Michael Cohen, in Recorded Phone Call, Walks Back Parts of Guilty Plea

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Michael Cohen, in Recorded Phone Call, Walks Back Parts of Guilty Plea
Trump's former lawyer, set to go to prison in weeks, told actor Tom Arnold he wasn't guilty of some crimes he pleaded guilty to

By Michael Rothfeld
Updated April 24, 2019 12:52 p.m. ET

Michael Cohen has disavowed responsibility for some of the crimes to which he has pleaded guilty, privately contending in a recent recorded phone call that he hadn't evaded taxes and that a criminal charge related to his home-equity line of credit was "a lie." ... As he prepares to begin a three-year prison term on May 6, Mr. Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, expressed dismay during the conversation that after testifying for more than 100 hours to federal and congressional investigators about his work for Mr. Trump--including the coordination of hush-money deals with two women--he remained "a man all alone."

"You would think that you would have folks, you know, stepping up and saying, 'You know what, this guy's lost everything,'" Mr. Cohen said during the March 25 call, recorded without Mr. Cohen's knowledge by the actor and comedian Tom Arnold. Mr. Arnold, a vocal critic of President Trump who first made contact with Mr. Cohen in June, provided the recording to The Wall Street Journal for review.

"My family's happiness, and my law license," Mr. Cohen continued. "I lost my business...my insurance, my bank accounts, all for what? All for what? Because Trump, you know, had an affair with a porn star? That's really what this is about." ... Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Mr. Cohen, said: "Michael has taken responsibility for his crimes and will soon report to prison to serve his sentence. While he cannot change the past, he is making every effort to reclaim his life and do right by his family and country. He meant no offense by his statements."

A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office declined to comment. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment. ... In pleading guilty in August, Mr. Cohen explicitly admitted to his crimes before a judge, to make it clear he was acting knowingly. "I take full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to," he said at his sentencing hearing in December. Since then, he has been attempting to have his sentence reduced by aiding congressional investigations.
....

--Nicole Hong, Rebecca Ballhaus, Joe Palazzolo and Rebecca Davis O'Brien contributed to this article.

Write to Michael Rothfeld at [e-mail]

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-cohen-in-recorded-phone-call-walks-back-parts-of-guilty-plea-11556121974

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Woooooo! Got past the paywall!

https://twitter.com/mrothfeld

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BigLoganActHat Retweeted

https://twitter.com/Popehat

Please tell me you haven't recorded today's All the President's Lawyers, @jbarro and @Popehat. Because I have a desperately important Michael Cohen-related question: is he a good guilty pleader?

Link to tweet

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Then he should have entered an Alford plea. Too late, Mike.

[True Blue American]

2. Manaforte

Has been transferred to a Federal Prison. He is in isolation.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Sucks to be him.

[gldstwmn]

5. Interesting. Is he in some sort of danger

or are they trying to keep him from communicating with Orange and his lawyers?

[True Blue American]

7. I imagine they

Fear the Russians and poison.

[gldstwmn]

22. Manafort gave them the polling data

and with that the elections. If anything you'd think they'd be planning his escape.

[SayItLoud]

15. Better then where he was being held....

Love to know what Fed Prison?

[True Blue American]

16. Pa.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/former-trump-campaign-chair-paul-manafort-now-federal-prison-n997511

[Shrike47]

10. Probably Mueller refused to take an Alford plea. I would have refused. They had Cohen cold.

[gldstwmn]

4. Ugh. I never thought Cohen was a hero.

He did Orange's dirty work for years and is now trying to save his own skin. If he starts saying shit like this then it weakens Mueller's case and all the other cases Cohen is involved with in the court of public opinion.

[OnDoutside]

6. Meh, he's just pissed because he couldn't take Donnie down.

[global1]

17. Your Right - It Gives Trump The Opportunity To Call Cohen A Liar Again And....

make all of his testimony look like lies.

[mrsv]

8. We are being played

I no longer focus on every new news story about this administration. The corruption is so overwhelming and sickening that I am suspect of every new news distraction and its timing.

This story serves to distract from the real news that the WH, aides...well every damn body is saying f*ck you to the Dems and their subpoenas.

Don't be distracted. Our Rule of Law is being tested and so are we. Pay attention to the big stuff.

[C Moon]

19. +1000

[Lulu KC]

20. + a zillion n/t

[duforsure]

9. Wonder how much he's been threatened

So far, and will be starting to deny his claims.

[PSPS]

11. LOL. Once a slimeball goon, always a slimeball goon.

[stillcool]

12. Nobody wants to buy..

any more of his b.s., for a get out of jail-time fee. Guess whatever he has, they have too.

[Evolve Dammit]

13. I wonder if Manafort (now in solitary) will be inclined to come clean.

Hopefully, if someone has a change of heart and decides to spill his (or her) guts, there is a mechanism for depositions/ testimony to be compelled and given in exchange for sentencing considerations?

[SayItLoud]

14. Tom Arnold, the guy holding "tapes of tRUMP" from Apprentice...but ....

he won't release them. F him.

[YOHABLO]

18. I don't think he has any tapes.

[gldstwmn]

23. That's Mark Burnett the producer

of Apprentice.

[Lulu KC]

21. Michael really has a hard time picking good friends

and Tom Arnold is a creep.
And why on Earth would MC do this? I mean--plead guilty on things he didn't do? Is he just a compulsive liar who can't stop himself? Before, it seemed like he had a self-preservation instinct guiding the lies. Now it's shooting himself in the foot lying, or wait--is it the truth?

TOO MUCH.

[Honeycombe8]

24. Too late. nt