Trump’s ex-lawyer pleads guilty to misleading Congress
NEWYORK: Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, made a surprise appearance before a federal judge in New York on Thursday and pleaded guilty to lying to Congress to cover up that he was negotiating a real estate deal in Moscow on Trump’s behalf during the heat of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump called Cohen a “weak person” who is lying to get a lighter sentence.
The charge was brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election, and was the result of his cooperation with that probe. Flanked by his lawyers, Cohen admitted making false statements about the project in 2017 to Senate and House intelligence committees, which at the time were investigating possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.
His comments made clear that his communications with Trump about the project were much more frequent than he had suggested. Cohen, 52, wearing a blue tie and dark suit, was noticeably relaxed throughout the appearance in a packed Manhattan courtroom, unlike his irritable and emotional demeanour when he entered a guilty plea during the summer.
Cohen told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations, his communications with people in the company and in Russia about the deal, and other details to be loyal to Trump and consistent with Trump’s “political messaging.”
Cohen and prosecutors referred to Trump as “individual one” throughout Thursday’s proceedings.