New Justice Department sentencing memos detailing the crimes of President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen accuse the president of committing at least one felony, and suggest that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is sitting on explosive evidence of Trump’s involvement in efforts to conspire and conduct business with the Russian government during the 2016 campaign.
The memos were filed in federal court by prosecutors in both the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the Special Counsel’s Office.
SDNY prosecutors stipulate that Cohen broke federal campaign finance law, “in coordination with and at the direction of” Donald Trump, identified in the memo as “Individual-1,” by orchestrating hush money payments to two women with whom Trump engaged in extramarital affairs.
These prosecutors note that Cohen, and thus Trump, “sought to influence the election from the shadows…by orchestrating secret and illegal payments to silence two women who otherwise would have made public their alleged extramarital affairs with Individual-1. In the process, Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election.” In other words, Trump and his lawyer cheated to win the election.
Because of the severity of Cohen’s crimes, which also include tax evasion and bank fraud, and because he was unwilling to strike a full cooperation agreement, SDNY prosecutors have recommended a lengthy prison sentence for Cohen that reflects only a “modest downward variance” from sentencing guidelines. However, both SDNY and the Special Counsel’s Office agree that the court should take into account Cohen’s efforts to assist Mueller in the Russia investigation.
Mueller’s office acknowledges that Cohen has “gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsel’s investigation.” According to Mueller, Cohen has credibly provided:
- ”[I]nformation about his own contacts with Russian interests during the [2016] campaign and discussions with others in the course of making those contacts.”
- Details about “attempts by other Russian nationals to reach the [Trump] campaign.”
- An admission that Trump encouraged him to contact Russians about setting up a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
- “[U]seful information concerning discrete Russia-related matters core to its investigation” by virtue of his regular contact with [Trump Organization] executives during the campaign. (Hi Don, Jr.! Hi Ivanka! Hi Donald Trump!)
- “[U]seful information concerning his contacts with persons connected to the White House during the 2017-2018 time period.”
- Details about how he prepared and circulated the false testimony he provided to Congress about Trump’s business entanglements with the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign. This is the first suggestion that Trump or people in his inner circle may have encouraged Cohen to lie to Congress or helped him craft those lies.
In a separate memorandum, Mueller’s team explained why it concluded that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort violated his plea agreement. Mueller claims to have evidence that Manafort lied about his contacts with a known Russian spy, and with the White House, but provides no detail about the nature of these hidden discussions, why they are material, or whether they are connected to one another.
From Brian: Trump is the target of two separate criminal investigations, and has been directly accused of committing at least one crime by federal prosecutors. The other crimes under investigation appear to implicate not just Trump, but his White House aides, his businesses, and even his children. Nothing in his power, or in the power of his corrupt attorney general, can put these genies back in their bottles.
