Michael Cohen, former lawyer for President Donald Trump, was sentenced for a variety of charges, including tax evasion and lying to Congress.
BREAKING: Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen gets 3 years in prison for crimes including hush-money payments that prosecutors say Trump ordered.
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 12, 2018
Judge William H. Pauley has just sentenced Cohen to 3 years in prison.
BREAKING: Cohen is sentencing to 36 months of imprisonment.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 12, 2018
Ex-Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen arrives at Manhattan federal court for his sentencing. pic.twitter.com/PO9WyBQRfJ
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 12, 2018
Michael Cohen’s betrayal of Donald Trump
Cohen turned on President Trump by working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading up the Russia collusion investigation, and taking a plea deal. (RELATED: Report: Michael Cohen To Plead Guilty In Mueller Probe.) Cohen copped to lying to Congress about how long the Trump Organization was in talks about building a Trump Tower in Moscow. The building proposal, which ultimately never went through, was discussed well into 2016, which, by itself, is not indicative of campaign collusion activity.
Cohen took time to trash Trump during his sentencing hearing:
Cohen began his remarks by stating that: “Today is the day that I am getting my freedom back.” … “I have been living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day that I accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen that I deeply admired.”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 12, 2018
Hitting back at Trump’s tweet calling him weak, Cohen agreed and added that his “weakness was a blind loyalty to Donald Trump.”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 12, 2018
For ratting on Trump and the Trump Organization, the Special Counsel team is indicating that Cohen may be used as a witness in the future.
Special counsel appears to be building up Cohen as a future witness, noting, he “has sought to tell us the truth”
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) December 12, 2018
Pauley cites SCO’s statement that Cohen cooperated on “core topics under investigation” and the information that he has provided was “relevant and useful.”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 12, 2018
Michael Avenatti makes an appearance
During the sentencing hearing, a familiar face was spotted. Michael Avenatti, the one-time 2020 Democrat hopeful, found a way to sneak into the courtroom.
Avenatti just made it into the courtroom. He’s seated in the back in a plastic folding chair. There’s so much interest in this hearing they had to set up two overflow rooms.
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) December 12, 2018
Good morning from New York’s Southern District, where Michael Avenatti has snuck onto the press line in an attempt to get into Michael Cohen’s sentencing hearing before the room fills
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) December 12, 2018
It’s unclear why Avenatti was present for the proceedings. I suspect it has something to do with schadenfreude, as he helped lead a spurious libel case against President Trump while Cohen’s services were still retained. Avenatti’s case was a flop and his client, pornography actress Stormy Daniels, was just ordered to pay Trump’s legal fees. (RELATED: Judge Orders Stormy Daniels To Pay Donald Trump Nearly $300K In Legal Fees.)
Perhaps Avenatti was present to watch a fellow hapless lawyer get his comeuppance. I’m sure we’ll learn his motivation soon.
