ADDS NAME OF FAMILY MEMBERS - Michael Cohen, center, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, accompanied by his children Samantha, left, and Jake, right, arrives at federal court for his sentencing, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, in New York, for dodging taxes, lying to Congress and violating campaign finance laws. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
In his first reaction since his longtime personal — and now former– attorney and fixer was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for crimes committed while working for him, President Donald Trump again attempted to distance himself, repeating legal arguments and saying he “never directed Michael Cohen to break the law,” contrary to what federal prosecutors contend and what a federal judge has agreed happened.
“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,” Trump said in an early morning series of tweets on Thursday.
A federal judge in Manhattan sentenced Cohen for multiple crimes, including campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress. The campaign finance violations stemmed from hush money payments Cohen made to two women who alleged affairs with then-candidate Trump, which court documents said he directed. The payments were made with the intent to influence the outcome of the election, court documents said, but weren’t disclosed as such.
Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Southern District of New York charged Cohen with eight felony counts in August, including tax evasion, making false statements to a financial institution, and campaign finance violations. Special counsel Robert Mueller, tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, tacked on an additional count of lying to Congress last month. Cohen pleaded guilty to all nine counts and struck a deal to cooperate with ongoing investigations.
This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.