2016 ELECTION/MICHAEL COHEN/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Moments before learning his fate, Michael Cohen made a final plea. He admitted in open federal court all his wrongdoings, which he said resulted from being weak and a “blind loyalty to Donald Trump,” his former boss. In his more than 1,000-word statement on Wednesday [12-12-18] ahead of learning he’d spend the next three years in federal prison, Cohen aimed to right the wrongs and hoped his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign might be enough to limit the full sentence prosecutors requested. In the end, Cohen, known for years as Trump’s fixer in legal and business matters, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison after admitting to nine criminal charges, including two payments to women that violated campaign finance laws and lying to Congress. Cohen was ordered to prison on March 6 and must pay $1.4 million in restitution for his unpaid taxes, plus another $100,000 in fines.”
–Christal Hayes, “‘A blind loyalty to Donald Trump’: Read Michael Cohen’s statement before learning his prison sentence,” USA Today, December 12, 2018 6:56 pm