Iran Press/America: Michael Cohen, who served as Donald Trump’s legal fixer for more than a decade, said in an explosive testimony on Thursday that Trump continued trying to develop a tower in Russia’s capital, Moscow, months into his campaign for the presidency – contradicting Trump’s account.
Cohen also said he made false statements to hinder the Trump-Russia investigation and to protect Trump, CNN reported.
The development signalled legal peril for Trump, whose presidency has been besieged by special counsel Robert S. Mueller's inquiry into whether his campaign team colluded with Russia's interference in the 2016 US election.
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Cohen made his disclosure as he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the Moscow project. He said he made false statements to hinder the Trump-Russia investigation and to protect Trump, who was identified in court as “Individual 1”.
“I made these statements to be consistent with Individual 1’s political messaging and out of loyalty with Individual 1,” Cohen told the federal court in Manhattan on Thursday morning, after signing a plea agreement with Mueller. He did not say if Trump directed him to lie.
Outside the White House, Trump told reporters that Cohen was “a weak person and not a very smart person” and claimed without evidence that Cohen was lying to secure a reduced punishment for other crimes.
Mueller said that in addition to lying about the extent of Trump’s oversight of the Moscow project, Cohen’s emails showed that he also lied when he told Congress that there had been no plans for Trump to travel to Moscow in 2016.
Michael Cohen (R) and Paul Manafort (L) were convicted of financial crimes
US president Donald Trump has suffered a huge double blow as two of his former associates were convicted of financial crimes, potentially leaving the president himself in legal jeopardy.
Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime lawyer, pleaded guilty to eight charges, including campaign finance violations and directly implicated Trump in paying “hush money” to women with whom he allegedly had affairs.
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Along with Cohen, Paul Manafort who has had extensive financial and professional ties with Russia and with Kremlin-backed politicians in former Soviet republics over more than a decade, pleaded guilty two felony conspiracy charges.
Robert Mueller, is investigating possible collusion between Russia and members of Trump’s campaign team.
Trump stressed that there had been no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government and reiterated his claim the probe was a witch hunt. 101/211
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