President Trump said Thursday it’s not his fault if his former lawyer Michael Cohen violated campaign finance laws, and said he never encouraged Cohen to do anything illegal.
“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,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
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. Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison, and he will report to federal prison in mid-March. Cohen said he violated the law in order to aid his client, and said he took full responsibility for his actions.
Trump added that the charges against Cohen were “unrelated to me” and also have nothing to do with campaign finance laws.
“Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance,” he said.
….stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance. 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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
Trump also said Cohen’s own legal problems are the result of his effort to “embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence.”
….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. As a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
Trump said earlier this week that Cohen made a mistake in filing payments, and his case should be tried as a civil case. The president does not believe the payments should be considered campaign contributions.
