Trump praises witness not testifying against him

Roger Stone is part of Mueller’s probe

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump praised a key witness in the Russia investigation Monday for having the “guts” not to testify against him, and said his former lawyer should head straight to prison.

In politically charged tweets, Trump made clear that he is watching those who turn on him in the special counsel’s probe, which has ensnared some of the president’s closest advisers. So far, five people in Trump’s orbit have pleaded guilty to federal charges.

The tweets add to mounting questions about whether Trump is taking steps to improperly influence witnesses in an investigation that has shadowed his administration. Some legal experts, though, say they may not amount to witness tampering if Trump didn’t directly tell others what to say or not say.

Trump has already come under scrutiny by critics who fear he may use his executive power to protect himself, as well as friends and supporters. Last week, Trump told the New York Post that a pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was not off the table.

Prosecutors say Manafort torpedoed his plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller by repeatedly lying to them, although Manafort denies that he lied.

One of Trump’s Monday’s tweets took aim at Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney who once declared he would “take a bullet” for the president, but ultimately took a plea deal.

Cohen pleaded guilty last week to lying to Congress about negotiations he had on Trump’s behalf for a real estate deal in Moscow.

Though he told lawmakers the talks were done by January 2016, he admitted they lasted as late as June — after Trump had clinched the Republican nomination and after Russians had penetrated Democratic email accounts for communications later released through WikiLeaks.

Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to Trump, who insisted throughout the campaign that he had no business dealings in Russia, and to be consistent with his political messaging.

On Monday, Trump ripped into Cohen on Twitter.

“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 added that Cohen “makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself.”

Trump added: “He lied … and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”

Minutes later, Trump lavished praise on his former campaign adviser Roger Stone. Mueller’s prosecutors are investigating Stone to learn whether he had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans to release hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential effort.

Trump lauded Stone for saying he’d never testify against the president.