Michael Cohen talked, but it looks like it may not have done him as many favors as he had hoped. Friday, Federal prosecutors filed the memo that lays out their sentencing recommendations. While it appears Donald Trump former lawyer may have provided Robert Mueller’s team with some important information, the Southern District doesn’t think he was all that helpful with them.
JUST IN: Prosecutors want "substantial" prison time for ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
"We've been led to believe that Michael Cohen has been fully cooperative with the Special Counsel… That doesn't seem to be the case" reports @ShimonPro
https://t.co/2QEUnmIAxv pic.twitter.com/3LVuRAcsnX— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 7, 2018
"Cohen repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge.” — Southern District of New York on Michael Cohen
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) December 7, 2018
NEW: Federal prosecutors have filed their sentencing memo on Michael Cohen. It's not kind. They say his crimes "were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life." pic.twitter.com/sfIPlvDCVE
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 7, 2018
This is separate from the Mueller investigation. In relation to the Russia investigation, just last week, Cohen pled guilty to lying to a Senate Committee (in 2017) about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Potential sentencing for that plea hasn’t been revealed yet, but Bloomberg reports on the expected difference in recommendations:
A second group of prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to tell the same judge later Friday that Cohen deserves leniency for providing valuable information as a cooperator in their investigation of Russian election interference.
“After cheating the IRS for years, lying to banks and to Congress, and seeking to criminally influence the presidential election, Cohen’s decision to plead guilty –- rather than seek a pardon for his manifold crimes -– does not make him a hero,” federal prosecutors in Manhattan said in a filing.
The big reveal in these new court filings also seems to implicate Donald Trump in illegal activity.
Just to be crystal clear, prosecutors drew the conclusion and made the assertion that Trump directed the campaign finance crime Cohen committed, but they did not "charge" Trump. A formal charge has not been made. https://t.co/Iv0GVk83FQ
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 7, 2018