Trump’s fury at his lying lawyer
DONALD Trump branded his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen “weak” and accused him of “lying” to get a reduced sentence yesterday
Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress over a Trump property deal in Moscow in which he claimed the negotiations ended in January 2016 before the US election campaign began.
Prosecutors allege that “as Cohen well knew” negotiations continued with the Russians from September 2015 until June 2016, well into Mr Trump’s campaign to be president.
Cohen, referring to the president as “individual 1” told a Federal Judge in New York: “I made these misstatements to be consistent with individual 1’s political messaging and out of loyalty to individual 1.”
The claims angered Mr Trump who branded Cohen, 52, a “weak person” and insisted he had opted out of the proposed deal to build a skyscraper bearing his name in the Russian capital but refused to give any more detail.
Mr Trump said: “Cohen is being a weak person and trying to get a reduced sentence so he’s lying about a project everyone knew about.” In August, Cohen also admitted violating finance laws by dealing with hush money for alleged lovers of Mr Trump.
Mr Trump spoke before heading to Argentina to join other leaders. It emerged last night Mr Trump had cancelled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit and he “looks forward” to a “meaningful” summit once Russian aggression towards the Ukraine was checked.