Trump says never directed his ex-lawyer to "break the law"

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump said in a series of tweets Thursday that he never directed his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to "break the law" and that "he was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law." "I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law," Trump said in a tweet.
He added "it is called "advice of counsel," and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid." "Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance," he stressed.
He noted that Cohen "was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not guilty even on a civil basis." He added that "those charges were just agreed to by him in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence, which he did-including the fact that his family was temporarily let off the hook." "As a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!," he stressed.
Cohen was sentenced Wednesday by a New York federal court to 36 months in federal prison for multiple charges against him, where he is ordered to surrender in March. In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to two campaign finance violations. (end) si.ibi