Trump Damns Cohen, Praises Stone

President Trump would like to make sure that a Federal Judge fixes his former fixer, and throws the book at his one-time attorney and confidant, Michael Cohen.

Trump recently tweeted that Cohen should not be shown any leniency, and that he should serve a “full and complete” prison sentence. The full tweet, which can be read below, was in response to Cohen requesting that in exchange for the information he has been providing to the Mueller investigation into Russian collusion that he should serve little or no prison time.

“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”

On Thursday, Nov. 29, Cohen pled guilty to a single count of making false statements to Congress about a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. That marked the first time that Trump and his private business dealings were named in open court as part of Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign.

On the other hand, just as he was ripping into Cohen for selling him out, Trump lauded long time Trump supporter Roger Stone. Stone, in a move that many say is reminiscent of a scene from The Godfather, tweeted that he would “never testify against Donald Trump.” Which prompted the President to Tweet back in true “Don” fashion: “Nice to know that someone has guts…” and is not willing to “make up lies about President Trump.”

Stone, a self-described Republican “dirty trickster,” has had his hand in the Republican pie since the 1980s. He has been the target of the Mueller investigation due to his alleged ties to, and communications with, a Russian hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Stone Pleads the 5th

Despite Trump’s admonishments on the campaign trail that only “mobsters” and “people who have something to hide” take the 5th, it looks like he was right about Stone’s loyalty. On Tuesday, Dec. 4, Stone invoked his 5th amendment rights against self-incrimination, and would not testify in response to requests for documents and testimony from the Judiciary Committee. According to CNN, Stone’s attorney Grant Smith rebuffed a request from the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee this week for documents and an interview connected to 2016 Russian election meddling. And Smith revealed that he had sent a similar letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee in September invoking the Fifth after the committee — which is still conducting its investigation into Russian meddling — requested documents and an interview from Stone.

Robert Mueller, who is investigating Stone’s alleged ties to the Russians and Assange, has yet to reach out directly to Stone, but says he has spoken with his intermediaries. Given the breaking news about his formal invocation of the 5th in these other matters, and his pledged loyalty to The President, it is reasonable to assume he will do the same, when and if he is asked to testify by Mueller.

Cue the theme from The Godfather.

 

 

 

 

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