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Michael Cohen recently has been sentenced to 3 years in prison after he was found to have made violating campaign finance laws with making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Cohen had made a heartfelt apology to a crowd in the courtroom as he admitted to and apologized for his actions in covering up Donald Trump's "dirty deeds". He stated that he was blinded by loyalty to Trump that impaired his judgement according to him. Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani stated after Cohen's conviction that he was a "serial liar" and that he was sorry for him. After his sentencing, Trump came out and said that the payments made to Stormy Daniels was not in violation of campaign finance laws as he believes they were just "a simple private transaction"
1) Do you think that Cohen's admitting to campaign finance violations be a potential lead to Trump's impeachment? Why or why not?
2) Do you think Cohen's sentence was fair or do you think it was too lenient or too harsh, seeing as he is willing to help Mueller against Trump as atonement?
I don't think that Cohen's admitting to campaign finance violations will lead to Trump's impeachment because technically Trump was not fully involved in this because he was not the one to pay Stormy Daniels. Also it will take hard evidence to convict Trump of something, then congress will have to impeach him. I am not sure Cohen's sentence was fair because on one hand he committed a crime, but on the other hand he was just doing someones dirty work, so I guess 3 years sounds reasonable but at the same time it also seems a little excessive.
ReplyDelete1. Cohen's admitting to campaign finance violations could be a potential lead to Trump's impeachment, but it is not very likely at all. Even if the House successfully approves the impeachment, because the Republicans have a majority in the Senate, it would be very hard to get a two-thirds majority vote in which he is convicted and removed from office. Therefore, Trump is much more likely to lose the upcoming election than he is to be impeached.
ReplyDelete2. I do think that Cohen's sentence was fair because he did commit tax fraud and lied to Congress, which are both illegal actions. In fact, he was sentenced to less time in jail than what the federal prosecutors wanted (four plus years), so the sentence was already made more lenient due to his willingness to atone.
^Jessica Masterson
Delete1. I don't think that Michael Cohen's admitting to campaign violations is going to majorly impact whether or not Trump gets impeached, but I do think it is going to be something that will constantly be present in the back of everyone's minds. Because of this, it will probably help speed up the impeachment proceedings.
ReplyDelete2. I personally think that Cohen's sentence is fair and completely deserved because he did violate the law. He had a choice in the matter to not cover up Trump's so called "dirty deeds" and he made the wrong choice. We cannot allow people to take advantage of the system with heartfelt apologies.
1. I don't think it will lead to Trump's impeachment, as it doesn't seem like a very serious crime that would hurt the security of our nation. It still remains a bad move, but impeachment seems too big of a punishment.
ReplyDelete2. I believe it is a good amount of time. Not too much as his crimes were not extremely detrimental to anyone's well being, but just enough that he will be able to atone for his actions. Too many times do we see people get away with lenient punishments for their crimes.
1. No, since his actions are not translated onto Trump, he is the POTUS, and from his predecessors actions it is pretty hard to impeach.
ReplyDelete2. He is a lawyer. He should have known what he was doing. Three years is fair. Most likely will get out early for "good behavior"
1. I don't think Cohen admitting to violating campaign finance laws will lead to Trump's impeachment. Paying someone hush money doesn't really seem like a high crime or misdemeanor. Sure its immoral but it's not something Trump should get impeached for.
ReplyDelete2. 3 years seems fine. I don't think his crimes were particularly bad and at least he's willing to help with the Mueller investigation to atone.
1. It's unlikely that Cohen's confession will lead to the impeachment of Trump. Cohen's actions do not fall under any requirements to even impeach Trump in the first place. lying about Trump's "dirty deeds" was a fault he brought upon himself.
ReplyDelete2. 3 years seems like a right amount of time, but it's important to note that Cohen was pushed to cover up Trump's mistakes. In terms of the Mueller investigation, I do not think this conviction will help in any way.
1. I don't think Cohen's conviction will lead to Trump's impeachment because Trump didn't come forward and plead guilty. Cohen lied about Trump's actions, but Trump didn't have to confirm anything. Also, I think these actions, although illegal, are not grounds for impeachment.
ReplyDelete2. Cohen's sentencing seems fair since he did violate the law in order to stay loyal to Trump. His actions ended up stabbing him in the back even if that is not what he intended.
I dont believe that Cohens conviction will lead to Trumps impeachment in anyway. I dont think it is a serious enough manner, or a threat in anyway. I believe that 3 years may be a little excessive in this case. He did violate the law, however I believe that there are other more serious crimes that should be used for prison rather than having cohen take space in the prison.
ReplyDelete1. I don't believe that Cohen's conviction is related to an impeachment of Trump because he had the choice to lie, in which does not give immediate cause for an impeachment.
ReplyDelete2. I believe Cohen's sentence is fair because he lied about campaign finances and committed tax fraud, and being "blinded by loyalty to the president" does not give sufficient reason to shorten that sentence.
1. No. The fact that Cohen admitted to campaign finance violations has very little bearing on Trump’s impeachment because the Story Daniels case, even if it ends up being an FEC violation, will take too long to process to have any real effect on his presidency. However, it does indicate cooperation of Cohen in the Muller investigation, which could lead to other damning information. However, cooperation is generally not a large problem in cases like these because the consequences of not giving over all the relevant information is quite dire (a 3 year prison sentence for example).
ReplyDelete2. It was too lenient because he broke his plea deal. If his only crimes was the campaign finance violations I would say it is fair are maybe too harsh. However, there was a deal for information from him in exchange for a reduced sentence, and he took advantage of that deal and lied until he was found out.