Lawyer: I lied about Trump’s ties to Russia

DONALD Trump’s ex-lawyer admitted yesterday he had lied about a skyscraper business deal in Russia.

Michael Cohen, previously regarded as a loyal “fixer”, told a court he had misled the US Congress over plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

He had given a statement to a committee saying talks on the project were scrapped in January 2016.

But now the 52-yearold has confessed the negotiations went on until June that year, by which time Trump – who has played down links to Russia – was deep into his presidential campaign. Cohen also admitted having had “more extensive” contact with Trump about the plan than he had previously said.

The revelations – which he termed “mis-statements” – came when he appeared before a Manhattan court. He pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to Congress, saying he had acted at the time to be “consistent” with Trump’s “political ATTACK President yesterday messaging”. He is expected to be sentenced on December 12.

Trump claimed Cohen was “weak” and lying all over again to try to get a lesser sentence.

He said the Trump Tower “was a deal that didn’t happen, an option I decided not to do”.

In August Cohen testified that Trump had told him to pay off a porn star and an ex-playboy model to silence them. He has also admitted tax evasion, bank fraud and other offences.

Meanwhile Trump has axed a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit because of the Ukraine crisis.