Michael Cohen Sentenced, Implicates Trump in Crimes

The Sentencing

On December 12, 2018, Michael Cohen — Donald Trump’s personal attorney and self-described “fixer” for over a decade — was sentenced to three years in federal prison by Judge William Pauley III in the Southern District of New York. Cohen had pleaded guilty to eight federal charges, including campaign finance violations related to hush money payments to two women who alleged affairs with Trump, tax evasion, and making false statements to Congress about a Trump Organization project in Moscow.

Standing before the judge, Cohen delivered a statement that directly implicated the sitting President of the United States. “I take 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,” Cohen said. He described a “personal and mental incarceration” that came from working for Trump and declared, “I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”

The Campaign Finance Crimes

The most politically consequential charges involved payments to silence two women before the 2016 election. Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and facilitated a $150,000 payment by American Media Inc. to former Playboy model Karen McDougal — both to suppress stories of alleged affairs with Trump. Federal prosecutors stated in court filings that Cohen made the payments “at the direction of and in coordination with” Individual-1 — identified as Donald Trump.

These payments constituted illegal campaign contributions because they were made for the purpose of influencing the election and exceeded federal contribution limits. The Southern District of New York’s sentencing memo was explicit: the president had directed his lawyer to commit federal crimes to help win the election.

The Moscow Tower Project

Cohen also admitted to lying to Congress about the Trump Organization’s pursuit of a real estate deal in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. He had previously testified that negotiations for a Trump Tower Moscow ended in January 2016, but in fact they continued through at least June 2016 — well into the presidential campaign. Cohen acknowledged he had lied to be consistent with Trump’s public messaging and political interests, and that Trump had been informed of the project’s progress.

The revelation that Trump was pursuing a massive business deal in Russia at the same time he was running for president — and publicly denying any business dealings with Russia — raised serious questions about whether Russian leverage over Trump extended beyond election interference.

A Turning Point

Cohen’s sentencing marked a turning point in the legal threats surrounding Trump. For the first time, a federal prosecutor’s office had effectively identified a sitting president as having directed criminal conduct. While Justice Department policy prevented indicting a sitting president, the implications were clear. Cohen himself warned, “I will not be the villain of his story.” He would go on to testify before Congress and ultimately serve as a key witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s case that resulted in Trump’s criminal conviction in 2024.