Garrett Graff: “We are deep into the worst case scenarios. But as new sentencing memos for Trump associates Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen make all too clear, the only remaining question is how bad does the actual worst case scenario get?” “The potential innocent explanations for Donald Trump’s behavior over the last two years have been steadily stripped away, piece by piece. Special counsel Robert Mueller and investigative reporters have uncovered and assembled a picture of a presidential campaign and transition seemingly infected by unprecedented deceit and criminality, and in regular—almost obsequious—contact with America’s leading foreign adversary.”
Here is the 30 page recommendation. TLDR; Trump is now named as having directed Cohen's criminal actions. SDNY is laying the hammer to Cohen, but Mueller seems pretty pleased with his assistance so far, and in his portion of the filing strongly hints Cohen's knowledge of Trump collusion with Russia. Highlights: SDNY is recommending 51-63 months in prison, which is basically the guideline. They appear to take issue with the fact that he was really corrupt for a really long time. The crimes committed by Cohen were more serious than his submission allows and were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life (and was evidently hidden from the friends and family members who wrote on his behalf) They nail him particularly hard for the felony campaign finance violations (for which Trump would be almost certainly be indicted and convicted if he were not president), given past such cases. There is an appearance from everyone's favorite Individual-1. In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1 SDNY gives him credit for pleading without a cooperation agreement. Cohen’s decision to plead guilty and provide information to law enforcement in matters of national interest is deserving of credit. But not too much, because they specifically decline to give him a "substantial assistance" credit because he was not cooperative on uncharged crimes. While he answered questions about the charged conduct, he refused to discuss other uncharged criminal conduct, if any, in which he may have participated. This precludes him from being given credit for “substantial assistance” and obtaining a 5K1.1 letter. Mueller seems more pleased with him than SDNY Cohen’s assistance to the SCO was significant...[Cohen]was ultimately credible and useful to its ongoing investigation" Mueller strongly hints at Cohen's activities being connected to collusion with Russia, summarized by Andrea Bernstein here The business talks "occurred at a time of sustained efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election" when Cohen was talking to "an assistant to the press secretary for the President of Russia...He had in fact conferred with Individual 1 about contacting the Russian government before reaching out to gauge Russia’s interest in such a meeting"" So he's going to prison for a long time, his only hope now being a Rule 35 sentence reduction for Substantial Assistance. He appears to be off to a good start.
Having an attorney, also known as an officer of the court, including when Cohen was representing Trump, tends to provide at least some legal protection to individual one.
Trump has not been charged with a crime. The purpose in Trump having an attorney is to make sure the law has been complied with. If or when Trump is charged with a crime, various elements of the crime(s) will need to be proven to the satisfaction of the jurists, such as Congress, in order to obtain a conviction or impeachment. Some of the elements concerning campaign finance law or "election interference" will be hard for the prosecution to prove. You might want to read up on these before getting too excited about Trump's impeachment prospects. In addition, there are specific legal defenses, especially with campaign finance law that will tend to, once known, take the wind out of the sails of the most ardent Antitrumpers. The mere accusation of a crime, especially a politically motivated one where the investigators have conflicts of interests, various categories of questionable legal tactics, problematic witnesses, even more especially by a biased media is not in of itself evidence of guilt. Makes for great political theatre as well as entertainment value and may have unfairly swung some elections to the benefit of the Democrats, but at the end of the day, Mueller has nothing that is likely to hold up on Trump. Even MSNBC commentators are hedging and using carefully measured words in describing Trumps legal "troubles". Many of these commentators also have shown body language, speech patterns, and other mannerisms that indicate either deception or uncertainty. Trump has a nice legal wall surrounding him called "innocent until proven guilty".
COPE O P E Attorney to make sure he complied with the law is going to jail. If your best defense is they'll have a hard time proving it, good luck w/that. The guy just threw Trump under the bus implicating him of the same crimes he's getting locked up for. If Trump wasn't POTUS, they'd be sharing a cell.
Your attorney witness has credibility problems. He lied under oath twice. He may have admitted to the second lie (which may itself be a lie) in order to help Mueller overcome some "evidence" that is in conflict with Mueller's story. Oh excuse me, I mean theory of the investigation. I wonder if attorney client privilege issues between Cowen and Trump will be brought up at a potential hearing? Few people in the world have less credibility than Cowen. Avenatti, perhaps? Did not Cohen publically disclose and receive coverage of him changing party affiliation to Democrat? Does that not have the smell of politics? How about Mueller's multiple timing of events for political impact? In effect, politicians, the media, and certain investigators are always trying to influence political outcomes, fairly or otherwise. Again, until we hear specific charges against Trump, it is all speculation. Trump is President of the United States and is likely to remain so until the end of his term(s). If not, practice your "Yes, President Pence".