If Michael Cohen was committing crimes at the direction of Donald Trump, what then does that mean for the President?  It seems unlikely he will be indicted while in office but if he’s defeated in 2020, all bets are off.   For the sake of argument, let’s say Trump was convicted.  Could he serve a longer sentence than Cohen?  A former solicitor general says yes.

Michael Cohen has been sentenced to 3 years prison. Sentence is bad news for Trump. In most jurisdictions,subordinates who carry out felonies at the direction of their boss get lower criminal sentences than the boss. So if camp vio big driver of Cohen sentence, Trump > 3 years…

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) December 12, 2018

And the judge concurred that “Individual 1” directed Cohen in the hush money payments to two women.  It’s worth noting that if Trump wasn’t president, he’d could have been standing next to Cohen today.  Two of Cohen’s felonies “were in coordination with and at the direction of” Donald Trump.

Federal judge William H. Pauley III, like federal prosecutors and the U.S. Probation Office, found that Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to commit federal crimes. https://t.co/yijrYXVuGt

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 12, 2018

And as for all those people who apparently want to be chief of staff?  Message sent and lawyer up.

Now hiring: Vibrant, some might say uproarious, workplace seeking to fill a position as Chief of Staff. Ethics not required, but flippers need not apply. https://t.co/6HcvL5fRr4

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 12, 2018