Trump demands maximum punishment for his former lawyer

President Donald Trump on Monday demanded "full punishment" for his former lawyer Michael Cohen, accusing him of lying about Trump's dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Last week, Cohen admitted to lying to Congress about Trump's business ventures in Moscow.

Photo: YouTube / Washington Post screenshot

On December 12, the court must sentence Koen. The former lawyer will be convicted after admitting his guilt in tax evasion, false bank statements, frauds with the financing of the presidential campaign, as well as lying to Congress, writes Euronews.

First, Cohen claimed that he was engaged in the proposed project of the Trump Organization in Moscow, discussing the plan construction of Moscow towers with Russian government officials, and Trump knew about it. The former lawyer later admitted that he lied to Congress - he said that the Moscow project ended in January 2016, when by that time it was already known that negotiations had continued until June 2016 - Donald Trump had already announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States.

On Friday, Cohen's lawyers asked a federal judge in New York not to impose a prison sentence on him.

After pleading guilty to a former lawyer, Donald Trump called Cohen a weakling and a liar, adding that he himself did nothing with respect to the Moscow project.

In a series of tweets on Monday, the president accused Cohen of collaborating with Russia's special adviser Robert Mulleromi in exchange for reducing the prison term for tax fraud and financial fraud in the campaign.

“Michael Cohen is asking judges not to send him to prison. You mean he can do all the HORRIBLE, non-Trump things related to fraud, big loans, taxes, etc., and not get a long sentence for it? - Trump wrote. “He lied in this case and should, in my opinion, be fully punished.”

Trump described Muller's investigation like a political witch hunt. Russia denies interference in US elections.

It is unusual for a US president or any high-ranking government official to comment on lawsuits. But Trump regularly spoke about court proceedings in the special lawyer’s case in decisions of federal appeals courts.

Some lawyers believe Trump's tweets are equivalent to putting pressure on witnesses.

Trump's comments on Cohen contrasted with his expression of sympathy for his former comrades in Mueller's online investigation, including former chairman of the 2016 campaign of the year Paul Manafort, who is facing punishment after he was convicted of tax and banking fraudulent schemes.

The president did not rule out the possibility of pardoning Manafort.

Photo: YouTube / MSNBC

On Monday, Trump praised longtime fellow Republican Roger Stone, who was thoroughly examined by investigators after his comments about the leakage of letters during the presidential campaign in 2016. Stone said he would not testify against Trump and did not ask the president for pardon.

"It's good to know that some people still have courage," Trump said Monday.

Legal experts say there are strong arguments that the president pressured witnesses because of his past actions and statements, such as his refusal to acknowledge that Manafort could not be pardoned.

George Conway, the husband of Trump Kelliann Conway, Senior Advisor, retweeted Trump's message, citing US statutes regarding pressure on witnesses and obstruction of justice.

“I think it's both an obstacle and a pressure on witnesses,” said Lisa Kern Griffin, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Duke University. “He (Trump) is trying to influence the ongoing investigation into the open.”

Federal law considers it a crime to deliberately intimidate, threaten or convince another person to refuse to testify during an investigation.

“It is highly inappropriate for the president to enter into a lawsuit,” said Jens Ohlin, a professor at Cornell Law School. “He is not just an ordinary person, he is the head of the executive branch.”

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