Democrats are vowing to investigate whether U.S. President Donald Trump directed his personal attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a Moscow real estate project, calling that possibility a B次元官网网址渃oncern of the greatest magnitude.B次元官网网址�
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 current lawyer said the allegations sparking the inquiry are B次元官网网址渃ategorically false.B次元官网网址�
Any evidence that Trump directed a witness to lie to investigators would place him in the greatest political and legal jeopardy yet and confront him with allegations of the sort that led to the departure of one president and the impeachment of another.
At issue is a report by BuzzFeed B次元官网网址 that Trump told Cohen to lie about negotiations over the Moscow project that extended into the 2016 campaign. The Associated Press has not independently confirmed the report.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said in a statement Friday that B次元官网网址渁ny suggestion B次元官网网址� from any source B次元官网网址� that the President counselled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false.B次元官网网址� White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the allegation B次元官网网址渁bsolutely ridiculous.B次元官网网址�
The report comes as House Democrats have promised a thorough look into TrumpB次元官网网址檚 ties to Russia, and as special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating RussiaB次元官网网址檚 meddling in the 2016 election and contacts with the Trump campaign.
Though his supporters have said Trump cannot be investigated for actions the Constitution permits him to take, even the presidentB次元官网网址檚 nominee for attorney general, William Barr, said at his confirmation hearing this week that a president or anyone else who instructs a witness to lie or change his testimony commits illegal obstruction of justice.
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BuzzFeed, citing two unidentified law enforcement officials, said Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress and that Cohen regularly briefed Trump and his family on the Trump Tower project in Moscow B次元官网网址� even as Trump said he had no business dealings with Russia. BuzzFeed said Cohen told Mueller that Trump personally instructed him to lie about the timing of the project in order to obscure TrumpB次元官网网址檚 involvement.
BuzzFeed said MuellerB次元官网网址檚 investigators learned about TrumpB次元官网网址檚 directive B次元官网网址渢hrough interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.B次元官网网址� The report says Cohen then acknowledged TrumpB次元官网网址檚 instructions when he was interviewed by the Mueller team.
On Twitter, Trump charged that Cohen was B次元官网网址淟ying to reduce his jail time!B次元官网网址�
Giuliani noted that Cohen had pleaded guilty to lying and quoted federal prosecutors in New York who chastised him for a B次元官网网址減attern of lies and dishonesty over an extended period of time.B次元官网网址� MuellerB次元官网网址檚 team, however, has called him a credible witness.
B次元官网网址淭odayB次元官网网址檚 claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael CohenB次元官网网址檚 malice and desperation,B次元官网网址� Giuliani said.
Lanny Davis, a Cohen adviser, declined to comment. On Friday, as photos surfaced of Cohen wearing a hospital ID bracelet and cradling a pillow with his right arm in a sling, Davis said Cohen had undergone minor shoulder surgery.
Though Republicans stayed mostly silent, two Democratic committee chairmen in the House said they will open inquiries.
The Associated Press
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