Cohen pleaded guilty to the charges in August — which included five for tax evasion and one count each of excessive campaign contribution, unlawful corporate contribution and making false statements to a bank. He was released on $500,000 bond.
“I take full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to: The personal ones to me and those involving the president of the United States of America,” Cohen said in court Wednesday. “Recently, the president tweeted a statement calling me weak and it was correct but for a much different reason than he was implying. It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”
The campaign finance charges stem from his involvement in making payments in 2016 to two women who claimed affairs with Trump. Prosecutors said they were intended “to influence the election from the shadows.”
In court Wednesday, defense attorney Guy Petrillo said Cohen was unable to “anticipate the full measure of attack that would be made against him” by Trump and “partisans and citizens who happen to be aligned with the president. Those attacks include threats against his family.”
Petrillo added that Cohen’s willingness to cooperate with prosecutors stands “in profound contrast to the decision of some others not to cooperate and allegedly to double deal while pretending to cooperate.”
Cohen agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the Southern District of New York as part of his plea.
Jeannie Rhee, an attorney in special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia investigation, said, “[Cohen] has told the truth.”
Last week, a memo from Mueller’s team said that Cohen cooperated with its investigation. Cohen pleaded guilty last month to charges of lying to Congress by Mueller’s office, which is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and potential collusion with members of the Trump campaign.
Defense attorneys had asked that Cohen be spared prison time. Prosecutors said in a pre-sentencing memo his efforts “fell short of cooperation.” As such, they asked that Cohen serve a “substantial prison term,” citing guidelines of 51 to 63 months.
A sentencing document said Cohen has provided “relevant and useful information” about contacts with people connected to the White House. Mueller’s team also said Cohen gave “information about attempts by other Russian nationals” to contact the Trump campaign dating back to November 2015.
Mueller’s office didn’t suggest a sentence for Cohen but said any punishment should be concurrent with the charges.
Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow by the Trump Organization. He said the plans stopped in January 2016, but Mueller’s office said Cohen’s discussions about the proposal continued as late as June 2016, five months before the election.
