![]() Mueller close to answering Russia collusion question that could end Trump's presidencyīroken laws, Russia negotiations: Can Trump presidency survive latest court filings?Ī web of lies and deceit: The Trump-Russia plot thickens with Michael Cohen guilty pleaįirst, the comedy. Of course, the question in everyone’s mind, including Donald Trump’s, is, “Where does that leave Donald Trump?” The answer to that still isn’t clear but, with these sentencing memos, it’s now starting to come into focus. Cohen also declined to “come clean” about possible uncharged criminal conduct, a necessary step for being considered an actual “ cooperating witness” in the Southern District of New York. Much to the Mueller team’s apparent annoyance, Cohen continued to minimize and even misrepresent his culpability for bank fraud and tax evasion. While he was apparently very forthcoming regarding his relationship with Trump and the Trump Organization, he was less so regarding his own separate criminal activity. All in all, Cohen will probably end up serving a sentence of 24 to 36 months.Ĭohen did not receive full credit for cooperation because he did not fully cooperate. ![]() The special counsel also recommended that Cohen serve the sentences for his existing cases concurrently, a potentially big break for Cohen. Mueller recommended that Cohen receive a substantial prison sentence but because of his “useful” cooperation, Mueller recommended that Cohen be sentenced to something less than the 42 months recommended by the Probation Department. If Flynn got an A and Manafort got an F, Mueller gave Cohen a B. Mueller’s sentencing memo in Cohen’s case was, in many ways, the most interesting and certainly the most humorous. Where does this leave President Donald Trump? While some parts of the memo are redacted, many of the lies Manafort told had to do with his relationship with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukranian political consultant who is also likely a Russian intelligence operative. When confronted, he’d eventually tell the truth, only to then tell yet another lie. Mueller's memo details multiple instances of Manafort telling seemingly pointless lies about things that Mueller already knew about. Not only has he lost the opportunity for his sentence to be reduced, Mueller will be asking the court to impose an even longer sentence because of Manafort’s false statements. While Flynn got full credit for his early acceptance of responsibility and his complete cooperation, Manafort had his cooperation agreement rescinded because he was apparently incapable of being truthful. Then Mueller filed sentencing memos for Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen. Fully half of the memo detailing Flynn's assistance is redacted, a reminder that Mueller has a great many lines of investigation that no one, not even President Donald Trump, knows anything about. ![]() Over the course of the past year, Flynn met with Mueller’s team or Justice Department attorneys no fewer than 19 times. That assistance seems to have been substantial indeed. Mueller recommended that Flynn receive little or no jail time based on his “ substantial assistance” to the special counsel investigation. It started Tuesday night, when he filed a memo for Michael’s Flynn’s long-delayed sentencing after he pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians during the Trump campaign transition. Special counsel Robert Mueller is showing his hand. Watch Video: Significant filings in Russian investigation
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