In New Documents, Cohen Says Trump "Instructed" Him To Lie

[DonViejo]

Source: Buzzfeed News



In a memo submitted to Congress, the president's former lawyer asks for time to help congressional investigators review new evidence.

Emma Loop
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Jason Leopold
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Anthony Cormier
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Reporting From Washington, DC

Posted on April 5, 2019, at 12:16 a.m. ET


WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former fixer, submitted documents to lawmakers Thursday night accusing Trump and his team of lawyers of instructing Cohen to lie to Congress about when negotiations ended to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

In a 12-page memo sent to top House Democrats, Cohen’s attorneys said Trump “encouraged Cohen to lie and say all Moscow Tower project contacts ended as of January 31, 2016 using ‘code’ language — telling Cohen during various conversations that there was ‘no collusion, no Russian contacts, nothing about Russia’ after the start of the campaign.’”

The memo addresses issues that have been at the center of the recently concluded two-year investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into possible coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with Trump’s campaign. Attorney General William Barr has stated that the report, which has not been made public, did not find that the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated with Russia."

The more than 100 pages of documents included with Cohen’s memo claim to lay bare a “conspiracy to collude” with the Russian government during the campaign, along with an array of other crimes by the president.



Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emmaloop/in-new-documents-cohen-says-trump-instructed-him-to-lie

[Mc Mike]

1. Yeah. A felony.

[Jarqui]

2. Generally, at a glance, it looks like a regurgitation of things we

already seemed to know.

The financial statements might be damning.

It does try to stir up the collusion discussion but does it provide compelling beyond reasonable doubt evidence? I didn't see that at a glance.

Learned a few new things but I'm not sure that I saw anything that was a game changer unless those statements help nail him on financial crimes.

[wishstar]

3. Cohen must be extremely upset at going to prison while Trump is escaping all accountability

Trump is getting away with both the hush money campaign violation payments and lying about Trump Tower Moscow, while both of those are significant reasons for Cohen's imprisonment. We can only hope karma someday hits Trump hard.

[Grammy23]

5. Cohen apparently thought tRump would "take a bullet" for him

the way he vowed to take one for tRump. He should have known better since he had been a close associate of tRump for years. He made the mistake of thinking things were “different” between him and tRump. Too bad.

Now he is seeing things a bit more clearly now that he is staring at a prison cell. tRump only cares about and does what benefits himself. I hope Cohen does have the goods on tRump, although it wouldn’t surprise me if tRump insulated himself from culpability in crimes. He always seems to find a way to slither away and escape punishment. Let us hope that this time he doesn’t. I’m hoping that this time Cohen helps nail him.

[ffr]

4. Lock up the ring leader!

[marble falls]

6. He doesn't do himself any favors claiming this after he specifically denied it in a ...

Congressional hearing.

[hughee99]

7. And since he's already got no credibility, if he can't back this up with objective proof, he's only

hurting himself.

[marble falls]

8. You said it. "Lack of credibility", indeed. He better have some footage or a document.

[hughee99]

9. He really had to work at it, but he managed to become one of the few people

On earth with arguably less credibility than Trump.

[marble falls]

10. I've been hoping I was under a misapprehension about that. It certainly explains ...

why Mueller didn't depend on him much in court against any of those prosecuted so far.