Cohen Reaches Deal With Mueller, Pleads Guilty to Lying to Congress
Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen has reached a tentative deal with special counsel Robert Mueller and pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to Congress in the Russian “collusion” investigation, ABC reported.
The former long-time lawyer for Trump entered into a guilty plea for making misstatements in his closed-door congressional testimony regarding his contact with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to ABC.
While Cohen originally entered into a plea deal with prosecutors over campaign finance felonies, ABC reported that Cohen has given over 70 additional hours of interviews to Mueller’s team.
Those interviews reportedly center around any kind of contact with Russians by Trump’s team during the 2016 campaign as well as Trump’s business ties to Russia.
Former United States Attorney Kendall Coffey told ABC, “The potential significance of Cohen’s cooperation is immense.”
Coffey cautioned though, that while Cohen has been closely tied to Trump and his campaign, “it cannot be determined if Cohen’s cooperation will lead to other criminal allegations.”
The potential is there, however, for a “legal nightmare,” Coffey says.
“For most high-powered business people with complex business interests, having one’s personal attorney become a star witness for the prosecution is the worst possible legal nightmare.” he said.
ABC reported learning from unidentified sources that the agreement made between Mueller and Cohen would involve Cohen admitting to “making multiple misstatements to two congressional intelligence committees investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.”
It was unclear Thursday morning what Cohen said in the closed-door meeting that he is now claiming are lies.
The plea deal comes just two weeks before Cohen is set to be sentenced in a different case in federal court. In August, he pleaded guilty to eight counts, including tax evasion and bank fraud, as well as breaking campaign finance laws in connection with payments to women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump.
Earlier this week, President Trump released a barrage of criticisms on Twitter about Mueller and the Russian investigation.
Trump wrote, “When Mueller does his final report, will he be covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble, will he be recommending action on all of the crimes of many kinds from those ‘on the other side'(whatever happened to Podesta?), and will he be putting in statements …
“… from hundreds of people closely involved with my campaign who never met, saw or spoke to a Russian during this period? So many campaign workers, people inside from the beginning, ask me why they have not been called (they want to be). There was NO Collusion & Mueller knows it!”
When Mueller does his final report, will he be covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble, will he be recommending action on all of the crimes of many kinds from those “on the other side”(whatever happened to Podesta?), and will he be putting in statements from…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
….hundreds of people closely involved with my campaign who never met, saw or spoke to a Russian during this period? So many campaign workers, people inside from the beginning, ask me why they have not been called (they want to be). There was NO Collusion & Mueller knows it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
The next day, Trump accused Mueller of doing “tremendous damage” to the criminal justice system saying Mueller is “only looking at one side and not the other.”
After Thursday’s plea, Cohen remained free on bond with a sentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 12, ABC reported. He is facing up to 63 months in prison and a fine of up to $1 million, according to ABC.
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