Washington — US President Donald Trump said he did not direct his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to break the law, saying that as a lawyer, Cohen was supposed to know what was legal and what was not. “I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called ‘advice of counsel,’ and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made,” Trump said on Thursday on Twitter. “That is why they get paid.” Cohen was given a three-year prison sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to breaking campaign-finance laws by arranging hush payments to women who alleged affairs with Trump, as well as lying to Congress and banks. Saying he accepted full responsibility for his crimes, Cohen described the burden of his role as Trump’s “fixer”: “It was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”

In subsequent tweets on Thursday, Trump said he “did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, even if they apply” and that the charge...

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