WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Thursday denied directing his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law after the US president’s longtime close ally was sentenced to three years for campaign finance violations and other crimes. “I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law,” Trump tweeted. “It is called ‘advice of counsel,’ and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid.” Cohen, 52, apologized Wednesday for covering up the “dirty deeds” of his ex-boss as he was handed jail time for multiple crimes including hush money payments implicating Trump. Pleading for leniency in a packed Manhattan courtroom before US District Court Judge William H. Pauley III, Cohen said he had been led astray by misplaced admiration for Trump.