U.S. President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that federal charges against the president’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen contain no allegation of wrongdoing on the part of the president.
Cohen pleaded guilty earlier on Tuesday to campaign finance violations and other charges, saying he made two payments to influence the 2016 election at the direction of an unnamed candidate. Porn star Stormy Daniels has said in the past that Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter with Trump. Another $150,000 payment is reportedly related to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
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Answering questions from a federal judge, Cohen stood in court Tuesday and said that one payment was made “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”
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In a deal reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including tax evasion. He could get four to five years in prison at his sentencing Dec. 12.
Giuliani went on to say that the charges demonstrate a “pattern of lies and dishonesty” by Cohen over a significant period of time.
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“There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen,” the former mayor of New York City said in a statement. “It is clear that, as the prosecutor noted, Mr. Cohen’s actions reflect a pattern of lies and dishonesty over a significant period of time.”
Trump has repeatedly denied having affairs with Daniels and McDougal. Giuliani has stated previously that the payments were made to spare Trump and his family any embarrassment and were not connected to Trump’s presidential campaign.
Trump did not mention Cohen at a rally in West Virginia shortly after his former attorney accused him of violating campaign finance laws.
In the same hour that Cohen entered his plea, Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud after four days of jury deliberations. The jury remained undecided on an additional 10 counts.
Trump did not mention Manafort during his rally either, though he called the verdict “disgraceful” in a brief comment outside Air Force One on Tuesday.
Giuliani lashed out at Cohen on Tuesday, calling him a “devious little rat” and saying he has a history of lying.
“I think the president is absolutely in the clear,” Giuliani told Reuters. “The Cohen thing is over.”
–With files from Reuters and the Associated Press.
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