United States President, Donald Trump, has said he never directed his erstwhile lawyer, Michael Cohen, to ever break the law at any time.
President Trump stated this via Twitter in reaction to Cohen’s three years sentencing by a federal judge in New York on Wednesday for violation of campaign finance regulations as well as fraud crimes.
Cohen, 52, had during the sentencing blamed the president’s influence and “dirty deeds.”
But in a series of tweets on Thursday, President Trump said Cohen as an attorney knew the law and should have respected it.
He said he only acted on the ” advice of counsel”, adding that Cohen must bear the liability if the law is violated.
“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”, the president tweeted.
President Trump reiterated his stance that his campaign organisation did not violate campaign finance laws, noting that his view is backed by various campaign finance lawyers in the country.
He also distanced himself from Cohen, stating that the convicted lawyer got charged for offences which were not related to his campaign.
The U.S. President also implied that Cohen was “probably not guilty” of the charges but accepted them in order to embarrass him.
“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 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”, the president further tweeted.
Cohen admitted to Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, of lying to Congress, campaign finance violations and tax evasion.
Mueller is leading the investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Cohen must report to prison by March 6, the judge ruled and would also forfeit nearly $2m.
Discussion about this post