President Donald Trump has slammed Michael Cohen, his former attorney, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud and paying porn stars for the purpose of influencing his election.
Cohen had on Tuesday appeared in a federal court in New York where he pleaded to eight counts and claimed he made illegal campaign contributions “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office.”
Trump, although not named in the court filings, was referred to as Individual-1.
In response on Wednesday, the US president said his former ally is not a good lawyer.
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He tweeted, “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”
If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
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Cohen testified under oath that directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election.
The alleged hush money agreements were made to Stormy Daniels, an American porn star, and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, to silence them after they claimed to have had affairs with Trump.
For paying the porn star $130,000 as a nondisclosure agreement before the 2016 US elections that ushered in Trump, Cohen was charged with making an excessive campaign contribution, since the payment was made in service of the campaign and exceeded the federal limit.
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Trump’s former lawyer also pleaded to tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations tied to his work for the president.
Cohen faces the potential for five years in prison, according to his plea agreement.
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