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Is Michael Cohen still a lawyer? Can he still practice law in the US?
Michael Cohen was one of the key witnesses in Donald Trump’s hush money case. What penalties has the former fixer faced?
Michael Cohen, the former fixer and lawyer for Donald Trump, took the stand against his former employer earlier this month, and today, Donald Trump was found guilty on thirty-four felony charges. Cohen claims to be responsible for making the hush money payment to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels. Business records were falsified to cover up the payment, which prosecutors argued violated campaign finance law. The jury agreed.
Investigators accused Cohen of using campaign funds to pay Clifford to keep her quiet during the 2016 campaign. This was done after concerns were raised that the alleged affair could harm Trump’s chances of winning the election. It was also feared that it could upset his wife, Melania, as the affair is believed to have taken place while they were married.
Read more on Michael Cohen from AS USA:
Using campaign funds made the hush money payment illegal, and a Manhattan grand jury charged Donald Trump with over thirty felonies. The trial has been underway for a few weeks, and last week, the court heard from Ms. Clifford.
Trouble with the law
Mr. Cohen began working for the Trump Organization in 2006, quickly becoming a trusted ally of the former president. Many of Mr. Cohen’s problems began when Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House began. Now, some of the jobs as Trump’s fixer carried larger risks, and in the end, Cohen paid a high price for his actions. In 2018, after he had worked for Trump for more than a decade, he pled guilty to a slew of crimes, including campaign finance violations as well as tax and bank fraud. Cohen, who had the chance to make a statement during the hearing, said that he took “full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to: The personal ones to me and those involving the president of the United States of America.”
In addition to serving time in prison and the financial penalties determined by the judge overseeing his case, Cohen was disbarred, meaning he could no longer practice law.