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Washington
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.
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.
The memo is mainly to guide sentencing for crimes Cohen has admitted.
A second Mueller memo sets out the case against ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort for breaching a plea bargain deal.
Cohen and Manafort are among a number of Trump aides being investigated in Special Counsel Mueller’s probe.
In a separate court filing prosecutors in New York made their case for the length of Cohen’s sentence when it is delivered on Wednesday.
They say he should serve a “substantial” jail term after admitting violating campaign finance laws, committing tax evasion and lying to Congress.
President Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion with Russian officials, calling the investigation a “witch hunt”.
The White House said Friday’s memos offered nothing new or damaging about the president.
Trump tweeted: “Totally clears the President. Thank you!” although it was unclear to what he was referring.
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.
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:
“Provided information about his own contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and discussions with others in the course of making those contacts”
“Also provided information about attempts by other Russian nationals to reach the campaign”
Spoke to “a Russian national who claimed to be a ‘trusted person’ in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign ‘political synergy’ and ‘synergy on a government level’”. This person proposed a meeting between Individual 1 (previously identified by Cohen as Trump) and the Russian president, saying it could have a “phenomenal” impact “not only in political but in a business dimension as well”. The meeting did not take place
Provided “relevant and useful information concerning his contacts with persons connected to the White House during the 2017-2018 time period
The New York prosecutors’ submission said Cohen had committed four federal crimes over several years.
“He was motivated to do so by personal greed, and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends,” the filing said.
One of the crimes Cohen admitted was paying hush money to two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump. This could amount to 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.
