Trump’s exlawyer jailed 3 years
NEW YORK: President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday for crimes including orchestrating hush payments to women in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election and financial wrongdoing, posing potential legal and political risks to Trump.
In the Manhattan courtroom, Cohen told US District Judge William Pauley ‘‘blind loyalty’’ led him to cover up for Trump’s ‘‘dirty deeds’’.
The sentence highlighted the seriousness of the charges and possible implications for the president.
It capped a stunning aboutface by a lawyer who once said he would ‘‘take a bullet’’ for Trump. Cohen said in a guilty plea in August he was directed by Trump to make hush money payments to two women who said they had past sexual affairs with the president. Trump has denied the affairs and any involvement in the payments.
In another potentially worrisome legal development for Trump, prosecutors announced the publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper struck a deal with them to avoid charges over its role in paying hush money to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said she had a relationship with the president in 2006 and 2007.
The judge set March 6 for Cohen’s voluntary surrender. — Reuters