civil basis. Those charges were just agreed to by him in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence, which he did-including the fact that his family was temporarily let off the hook. As a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
On August 21, Cohen pleaded guilty to charges of tax and financial fraud. He also pleaded guilty to violating election campaign finance laws by paying an adult film actress hush money on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Then on November 29, he pleaded guilty to an additional charge of lying to Congress over matters related to an investigation led by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The Mueller investigation probed Russia’s alleged collusion with Trump’s 2016 election campaign to influence voters.
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