I hid Trump’s dirty deeds out of blind loyalty: Cohen

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has tried to implic­ate the US President in his crimes.

Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, leaves court yesterday after being sentenced to three years’ jail, to begin in March. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has tried to implic­ate the US President in his crimes, telling a court it was his role to repeatedly cover up Mr Trump’s “dirty deeds”.

Speaking as he was given a three-year jail sentence, Cohen said he took responsibility “for each act that I pled guilty to: the personal ones to me and those involvi­ng the President of the United States”.

The lawyer, who once boasted about being Mr Trump’s fixer and said he would “take a bullet” for him, said his greatest weakness had been “blind loyalty” to the President. “Time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds,’’ the 52-year-old said.

“I blame myself for the conduc­t which has brought me here today, and it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light.

“Today is the day that I am gettin­g my freedom back … I have been living in a personal and ­mental incarceration ever since the day that I accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen I deeply admired.”

Cohen implied that the President was the true “villain’’, saying he was committed to ensuring “history will not remember me as the villain of his story”.

But a New York judge said Cohen had himself to blame for his multiple charges of tax evas­ion, bank fraud, campaign finance violations and lies to prosecutors.

“Mr Cohen pled guilty to a veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct,” US District Court judge William Pauley said. “Each of these crimes is a serious offence against the United States.” Judge Pauley said while Mr Cohen’s eventual co-operation with prosecutors deserved some credit, it did not “wipe the slate clean’’.

“Somewhere along the way, Mr Cohen appears to have lost his moral compass,” the judge said. “As a lawyer, Mr Cohen should have known better.” Judge Pauley said each of the crimes “implicated a far more insidious harm to our democratic institutions’’.

“Mr Cohen selected the inform­ation he disclosed to the government. This court cannot agree with the defendant’s asser­tion that no jail time is warranted. In fact, this court firmly believes that a significant term of imprisonment is fully justified in this highly publicised case to send a message.”

Among his crimes, Cohen admit­ted to campaign finance violati­ons involving his payments to two women who alleged having affairs with Mr Trump. Cohen has alleged making these illegal payments at Mr Trump’s direction shortly before the 2016 election, with the aim of hiding the potential scandal before the vote.

Mr Trump has denied directing Cohen to make the payments. He has repeatedly attacked Cohen as weak for co-operating with prosecutors, accusing him of lying about his actions to try to win a reduced sentence.

“He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence,” Mr Trump tweeted last week.

Cohen arrived and left the New York court with his family and without speaking to the media. His jail term begins on March 6.

The three-year sentence was slightly less than the four to five years recommended by prosecutors and was discounted because of his co-operation. His defence team had asked for no jail time but New York-based prosecutors said this should be limited because of the gravity of his many crimes.

Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos said Cohen’s crimes showed a “pattern of deceit, brazenness and greed”. He said the sentence should send a message that “even powerful, privileged individuals cannot violate these laws with impuni­ty”.

However, a prosecutor from the special counsel’s office, Jeannie Rhee, told the hearing Cohen had provided “consistent and credible’’ information of “the ­utmost value to us” in the separate Russian investigation.

As he was sentenced, Cohen shook his head slightly and closed his eyes. His crimes include tax evasion of $US1.4 million.

He also admitted last month that he had lied when he told congress negotiations over a Trump Tower in Moscow had ended in January 2016, before the presidential primaries began, when in fact they continued until June 2016, when it was clear Mr Trump had won the Republican nomination for president. He said Mr Trump, who denied having business interests in Moscow, was fully briefed on the developments.