What To Read About Michael Cohen's Three-Year Prison Sentence
On Wednesday morning, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $2 million in financial penalties after pleading guilty to tax fraud, bank fraud, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. The sentence represents the longest prison sentenced imposed to date in connection with special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Here's what the sentence means, according to political analysts and commentators.
Trump Should Be Worried About Becoming An Unindicted Co-Conspirator
Politico's Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, observes that the sentencing directly implicates Trump in Cohen's crimes, indicating that he may become an unindicted co-conspirator in future indictments.
When federal prosecutors told Judge Pauley that "[i]n particular, and as Cohen himself now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of [Trump]," they were in effect representing to the judge that their evidence supported that conclusion. There is no question in my mind that the federal prosecutors, particularly their accomplished leader, Robert Khuzami, would have hedged their language if the conclusion were a close call.
The language they used strongly implies that they possess evidence beyond Cohens say-so. They wrote that "in particular, and as Cohen himself now admitted," suggesting they had evidence pointing to Trump's involvement before Cohen confirmed it. If they relied solely on Cohen, they would have made clear that Cohen asserted Trump's involvement and they had no evidence to corroborate him.
[Politico]
The Sentence Is A Signal From Mueller To Other People Close To Trump
The New Yorker's Adam Davidson argues that the three-year prison sentence and $2 million penalty constitute a light sentence, given the length and depth of Cohen's business malfeasance, and posits that Mueller is trying to entice other Trump associates to come forward.
[T]hree years in prison is nothing when you consider Cohen's record. It is hard to find, in his résumé, an unquestionably honest dollar. It is possible to thank Cohen for shedding light on Trump's activities while also condemning him for the life he has chosen and making clear that he has not earned the redemption he claims. Cohen's light sentence may have another value, though. For decades, Trump has surrounded himself with people like Cohen, men — most of them are men — who seem to thrive in the gray area between legal and illegal business. These are the people whom Mueller — and the American people — will need to call on to reveal the truth about our President. Cohen's sentence shows them that they can turn on Trump without having to recite every bad act that they've ever committed, or giving up every bum dollar they've ever earned.
Mueller Might Be Warning Other Potential Cooperating Witnesses That They Need To Cooperate Fully
Or is Cohen's sentence intended as a warning to Trump associates, rather than as an enticement? The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand and Russell Berman suggest that the sentence was meant to punish Cohen for engaging in "selective cooperation" with prosecutors.
Cohen's sentence is a warning to anyone caught up in the Mueller probe who declines to cooperate with prosecutors. Whereas Mueller's team credited Cohen with his eventual assistance — while pointing out that he was not initially forthcoming — New York prosecutors recommended that Cohen serve prison time owing in part to his "affirmative decision" not to cooperate fully with the Southern District. He was not willing to discuss "other criminal uncharged conduct, if any, in his past," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo, and that was a deal breaker. Nicolas Roos, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Cohen in the Southern District, asserted that allowing Cohen to engage in "selective cooperation" would "send the wrong message" that such behavior is rewarded. Cohen said he chose not to enter into a full cooperation agreement because "the sooner I am sentenced, the sooner I can return to my family."
We Probably Haven't Seen The Last Of Cohen
One additional aspect of Cohen's sentencing is that it allows Congress to move forward in inviting Cohen to oversight hearings (or subpoenaing him) in order to find out more about Trump's ties to Russia.
What Cohen told those Justice Department offices is known, fully, only to them. But Congress, and especially the incoming Democratic House majority, can seek and obtain that information from Cohen.
And now that the criminal justice system is done with him, Congress can gather that information — plus the testimony of others whom Justice is done with — without impairing criminal law enforcement.
This sequencing — the Justice Department going first and then Congress investigating — offers a unique opportunity for oversight, accountability and public information about criminal conduct close to the White House and potentially involving the president.
