‘PATHOLOGICAL LIAR’

Donald Trump’s new lawyer says the president’s old lawyer can’t be trusted on the topic of Russian collusion.

WASHINGTON • Donald Trump has denied explosive claims by his former lawyer that he knew about a meeting between his son and a Russian promising to share damaging information about his rival candidate Hillary Clinton before the 2016 U.S. election.

In a tweet Friday, the U.S. president accused Michael Cohen, his one-time fixer who is now under federal investigation, of deciding to “make up stories” to get himself out of trouble.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, painted Cohen as a “pathological liar” who does not have “any credibility.”

The rebuttals came after a CNN report that Cohen is prepared to claim that the president knew about a nowinfamous meeting in Trump Tower before the presidential election.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his then-campaign manager, Paul Manafort, attended the meeting in New York on June 9, 2016 with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Earlier Trump Jr. had been approached by Rob Goldstone, a British music promoter, who claimed to have “official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”

Emails leaked by Trump Jr. show that he responded “If it’s what you say, I love it” when first offered the “dirt” on Clinton before the meeting was arranged.

The Trump Tower chat has come under scrutiny by investigators looking into alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin.

Trump has always denied knowing about the meeting before it took place.

However, Cohen, his personal attorney at the time, will reportedly claim that he was present when Trump was informed about the event.

Cohen does not have a recording of the incident, according to CNN, but is prepared to given evidence on the matter to Robert Mueller, the independent “special counsel” leading the Russian election meddling investigation.

Trump tweeted Friday: “I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don Jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam.”

Meanwhile Trump said he is open to visiting Moscow if formally invited by President Vladimir Putin.

Putin had said earlier Friday during a meeting in Johannesburg that he was ready to invite Trump and also ready to visit Washington if conditions were right.