Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday did not recommend a specific sentence for President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, citing his continued cooperation.
“The sentence imposed should reflect the fact that lying to federal investigators has real consequences, especially where the defendant lied to investigators about critical facts, in an investigation of national importance,” prosecutors wrote in their court filing Friday. “However, the defendant has made substantial and significant efforts to remediate his misconduct, accept responsibility for his actions, and assist the SCO’s investigation. Accordingly, the Government respectfully submits that the Court should give due consideration to the defendant’s efforts set forth above and that it would be appropriate to allow the defendant to serve any sentence imposed in this case concurrently with any sentence imposed in United State v. Cohen.”
Cohen pleaded guilty last month to lying to Congress about negotiations over a Russian real estate dealing involving Trump’s business during the 2016 presidential election.
In a separate memo filed by the Southern District of New York on Friday, prosecutors recommended a “substantial term of imprisonment” for Cohen despite his cooperation into a probe of Trump’s past financial dealings.
In a court filing on Tuesday, Mueller suggested former national security adviser Michael Flynn receive no time behind bars because of his continued cooperation in the Russia investigation. Flynn pleaded guilty last December to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government while working as the president’s national security adviser.
A sentencing memo for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was also issued Friday.
Read the full memo below: