Article snippet: The memo itself, however, paints Cohen as a deceiver who willingly repeatedly lied, and who possesses a fleeting sense of wrongdoing, little remorse and a tendency to place blame on others. The memo laments how the Court “had to press Cohen to acknowledge that he understood he was lying to a bank.” It charges that Cohen’s “consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting, that his remorse is minimal, and that his instinct to blame others is strong. While he has legally accepted responsibility, the Court should consider at sentencing these transparent efforts at minimizing Cohen’s false statements and criminal conduct.” While rendering Cohen untrustworthy, the sentencing memo relies on Cohen’s own characterizations to charge that he “acted in coordination and at the direction of” an unnamed “Individual-1”, clearly referring to Trump, to pay off two women who claimed that they had previous sexual encounters with Trump. At issue is a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, which prosecutors argue violated campaign finance law restricting donations to no more than $2,700. Prosecutors say that a separate $150,000 payment allegedly coordinated by Cohen via American Media Inc. to keep former Playboy model Karen McDougal from going public also constituted an illegal corporate donation. Specific criminal intent is important to establish for successful prosecution of a campaign finance violation, as the Justice Department documents. The sentencing memo repeatedly portrays ... Link to the full article to read more