Trump dismisses criticism of 2016 business project in Russia

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — President Donald Trump on Friday defended his pursuit of a real estate project in Russia at the same time he was securing the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, saying it was “very legal & very cool.”

In a pair of tweets sent from Buenos Aires, where he is attending a Group of 20 summit, Trump mocked scrutiny of his Russian business exploration as a “Witch Hunt!”

The president’s statement came after his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty Thursday in New York to lying to Congress about the Moscow project in an attempt to minimize links between the proposed development and Trump’s presidential campaign.

Trump wrote on Twitter: “Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail…”

He added in a second tweet, “….Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!”

Though Trump frequently touted his real estate business generally on the campaign trail, he did not bring up his interest in a Moscow project as he ran for president and repeatedly denied that he had deals in Russia.

As part of his plea, Cohen said he had lied for the person listed in court documents as “Individual 1” — whom Cohen identified in court as Trump. To he closely to Trump’s public denials of such connections, Cohen said he knowingly gave false answers in 2017 to the Senate and House intelligence committees.

Cohen admitted to falsely claiming that efforts to build a Trumpbranded tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, when in fact discussions continued through June of that year, the filing said.

After the plea, Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Cohen was “a weak person” and insisted that he himself had done nothing wrong.

“Michael Cohen is lying, and he’s trying to get a reduced sentence for things that have nothing to do with me,” the president said. “This was a project that we didn’t do, I didn’t do … There would be nothing wrong if I did do it.”