Mitt Romney condemned the conduct of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen after they were found guilty of multiple federal crimes Tuesday.
“The events of the last 24 hours confirm that conduct by highly-placed individuals was both dishonorable and illegal,” Romney tweeted Wednesday without naming Manafort or Cohen explicitly.
Romney said it also confirmed his faith in the U.S. justice system, “and my conviction that we are a nation committed to the rule of law.”
[Opinion: Cohen’s plea could land Trump in the witness chair]
The events of the last 24 hours confirm that conduct by highly-placed individuals was both dishonorable and illegal. Also confirmed is my faith in our justice system and my conviction that we are a nation committed to the rule of law.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 22, 2018
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts, including tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations. While appearing in court, Cohen implicated President Trump by saying he was directed by “a candidate” to pay hush money in the weeks before Election Day to two women alleging they had affairs with Trump.
At virtually the same time, a jury found Manafort guilty of eight charges, including tax fraud, filing false income tax returns, and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts in 2012.
On Wednesday, Trump questioned the fates of his former associates, who now face years in prison.
The Justice Department “took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ – make up stories in order to get a ‘deal,’” Trump said of Manafort.
Of Cohen, he said: “Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime.”
