President Donald Trump called on his former lawyer Michael Cohen to get a strict prison sentence on Monday after Cohen admitted to lying as part of a plea deal.
“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 tweeted.
“He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off scott free,” he added.
“He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller has been leading an investigation that is looking at whether the president or his associates colluded with Russian interests during the presidential election of 2016.
Cohen admitted to lying to lawmakers in federal court last week about how much he discussed his proposed business project in Moscow with the president.
“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
….his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
Cohen became a person of interest early on in the investigation, given his close connection to the president and business contacts in Russia. He drew particular attention for his involvement in a project to build a Trump hotel in Moscow.
He had previously claimed the talks about the Moscow project had ended prior to the election season’s ramping up in 2016.
“In truth and in fact, and as Cohen well knew, Cohen’s representations about the Moscow Project he made to (House and Senate intelligence committees) were false and misleading,” the Mueller team said in a court filing.
“Cohen made the false statements to … give the false impression that the Moscow Project ended.”
The Mueller team added that the claim was to limit the ongoing Russia interference investigation. Trump responded to the plea deal shortly afterward by calling his former lawyer “weak.”
Related: Trump’s Former Lawyer Admits He Lied to Congress About Moscow Project
He noted at the time that his former lawyer faces a long sentence and was merely trying to reduce it by accepting the plea deal.
Cohen asked a judge in a court filing to give him no prison time when he is sentenced on December 12, reported CNN. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison based on the charges he pleaded guilty to. That also includes a maximum fine of $250,000 and supervised release of not more than three years.
Cohen surrendered to the special counsel team with legal pressure building up around him on August 21.
He pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges that afternoon.
Related: Cohen Needs ‘Something Other Than His Own Word’ to Hurt Trump
The criminal charged dealt with his business dealings and paying off porn actress Stormy Daniels for allegedly having an affair with the president.
The criminal charges included five counts of tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate.
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