U.S. President, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has left his home for a prison outside New York City to begin serving a three-year sentence.

Cohen pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2018 for lying to Congress and for campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments he made to two women, in addition to financial crimes.

He previously accused Trump of telling multiple lies on his way to becoming president and after taking office.

The lawyer also took another swipe at his former client before leaving his home on Monday for the federal corrections facility in Otisville.

The prison is about 100 kilometres north of New York City.

“There still remains much to be told, and I look forward to the day that I can share the truth,” Cohen said.

He added that he hoped that the country would be “in a place without xenophobia, injustice and lies at the helm of our country” at the end of his jail term.

The 52-year-old, whose relationship with Trump collapsed after an FBI raid on his home and office in 2018, provided damaging testimony to a congressional panel in March.

He told lawmakers that Trump used personal funds to repay him for the hush-money payments made to adult film actress, Stormy Daniels and Playboy model, Karen McDougal.

Cohen also said that Trump was aware of the scheme to pay Daniels 130,000 dollars in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair and that cheques to reimburse him were written during his time in office. (dpa/NAN)

– May 6, 2019 @ 18:35 GMT |