“It’s quite clear his goose is cooked here,” he said Wednesday on MSNBC.
Painter said the three-year prison sentence handed down on Wednesday to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former longtime personal attorney, should be a warning sign to the White House.
“If the lawyer gets three years, how much time should the client get?” he asked.
Painter added that Cohen’s crimes don’t even include any allegations related to Russia, currently the subject of special counsel Robert Mueller investigation.
He said Trump has just one way out to protect himself and his family: a comprehensive plea deal to federal and state charges in exchange for his resignation.
“Donald Trump is in serious trouble. His lawyers ought to be telling him to negotiate a plea deal,” Painter said. “Get him out of the White House. Have him resign, plead guilty to lower charges and let’s move on as a country.”
See his full discussion, above, which begins about 5½ minutes in.
Later, on Twitter, Painter called it “The Art of the Plea Bargain,” a not-so-subtle reference to Trump’s book The Art of The Deal, and he urged Trump to act fast.
The Art of the Plea Bargain. Move fast. Holdouts get worse deals.@realdonaldtrump: negotiate with Bob Mueller and the NY AG while you still have keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and perhaps the Old Post Office hotel, to throw into the bargain.https://t.co/zFzHYwnqb7 via rawstory
There are many cases where the client got time but the lawyer who helped him do it got no time. There are some cases where the lawyer and the client both got time. There are very very few cases where only the lawyer got time. Deal time @realDonaldTrump?
Painter served in the Bush White House from 2005-2007, but has since turned into a vocal Trump critic. He was a lifelong Republican until this year, when he ran and lost in a primary as a Democrat against Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith.
Earlier this year, he predicted prison sentences for Trump insiders over Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“A lot of people are lying about their contacts with the Russians, and that’s criminal, so we’re going to have people going to the slammer over this,” he said in March. “The question is who and how high up this is going to reach with respect to criminal conduct.”
The family of O.J. Simpson announced last week the former football star died on April 10 “surrounded by his children and grandchildren.” But according to Simpson’s longtime lawyer Malcolm LaVergne, the 76-year-old father of four was a sole visitor away from dying alone. LaVergne declined to tell The Associated Press who was at Simpson’s bedside when the acquitted double-murder defendant ...
Newshub YouTubeA man in New Zealand went looking for his elderly parents on Thursday morning after becoming concerned that he had not heard from them for days, reports say. At their rural rented property in Waitākere, West Auckland, he found a ram in a paddock alongside the lifeless bodies of his parents.The unnamed couple in their early 80s are believed to have both been killed by the sheep, according to The New Zealand Herald. Authorities believe the man had gone out to feed the ram and never
Jabin Botsford/ReutersDespite the troubles plaguing Donald Trump’s first criminal trial in New York City, the process reached a milestone Thursday afternoon when the judge filled all 12 seats of the jury that will determine his fate.But the slog is far from over, as prosecutors and defense lawyers must now screen dozens of other jurors to pick the half-dozen New Yorkers who will serve as alternates during the next month or two—and might not even make it into the deliberation room.The new additio
Reuters/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANAIran warned on Thursday that it might review its nuclear “doctrine,” threatening a potential break from the publicly stated “peaceful” objectives of its nuclear program.“The threats of the Zionist regime [Israel] against Iran's nuclear facilities make it possible to review our nuclear doctrine and deviate from our previous considerations,” said Ahmad Haghtalab, a top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, according to Tasnim. “If the Zionist regi
Fox NewsSen. James Lankford (R-OK), the GOP co-architect of the Senate’s failed immigration bill earlier this year, made what were perhaps his most critical comments yet on Donald Trump’s role in scuttling the legislation, alluding to Fox News Thursday that the former president was motivated by his political self-interest.On Your World, Lankford was confronted by anchor Neil Cavuto about the players behind the bill’s demise.“You are a real gentleman about this, and I know you’re not trying to zi
Kanye West is being investigated for battery after allegedly punching a man who his representatives claim "battered and sexually assaulted" his wife, Bianca Censori.