Russia’s ‘leverage’ over Trump

Last week’s admission by Michael Cohen that he lied to Congress about a Trump Organisation real estate project in Moscow suggests the Russian government may have damaging information about President Donald Trump, a top Democrat said yesterday.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in an appearance on NBC’ News’ Meet the Press that Friday’s guilty plea by Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, raises the question of whether Russia continues to have leverage over Trump.

‘‘Does the Kremlin have a hold on him over other things?’’ Nadler said. ‘‘There certainly was leverage during the campaign period and until recently because they knew he was lying, they knew he had major business dealings or that Cohen on his behalf had major business dealings.’’ Nadler also said lawmakers ‘‘must do whatever we can’’ to protect special counsel Robert Mueller III’s Russia investigation from interference by Trump. ‘‘We have a president who lies incessantly to the American people about big matters and small matters . . . . The time when he can get away with lying to the American people all the time and evading accountability is coming to an end,’’ Nadler said.

Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., also defended the Mueller probe on Fox News Sunday. Trump has repeatedly decried the investigation as a ‘‘witch hunt.’’

‘‘I think that America, which stands for the rule of law, the leading democratic country in the world, our president needs to respect the independence of this investigation,’’ Cardin said.

Cohen last week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Moscow real estate project that Trump and his company pursued at the same time that he was securing the GOP nomination in 2016. Cohen told prosecutors that he had lied to distance Trump from the project during the hotly contested presidential race.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said yesterday that ‘‘most Republicans who were about to nominate Donald Trump in the summer of ‘16 would probably have thought it was a relevant fact’’ that Trump was still trying to do business with Russia at the time.

He added, in the wake of Cohen’s guilty plea, it has become clear that ‘‘most of these characters who are around Donald Trump, none of them have exactly a sterling record of telling the truth.’’ – Washington Post

The time when he (Trump) can get away with lying to the American people all the time and evading accountability is coming to an end.’’ Jerrold Nadler, incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee