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Trump ex-lawyer Michael Cohen 'should get substantial jail term' Trump ex-lawyer Michael Cohen's help with Russia probe revealed
(about 1 hour later)
US President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen should serve a "substantial" jail term for crimes including tax evasion, prosecutors say. President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer has given substantial help on how Russian nationals tried to affect the 2016 election, a legal memo has revealed.
Cohen has pleaded guilty to crimes including violating finance laws during the 2016 election by handling hush money for Mr Trump's alleged lovers. Michael Cohen's help is detailed in the memo from Robert Mueller, who is heading the probe into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump team.
He has also admitted lying to Congress about a Trump property deal. The memo is mainly to guide sentencing for crimes Cohen has admitted.
He is one of a number of Trump aides investigated amid a probe into alleged Russian collusion in the election. Cohen admitted violating campaign finance laws, committing tax evasion and lying to Congress.
Cohen has been co-operating with the investigation overseen by special counsel Robert Mueller. In a separate court filing on Friday, prosecutors in New York said Cohen should serve a "substantial" jail term for the crimes.
However, while prosecutors in New York accepted this should be taken into account in sentencing, it should only bring a "modest" reduction on the guidelines of four to five years. Cohen is one of a number of Trump aides being investigated in Special Counsel Mueller's probe and has been co-operating with his team.
Mr Mueller will not seek any additional sentence beyond the New York prosecutors' recommendation, a court filing by the special counsel's office said. President Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion with Russian officials, calling the investigation a "witch hunt".
What was in the Mueller memo?
It is a government sentencing memorandum on the one charge of lying to Congress.
Cohen had admitted making false statements about a Trump property deal, out of loyalty to the president.
He said he had submitted a false written statement about a Trump Organization plan to build a skyscraper in Moscow. He said negotiations had gone on for longer than he had suggested and that his contacts with the president on the matter was more extensive than he had claimed.
The memo says that although this crime was serious, any sentencing should be served concurrently with the New York prosecutors' recommendations on other crimes.
Cohen will be sentenced on 12 December.
The memo says Cohen has taken "significant steps to mitigate his criminal conduct".
The key elements of the memo are about the Russian links. They are that Cohen:
What was in the New York prosecutors' memo?
The New York prosecutors' submission said: "Cohen, an attorney and businessman, committed four distinct federal crimes over a period of several years.The New York prosecutors' submission said: "Cohen, an attorney and businessman, committed four distinct federal crimes over a period of several years.
"He was motivated to do so by personal greed, and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends.""He was motivated to do so by personal greed, and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends."
In August, Cohen, who had been Mr Trump's personal lawyer for more than a decade, pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
He said he had paid hush money to two women who alleged they had affairs with Mr Trump, at the direction of "the candidate", implicating Mr Trump.
Undisclosed payments to bury embarrassing stories about a political candidate can be treated as a violation of US campaign finance laws.
While the prosecutors accepted Cohen's help with the Mueller investigation should be taken into account in sentencing, they said it should only bring a "modest" reduction on the guidelines of four to five years.
What does it all mean?
Analysis by BBC North America reporter Anthony Zurcher
In a one-two punch of court filings, the memos say that Cohen should get credit for providing useful information to investigators. But not too much credit.
Some of the information in the special counsel's document is already known. The negotiations for a Trump Tower in Moscow, which lasted well into the 2016 presidential campaign, were once again outlined.
But the document drives home the point that Donald Trump was kept informed about the possible deal, which could have netted "hundreds of millions of dollars" and that the negotiations took place "at a time of sustained efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the US election".
Other details Cohen supplied are largely left to the imagination.
The president is also once again implicated in the campaign finance charges against Cohen. The New York prosecutors state that Mr Trump's lawyer acted to silence two women who claim they had affairs with Mr Trump in order to "influence the 2016 presidential election". What's more, Cohen "acted in co-ordination with and at the direction of Individual 1".
What all this means is that prosecutors in New York and Washington are claiming the president had implicit knowledge and involvement in a campaign finance crime. He also had knowledge of a massive property deal that involved contacts with Russian government officials while he was running for president in an election that was being targeted for influence by the Russian government.
The picture they paint is a dark one.
More on Trump and Russia