Trump wants his own lawyer to go to prison for testifying against him

In a sharp reversal from several months ago, Trump is now calling for prison time for Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, oft-described as his “fixer.”

In an official White House statement released via Twitter, Trump said Cohen should “serve a full and complete sentence” for his numerous crimes.

Cohen has entered into two separate plea deals with federal prosecutors — one with the Southern District of New York, and a separate one with special counsel Robert Mueller. Both deals lay out unethical and illegal activities by Trump, his family, and his campaign.

Yet as recently as April, Trump was singing Cohen’s praises.

“Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected,” Trump said on Twitter. “Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if……..it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”

Trump was wrong, and Cohen most definitely flipped on him.

And Cohen’s testimony is absolutely devastating. He admitted to paying hush money to one of Trump’s mistresses, Stormy Daniels, just weeks before the 2016 election in an illegal attempt to influence the election. In his plea deal, Cohen implicated Trump in more than one felony. In a separate plea deal, Cohen admitted lying to Congress about Trump’s financial dealings with Russia during the 2016 campaign.

And that’s only what the public knows about. Mueller likely knows much, much more, since Cohen has spent 70 hours with his team.

If a series of increasingly unhinged tweets from this morning are any indication, Trump seems to be irked that Cohen’s lawyers asked for no jail time after Cohen cooperated with investigations, including at least one led by Mueller.

Trump typed, “You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get…..his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”

Trump’s angry outbursts at Cohen were quickly followed by a statement praising former campaign adviser Roger Stone, who said he will not testify against Trump. Trump praised Stone as having “guts.”

Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general under President Obama, speculated that Trump’s statement about Stone “is genuinely looking like witness tampering,” noting that it looks like Trump “is genuinely melting down.”

Stone, according to CNN, is claiming credit for colluding with Wikileaks during the 2016 campaign, and there is wide speculation that Mueller will indict Stone in relation to the Russia investigation.

Trump rounded out his angry rant by taking a shot at Mueller himself. “Bob Mueller (who is a much different man than people think) and his out of control band of Angry Democrats, don’t want the truth, they only want lies,” Trump wrote.

Mueller is a decorated war hero who served as head of the FBI for 10 years, and first appointed by George W. Bush. Thus far, Mueller’s investigation has led to 36 federal indictments and guilty pleas from five high-ranking Trump campaign officials.

Trump can no longer hide his shady past, and is now publicly lashing out for all the world to see.

This is what panic looks like.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.