(Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Yesterday… was not a good day for those formerly in Donald Trump’s orbit (for the rest of us, it was glorious).
Michael Cohen, once the president’s personal lawyer and “fixer,” pleaded guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud, and bank fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors. He’s looking at a minimum of 46-63 months in prison as a result of these guilty pleas. While the deal with federal prosecutors does not require Cohen to cooperate with prosecutors, during his allocution yesterday, Cohen noted he acted in “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” to keep information harmful to the candidate and campaign from the public. Yikes.
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Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, also made it clear Cohen wouldn’t accept a pardon from the president. And with the legal risks for the president mounting, it’s safe to say the Cohens are off Donald Trump’s Christmas card list.
As if he needed to make that last point crystal clear, the president took to his favorite medium this morning to crack a good ol’ fashioned lawyer joke:
If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
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Which is just an instant classic.
https://twitter.com/JHWeissmann/status/1032249203832041473
Trump’s reaction to Paul Manafort’s legal woes was markedly different.
Yesterday, at pretty much the exact same time as Cohen was admitting to his crimes, Manafort was convicted on five charges of tax fraud, two charges of bank fraud, and one charge of hiding a foreign bank account, and a mistrial was declared on the remaining 10 charges. Even though it was not a complete victory for the government, Manafort’s facing up to 80 years in prison and it’s unclear if they’ll seek a new trial on the remaining counts.
But that nuance was lost in a series of presidential tweets this morning on Manafort’s conviction.
I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. “Justice” took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to “break” – make up stories in order to get a “deal.” Such respect for a brave man!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
A large number of counts, ten, could not even be decided in the Paul Manafort case. Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
Notably, Manafort has not publicly refused a presidential pardon.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).