Michael Cohen’s Father, Sons Make Plea To Judge To Keep Him Out Of Jail

Michael Cohen’s family hopes that they can help the embattled lawyer avoid going to jail.

This week, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to Congress about Trump’s plans to land a major real estate deal in Russia, which Cohen admitted went on much longer than both had originally said.

As the New York Daily News noted, Cohen’s family is asking a New York judge to have mercy on the lawyer for the risks he took to come forward with the information.

Maurice Cohen, Michael’s Polish-born father, wrote a two-page letter asking that Michael be allowed to stay out of jail.

“This is Michael Cohen, a person with heart and soul, always willing to help,” wrote Maurice, a Holocaust survivor. “He is the oxygen in the air that I breathe. I am 83 years old, ravaged by time … So, please your honor, I pray and beg, beg and pray that you won’t take my oxygen away from me.”

Michael Cohen’s sons have also put in their bid to keep dad out of jail, speaking up through lawyers to show that the family man has faced threats from the White House for his willingness to cooperate with prosecutors.

Cohen’s lawyers also argued in the 29-page filing to the Manhattan Federal Court that Michael showed bravery in even coming forward and daring to cross Donald Trump.

“In the context of this raw, full-bore attack by the most powerful person in the United States, Michael, formerly a confidante and adviser to Mr. Trump, resolved to cooperate, and voluntarily took the first steps toward doing so even before he was charged,” read the sentencing memorandum filed by his attorneys. “And he acted knowing that the result would be personal attacks on his by the president, a bevy of advisers and public relations specialists, and political supporters of the president.”

Cohen’s legal troubles could soon turn into even bigger trouble for Donald Trump, who was implicated in the lawyer’s recent guilty plea. In admitting that he had lied about Trump’s attempts to land a deal in Russia, it also seemed to reveal that Trump was lying when he repeatedly claimed that he had no business interests in Russia and that he stopped seeking the Moscow deal before the Republican primaries began.

Cohen’s false testimony had been also a centerpiece of a controversial memo written and released by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee that sought to exonerate Trump of allegations that he colluded with Russia. Trump himself encouraged Americans to read and accept the memo, even though he apparently knew it contained false testimony from Cohen.

That could come back to hurt Donald Trump. As Quartz noted, Richard Nixon’s articles of impeachment included a charge that he knowingly lied to the American public as he tried to hide his role in the Watergate coverup. The articles accused Nixon of “making or causing to be made false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States.”

Michael Cohen is due back in court on December 12 for sentencing.