Trump responds to Cohen's plea deal by recommending that no one hire him as their lawyer
- President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to respond to the guilty of plea of his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
- "If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!" Trump said.
- Cohen struck a deal on Tuesday with prosecutors to plead guilty to eight federal crimes.
- During his plea entry, Cohen said he had made illegal campaign and corporate contributions at the direction of Trump.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to respond to the guilty of plea of his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, by saying he would not recommend hiring Cohen as an attorney.
"If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!", Trump wrote.
Trump then tweeted that the two counts of campaign finance violations Cohen pleaded guilty to "are not a crime."
Cohen struck a deal on Tuesday with prosecutors to plead guilty to eight federal crimes.
He entered guilty pleas to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution on October 27, 2016 - the day a $130,000 payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels was finalized.
During his plea entry, Cohen said he had made the illegal campaign and corporate contributions "at the direction of the candidate" and with the "purpose of influencing the election."
He did not identify the candidate by name, but the criminal complaint, which refers to said candidate as "individual 1," said that person became President of the United States in January 2017 - meaning it can be only be Trump.
After entering his guilty plea, Cohen was released on a $500,000 bond. He is set to be sentenced December 12.
Cohen was the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into whether he violated campaign-finance laws, committed bank fraud or wire fraud, engaged in illegal lobbying, or participated in other crimes.