Donald Trump denies he directed Michael Cohen to break law

Donald Trump claims he never ordered his former lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law in making hush money payments to two women.

Donald Trump has blamed lawyer Michael Cohen for breaking the law on his behalf. Picture: AP.

Donald Trump has hit back at his former lawyer Michael Cohen, saying he never ordered him to break the law in making hush money payments to two women.

The president said any mistakes Mr Cohen may have made in respect to campaign finance law relating to the payments was Mr Cohen’s fault alone.

The comments, made in a volley of tweets, were aimed at distancing the president from accusations that he may be legally liable as a co-conspirator to campaign finance violations.

Mr Cohen testified that Mr Trump ordered him to make the payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about affairs they alleged to have had with Mr Trump.

The payments were over the legal limit allowed under campaign funding laws and Mr Cohen alleges that Mr Trump ordered them to help influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

But Mr Trump said he had done nothing wrong.

“I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called ‘advice of counsel,’ and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid,” he tweeted.

I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called “advice of counsel,” and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid. Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018

....stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance. Cohen was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018

....guilty even on a civil basis. Those charges were just agreed to by him in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence, which he did-including the fact that his family was temporarily let off the hook. As a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018

The president then said that the payments themselves, which he had previously described as a “private transaction,” would probably not qualify as campaign finance payments.

“Despite that, many campaign finance lawyers have strongly stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance,” he said.

“Cohen was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not guilty even on a civil basis.”

Mr Trump said Mr Cohen had pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations only to try to embarrass him.

“Those charges were just agreed to by him in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence, which he did-including the fact that his family was temporarily let off the hook. As a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!” Mr Trump wrote.

His comments came a day after Mr Cohen was given a three year jail sentence for a range of crimes including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance breaches.

Mr Cohen told the court that the president was real villain rather than himself.

“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,” he said, “and it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light.”

Mr Trump initially denied knowledge of the hush money payment of $130,000 to Ms Daniels although he later admitted that Mr Cohen had made the payment on his own initiative.

In an interview with Fox News Mr Trump said members of Congress had a taxpayer funded “slush fund” which they used to pay settlements to congressional staffers who accuse them of harassment. He questioned why that did not come under campaign finance regulations.

“What about Congress where they have a slush fund and millions and millions of dollars is paid out each year?” he said. “They have a slush fund. Millions, they don’t talk about campaign finance, anything. Have you ever heard of campaign finance laws? Have they listed that on their campaign finance sheets? No.”

The president also renewed his attack on the team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

“They want to scare everybody into making up stories that are not true by catching them in the smallest of misstatements. Sad!,” he wrote. “WITCH HUNT”

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia