Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen sentenced to three years in jail

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer has been sentenced to three years in prison.

A New York judge said that Michael Cohen deserved a harsh punishment for crimes including tax evasion, lying to Congress and arranging illegal payments to silence women who posed a risk to Mr Trump’s presidential campaign.

District Judge William H Pauley III rejected arguments by Cohen’s lawyers that he should be spared jail because he cooperated in multiple federal investigations involving Mr Trump.

Cohen said his “blind loyalty” to Mr Trump made him feel a duty to “cover up” the president’s “dirty deeds”.

Cohen’s crimes included evading 1.4 million dollars (£1.1m) in taxes and misleading Congress about his talks with Russians about a Trump skyscraper project in Moscow.

Mr Trump had called for a tough sentence for Cohen, whom he labelled a liar.

The judge said Cohen’s cooperation with prosecutors “does not wipe the slate clean” of his crimes.

Mr Pauley said that Cohen “appears to have lost his moral compass” and that the lawyer “should have known better” than to dodge taxes, lie to Congress and violate campaign finance laws.

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