Michael Cohen
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| “ | I have lied, but I am not a liar. I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man. I have fixed things, but I am no longer your 'fixer', Mr. Trump. | „ |
| ~ Cohen expressing his remorse for his crimes and his distaste for Trump. |
Michael Dean Cohen is an American former attorney who was a lawyer for Donald Trump.
Cohen was a vice-president of The Trump Organization, and the personal counsel to Trump, and was often described by media as Trump's "fixer". He previously served as co-president of Trump Entertainment and was a board member of the Eric Trump Foundation, a children's health charity. From 2017 to 2018, Cohen was deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Cohen was eventually arrested in charges of making false financial statements, lying to officials, and campaign finance violations, as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. He later also pled guilty to lying about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. He was sentenced to three years in prison, a $50,000 fine, asset forfeiture, and gave up his license to practice law.
However, Michael Cohen, on a February 2019 testimony (which he also claimed to postpone due to allegations of Trump threatening him), alleged that Donald Trump had instructed him to commit these series of crimes, including but not limited to fabricating tax history, intimidating educational institutions Trump attended to not release his grades, lying about an adulterous relationship allegedly done by Trump, and the false statement of a Trump Tower in Moscow. He described Trump as "a racist, a con man, and a cheat." He however stated that he didn't know whether Russia intervened in the 2016 United States presidential election, but suspected they did do so.
In December 2018, he was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. He reported to the federal prison near Otisville, New York on May 6, 2019.
On 21 May 2020, Cohen was released from prison early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was confirmed by Cohen's lawyers and others familiar with the matter.
Trivia edit
- Michael Cohen has a good reputation in FCI Otisville.
- He ran for New York City Council and New York Senate as a Democrat.
- Michael Cohen alleged that Trump asked him to threaten people around 500 times.
- "How many times did Mr. Trump ask you to threaten an individual or entity on his behalf?" "Quite a few times." "50 times?" "More." "100 times?" "More." "200 times?" "More." "500 times?" "Probably."
- Representative Matt Gaetz was put under scrutiny after he posted on Twitter a threat that gave the implication he would threaten Cohen's wife into committing adultery.