Trump’s ex-lawyer pleads for leniency

Donald Trump’s former lawyer pleaded for leniency this weekend, telling a US judge that he should be spared prison because he was spilling secrets to Special Counsel Robert Mueller about the US President and his business dealings.

Michael Cohen’s lawyers made the request a day after his dramatic appearance in federal court, where he admitted he lied to Congress about the Trump Organisation’s effort to build a Moscow tower.

Only months ago, Cohen’s bid to remain free would have been unimaginable. In April, after FBI agents raided his home and office, he seemed to be heading to jail in a separate tax-evasion and campaign-finance case built on what appeared to be overwhelming evidence.

But Cohen, once among the President’s most loyal allies, turned on Trump after pleading guilty, and provided prosecutors with detailed accounts of his possible wrongdoing. In court in August, he told a judge that he violated campaign-finance laws at the President’s direction and, last Thursday, said he lied to Congress to remain consistent with Trump’s messaging on the campaign trail.

Cohen (52) is scheduled to be sentenced on December 12 in the tax-evasion and campaign-finance case.