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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 7 May 2019

Michael Cohen goes to prison, slamming Trump along the way

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and ce ball and rugelach in the
JIM MUSTIAN commissary — that it af-
Associated Press fords them.
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen — officially Inmate
Cohen took a last swipe No. 86067-054 — took off
at President Donald Trump the blue blazer he wore on
while reporting to federal the ride up and left it with
prison Monday to start a his driver before walking
three-year sentence for into prison, where he was
crimes including tax eva- to be provided with a khaki
sion and campaign finance uniform.
violations related to hush- The U.S. Bureau of Prisons
money payments made to confirmed Cohen was in
protect his former boss. its custody but declined to
Cohen, who turned on provide details of his con-
Trump last summer after finement, citing privacy
a decade as his personal and security rules.
lawyer, fixer and "take a At Otisville, officials took ex-
bullet" loyalist, didn't men- tra measures to deal with
tion the president by name, the intense media interest
but he left little doubt about in Cohen's arrival. They put
whom he blamed for his in- up concrete barriers along Michael Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building before
carceration. the two-lane road leading beginning his prison term Monday, May 6, 2019, in New York.
"I hope that when I rejoin to the facility and deployed Associated Press
my family and friends that cones and caution tape to
the country will be in a keep about two dozen re- Capitol Hill in February and Federal prosecutors have Cohen also pleaded guilty
place without xenopho- porters and photographers March, but they were reti- said Trump directed Cohen to lying to Congress about
bia, injustice and lies at the from getting too close. cent to do so. to arrange the payments a Trump Tower project in
helm of our country," Co- Cohen had fought to delay "Michael may be sen- to buy the silence of porn Moscow, to bank fraud,
hen told reporters outside or reduce his sentence but tenced within the walls of actress Stormy Daniels and and to tax evasion charges
his Manhattan apartment. failed in a last-ditch effort a federal correctional insti- former Playboy model Kar- that stemmed, not from his
"There still remains much to to convince federal pros- tution. But the truth has no en McDougal in the run-up dealings with Trump, but
be told, and I look forward ecutors that his coopera- walls," Davis said in a state- to the 2016 election. Trump from his failure to report in-
to the day where I can tion in various investigations ment Monday. denies having trysts with ei- come from other business
share the truth." related to Trump warranted In an essay published Sun- ther woman. interests.q
Cohen, 52, then stumbled leniency. day, a Trump Organization
through a crush of media, Cohen's lawyer and executive wrote that Co-
ignoring shouted questions, spokesman, Lanny Davis, hen was "a bluffing, boast-
and got into a waiting said Cohen would contin- ing New Yorker" who over-
Cadillac Escalade, which ue to be available to co- stated his role at the com-
drove him to jail 70 miles operate with law enforce- pany and that he only had
(115 kilometers) northwest ment, though it's unclear himself to blame for going
of New York City. how much his cooperation to prison. Cohen had no
He got a slight jump on his is wanted. real decision-making au-
prison sentence, arriving at Since mid-March, federal thority and was rather "a
the Federal Correctional In- prosecutors in New York lone wolf constantly seek-
stitution, Otisville, at around have rebuffed Cohen's re- ing the boss's approval
11:45 a.m., more than two peated offers to provide and fearing others would
hours before a court-im- more information about take his credit," George So-
posed deadline. alleged wrongdoing by rial wrote in The Wall Street
The prison has a minimum- Trump and other people in Journal. Cohen is the only
security camp that's be- his orbit, Davis said. person charged with a
come known for the white His legal team asked House crime in connection with
collar criminals it houses Democrats last month to the hush-money payments
and the amenities — in- intercede with prosecutors to women who allegedly
cluding tennis courts, boc- after Cohen testified on had affairs with Trump.