Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen appeared in federal court this morning. His attorneys had argued for leniency, but U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III was having none of that. Cohen will spend the next three years in prison.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s once-devoted lawyer and all-around fixer, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for allowing what he said was his “blind loyalty” to Trump to lead him astray. “I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds,” he said.

Standing alone at the defense table, Cohen, 52, shook his head slightly and closed his eyes briefly as the judge pronounced the sentence for crimes that included lying about Trump’s business dealings in Russia and funneling hush money to two women — payments that Cohen said were made at the president’s direction.

Judge Pauley was scathing in his remarks.

Judge William Pauley, listing each of the counts against a Trump’s former fixer MichAel Cohen, says "each of these crimes is a serious offense against the United States…Mr. Cohen pled guilt to a veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct.”

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 12, 2018

That’s blunt.

U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III said Cohen deserved modest credit for his decision over the summer to admit guilt and cooperate in the federal investigation of efforts by Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election, but his assistance “does not wipe the slate clean.”

“Somewhere along the way Mr. Cohen appears to have lost his moral compass,” the judge said. “As a lawyer, Mr. Cohen should have known better.”

That’s even more blunt.

Cohen, during the sentencing hearing, essentially said that all his misdeeds that included tax evasion, payoffs to Stormy Daniels, and lying about a hotel project in Russia are all Trump’s fault. Sorry dude, trying to blame someone else for YOUR choices, makes you look like a weak-kneed weasel.

On his client's treatment, Petrillo said: "Mr. Cohen had the misfortune to be counsel to the president."

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 12, 2018

Ummm …no. Cohen had the misfortune of choosing to lie. He had the singular misfortune to engage in well over $1 million worth of tax evasion. Again, you can’t blame Trump or anyone else for the choices you made.

Of course the media is already pouncing on the statements made by Jeannie Rhee, a member of the Mueller probe team. 

Jeannie Rhee, part of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s prosecution team, told the judge that Cohen “has endeavored to account for his criminal conduct in numerous ways,” providing “credible and reliable information about core Russia-related issues under investigation.”

Rhee said she could not go into detail about the ongoing Russia investigation, but said Cohen was “helpful” to the probe. Cohen, she said, was “careful to note what he knows and what he doesn’t know . . . Mr. Cohen has sought to tell us the truth, and that is of utmost value to us.”

And the narrative of Trump, Russia, collusion will continue. Avenatti had stuff to say.

I think it’s funny that Avenatti is posturing for the cameras when a judge ordered HIS client to pay Trump nearly $300,000 in legal fees. But you know, that’s Avenatti, once a grandstander, always a grandstander.

Cohen has several fines to pay and has been ordered to report to prison on March 6, 2019.

Feature Image Credit: IowaPolitics.com [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons