Cohen says Jan. 6 sentences ‘should be a warning’ for Georgia defendants

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen said the lengthy sentences handed down to Jan. 6 defendants “should be a warning” to former President Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election case.

In an interview on CNN, Michael Cohen, who served as former President Trump’s fixer, warned that the 18 other defendants in the Georgia case are likely to face prison sentences that are “equally as painful” as that of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.

Tarrio on Tuesday was given a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy — the longest handed down in cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol so far.

“The reality is setting in, and it should be a warning to all of the 18 co-defendants in the Georgia case that this is going to happen to them as well,” Cohen said Tuesday evening, adding, “The time period that these people are going to get is going to be significant. So, if they think that the Jan. 6 cases are isolated, they are not, and I suspect that the Fulton County, Ga., determinations will be equally as painful.”

Asked what he makes of Tarrio and other defendants in similar cases crying and pleading their cases before judges, he said they had to face “reality.”

“Well, now unfortunately for them, they are confronted with the reality of the gravity of what they did on behalf of Donald J. Trump, based upon him blowing the dog whistle for them to attack the Capitol,” Cohen said.

“They are now seeing the damage that Donald Trump has caused to their lives,” he added.

Cohen argued that, if Trump wins the presidency again, he would expect the former president to consider pardons for the Jan. 6 defendants.

He urged the 18 co-defendants charged with Trump in Georgia, however, to consider cooperating with the Fulton County prosecutors. Cohen said their testimony would become less valuable the longer they wait. 

Unless the Georgia defendants “want to be part of that club of people who spent basically the rest of their lives behind bars, my recommendation for them would be speak now, because as soon as the guy next to you or the woman next to you starts speaking and spilling the beans, your information is not as important. It’s not as significant,” he warned, referring to the lengthy Jan. 6 sentences.

“So, the person really who starts to speak first is the one that will get the benefit,” Cohen added.

Trump is currently facing four criminal indictments, related to accusations of falsifying business documents, mishandling of classified documents and efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.

In the Fulton County case, all 19 of the co-defendants — including Trump, his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — pleaded not guilty. They also waived their arraignments, which were scheduled to take place Wednesday.