Dershowitz on New Special Counsel Filings: 'Mueller Has Come Up With Far Less Than He Hoped For' 'Political sin, but not federal crime.' December 8, 2018 // 10:46am Alan Dershowitz joined the "Fox & Friends" co-hosts Saturday morning to share his key takeaways from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's court filings. Mueller on Friday filed a sentencing memo for President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen and a court filing for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. "Mueller has come up with far less than he hoped for," Dershowitz said. He explained that the Manafort filing reveals the former Trump campaign chairman is not cooperating in the investigation, and the Cohen memo doesn't reveal anything new about hush money payments to women who allegedly had sexual encounters with Trump. "It's a very, very weak case that Cohen has provided," Dershowitz said. "I suspect that may be the reason he's getting very little in terms of sentencing consideration." He said the most likely result of the Mueller probe is a long report that tries to piece together a "mosaic" that shows Trump committed "political sin, but not federal crime." "So that's the most likely scenario -- no crime, but political sin -- which would be a complete distortion of what the role of a special counsel is supposed to be," Dershowitz said. He said the worst-case scenario for the president, on the other hand, would be if Mueller has yet-unseen evidence of criminal conduct. He offered a hypothetical example that some in the media have discussed. "If, in fact, anybody offered [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a penthouse in a building in exchange for Putin giving permission to build the building in Moscow, that could arguably violate the Federal Corrupt Practices Act," Dershowitz said. "But I've seen no evidence to support that." http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/12/...counsel-robert-mueller-filings-cohen-manafort
Dershowitz: Cohen's Harsh Sentencing Recommendation 'Doesn't Sound Like Good News for Mueller' December 7, 2018 Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz reacted to news that the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York recommended a "substantial term of imprisonment" for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Prosecutors suggested that a federal judge hand Cohen a 42-month prison term on charges that he lied to Congress and violated campaign finance law with shady payouts to two women who alleged they had sexual relationships with then-developer Donald Trump. As Fox News reported: Federal prosecutors on Friday recommended a “substantial term of imprisonment” for President Trump’s former personal attorney, saying his efforts to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller were “overstated.” The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York filed a sentencing memo as part of its criminal investigation and grand jury probe into Cohen’s personal business dealings. Cohen pleaded guilty to several counts of tax and business fraud. He also pleaded guilty to making an excessive campaign contribution. The memo stated that the range of imprisonment for Cohen and his crimes is 51 to 63 months. "A lot of times, people like Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen think they can outsmart the agents doing the interviews," Dershowitz said after prosecutors said Cohen's cooperation was "overstated in some respects and incomplete in others. "[Cohen] made it sound like he had information when he didn't have [it]," Dershowitz said. He also said the report "does not sound like good news for [Robert] Mueller" and the special counsel's case studying whether Trump had illicit connections to Russia. "They have not found a witness that can give them a key to the kingdom," said Dershowitz, adding that there is a "weak case" against Trump on the "campaign contribution issue" because he is "entitled" to pay off women as a private citizen to protect his family. Dershowitz added the other aspect of the case, an attempt by Trump to build a skyscraper in Moscow is not a crime, unless there is a "quid pro quo" aspect that would give President Putin a penthouse or something of the like. http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/12/...-harsh-sentencing-recommendation-russia-probe