On Wednesday, a US federal judge sentenced President Donald Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen to three years in federal prison for several financial crimes and perjury he committed while working for Trump. In an emotional apology to US District Judge William H. Pauley III, the disgraced lawyer took responsibility for what the judge described as a veritable smorgasbord of criminal conduct.
It was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light, Cohen said, accompanied to the court by his parents, wife, and children. Time and time again, I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.
This comes just days after the department of justice connected the president to a federal crime for the first time. In their filing, New York prosecutors said Cohen had acted on the presidents direction when he broke the law, referring to the two hush payments that the latter made using campaign funds to two women in exchange for their silence about the then would-be presidents sex scandals, during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Charged with a total of eight crimes in August, Cohen stands guilty of numerous counts of tax violations, presenting false statements to the bank, and, most recently, of lying to Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation team about his and Trump campaigns contacts with Moscow regarding a Trump Tower project during the presidential campaign. He pleaded guilty to all these crimes.
What the judge said
Judge Pauley lowered his sentence from five years and three months based on Cohen’s cooperation and truthful testimony, even though prosecutors claimed he withheld crucial information. Cohen’s sentence is supposed to begin on March 6 at a federal prison in Otisville, New York. The judge has also directed the multimillionaire felon to pay nearly $2 million in financial penalties.
Our democratic institutions depend upon the honesty of our citizenry in dealing with the government, Pauley said, calling Cohens crimes serious, particularly given his profession.
As a lawyer, Mr. Cohen should have known better, the judge said. While Mr. Cohen is taking steps to mitigate his criminal conduct by pleading guilty and volunteering useful information to prosecutors, that does not wipe the slate clean.”
“Mr. Cohen selected the information he disclosed to the government, Pauley further said. This court cannot agree with the defendants assertion that no jail time is warranted. In fact, this court firmly believes that a significant term of imprisonment is fully justified in this highly publicized case to send a message.
How Trump responded
The president did not respond immediately but answering a query on the sentencing, he told Reuters on Tuesday that the hush money payments did not violate any criminal campaign finance laws.
Number one, it wasnt a campaign contribution. If it were, its only civil, and even if its only civil, there was no violation based on what we did. Okay? Trump said, further blaming Cohen who, Trump claimed, should’ve known what he was doing as a lawyer.
Cohens crimes
Cohens first crimes involved the unlawful disbursement of campaign funds to influence the 2016 elections, as payments to porn actress Stephanie Clifford, better known by her alias Stormy Daniels, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Federal law requires that any payments made for the purposes of influencing an election be reported in campaign finance disclosures, which had not been done in this case.
These women were paid secretly to ensure that they stayed quiet about their affairs with Trump using campaign funds. The aim was to protect Trumps image during the presidential campaign. Despite the aim and the source of these funds, these transactions were not disclosed in a direct violation of the law.
In August, Cohen pled guilty to these campaign finance violations, detailing the illegal operation wherein he was directed by Individual 1, a reference to Trump in the papers filed, to silence both the women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.
Trump, who denied having the affairs, reportedly paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement signed days before the 2016 election. Till April 2018, he vehemently denied knowing anything about Cohens payments to Daniels, though his account has varied multiple times since then. If it is proven that Trump directed him to commit the crimes,
A year before the elections, the National Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc., reportedly reached out to Cohen and Trump to offer help with negative stories about Trumps relationships with women by buying the rights to the stories. After McDougal contacted the Enquirer, the tabloid reached a $150,000 deal with her in 2016, for crushing her story of a 2006 affair. Cohen promised the company that they would be reimbursed, according to court documents. He also released an audio recording this year which allegedly captures Trump and Cohen discussing buying the rights to McDougals story from the Enquirers parent company. Trumps lawyers have said the payments were never made.
New York prosecutors announced Wednesday that AMI had admitted to its role in squashing stories of women who said they had relationships with Trump, paying $150,000 to one of the women before the 2016 election. It further admitted to making the payment in concert with Trumps campaign to suppress the womans story so as to prevent it from influencing the election, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.
What about the Russia investigation?
Last week, Cohen pled guilty to lying to Congress about the extent and duration of business discussions between Trump and Russian nationals in 2016, revealing that the presumptive Republican nominee was more involved in the potential business deal during the presidential campaign than was previously known. Cohen admitted that talks about the Moscow-based Trump Tower project continued well until June 2016, after Trump was already running for president and around the time Russian efforts to disrupt the 2016 elections were ramped up.
Mueller, who has been probing into Trumps role in conspiring with Russia to swing the 2016 election in Republican favour, outlined a previously undisclosed set of overtures this Monday. He stated that the presidents former attorney had spoken to a Russian lobbyist back in 2015 who had offered political synergy with the Trump campaign. Cohen also disclosed that Trump and his family members had been briefed on the discussions.
What does this mean for Trump?
This is the first time that prosecutors have connected Trump to a federal crime, paving the way for House Democrats to rein in the president by opening an investigation into his involvement in the campaign fund violations. In the court filing ahead of Cohens sentencing, prosecutors said the former lawyer and fixer had arranged the secret payments at the height of the 2016 campaign in coordination with and at the direction of Trump, corroborating their belief in Cohens testimony and claims.
There is no longer any ambiguity about whether or not the prosecutors believe that Cohens act was criminal, or that it was carried out to benefit Trump politically, or that Trump was directly involved. Fridays filing has resulted in a remarkable disclosure that can have political and legal ramifications on a presidency that already faces multiple investigations, most notably this Russia probe.
A milestone in a historic investigation
So far, a record 34 people among Trump’s inner circle have faced criminal charges, mostly having to do with the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. This includes Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted of several counts of financial fraud in August and faces upto 10 years in prison. Wednesdays hearing marked another milestone in the FBI investigations shrouding Trump’s presidency and led to criminal convictions for his former campaign chairman, former national security advisor, and two other campaign aides.
Whats next?
The aides’ continuing cooperation will make it harder for Trump to disprove that he tried to influence the election, and his claims that he didnt know the payments were illegal. For now, we know that Trump was secretly negotiating a deal with Russia worth hundreds of millions of dollars while running for president, and while Russia was actively working to help him get elected.
Furthermore, the documents suggest that the Mueller probe is gradually rounding up the president and his inner circle. The Justice Department on Monday clearly suggested that a good portion of Cohens extensive cooperation related to the heart of Muellers probe, that is, possible criminal violations related to contacts with Russian interests. With the Cohen episode summarily over and Mueller establishing Trumps ties to Moscow, the administration now has graver things to deal with than campaign finance violations.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius