Yesterday, President Donald Trump‘s former lawyer Michael Cohen pled guilty to a variety of crimes relating to his time working for Trump and on his 2016 campaign.
Naturally, everyone speculated about how someone doing a multitude of criminal activities relating to the president might implicate the president in a multitude of criminal activities.
But, fret not. The president is innocent, says the president, because he did not “direct Cohen to break the law.”
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
An advice of counsel defense is not necessarily as airtight as the president may want people to think, but telling people not to break the law is a quality we should want in a president.
But Trump adds, even if he did direct Cohen to do anything, it was not against the law, despite a court ruling it illegal, and sentencing Cohen to three years in prison.
“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. 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. 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!”
….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
Cohen, Trump claims, only pled guilty as part of coordinated effort to embarrass Trump.
And while Trump may not have “directed Cohen to break the law,” he certainly lied about his knowledge of Cohen’s actions, doing so in front of reporters on Air Force One. It was a lie repeated by his Press Secretary Sarah Sanders to the White House Press Corps.
During Cohen’s sentencing yesterday, he said that he felt obligated in his role as Trump’s lawyer to cover up his boss’s misdeeds.
So it’s possible Trump is actually telling the truth here. But also just as equally unlikely, given the president’s history.