US prosecutors seek ‘substantial’ prison term for former Trump lawyer Cohen

US federal prosecutors have asked a judge in New York to sentence Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, to a “substantial term of imprisonment” for evading taxes and violating election finance laws.

New York City’s US Attorney Robert Khuzami made the request in a court filing on Friday, rejecting Cohen’s request for significant leniency based on his cooperation with US Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

“Cohen, an attorney and businessman, committed four distinct federal crimes over a period of several years. He was motivated to do so by personal greed, and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends," Khuzami said in his court submission.

Khuzami cited the officially recommended sentence range of 51 to 63 months for Cohen, who was a top executive at the Trump Organization.

After a year under investigation, Cohen pleaded guilty on August 21 to charges of tax and financial fraud. He also pleaded guilty to violating election campaign finance laws by paying an adult film actress hush money on Trump’s behalf during the president's election campaign.

Then on November 29, he pleaded guilty to an additional charge of lying to Congress over matters related to Mueller’s investigation over Russia’s alleged collusion with Trump’s 2016 election campaign to influence voters.

Last week, Cohen asked the New York court for leniency -- specifically, no jail time -- in which he expressed remorse and said he had significantly cooperated with Mueller and his investigators.

But Khuzami's office rejected that view, saying his cooperation was limited, not offering information beyond the specific charges facing him.

In a separate filing to the same court from Mueller, Cohen was described as having "gone to significant lengths to assist" that investigation, meeting with Mueller's team seven times.

Cohen conferred with Trump about Putin meeting 

Cohen told Mueller’s team that he conferred with Trump about arranging a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the early stages of the 2016 campaign, the special counsel's office said in its filing Friday.
Cohen told the prosecutors that he reached out to the Russian government to arrange a meeting when Putin visited the United Nations General Assembly in late 2015.

The lawyer had initially said that the meeting was his idea alone, but he told the investigators he had actually spoken with Trump about it beforehand. The meeting ultimately did not take place.

PressTV-Cohen pleads guilty, Manafort convicted of 8 counts

Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to several counts of felony. Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight charges.

Mueller accuses Paul Manafort of lying

Mueller’s office also revealed in their court filing that Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Trump’s election campaign, lied to them about several contacts he had with senior Trump administration officials while he was under indictment.

In September, Manafort pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including making false statements about lobbying work he did for the government of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and filing false reports to conceal money he made from those efforts.

Manafort also admitted to obstructing justice by attempting to influence witness testimony in his case.

As part of his plea deal, Manafort agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s probe into whether Trump’s campaign cooperated with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. However, late last month, Mueller announced that Manafort had violated the terms of that deal.

Friday’s filing was submitted to back up prosecutors’ assertion that Manafort breached the plea agreement.

The revelation of contacts between Manafort and serving administration officials appears to undercut past statements by the president and his administration that sought to put distance between the White House and the prosecution of Manafort.

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