Trump disputes Cohen claim about meeting

President suggests his former lawyer is trying to undermine federal criminal investigations

WASHINGTON» President Donald Trump on Friday issued a fresh rebuttal against his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, maintaining that he did not know in advance about a June 2016 meeting in which Russians had promised to provide dirt on Hillary Clinton.

The statement, made by Trump in morning tweets, escalates the public feud between the president and his longtime fixer. It comes on the heels of a report by CNN on Thursday evening that Cohen has said he is willing to testify that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the 2016 meeting in Trump Tower.

“I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr,” Trump declared on Twitter on Friday morning.

He lashed out at Cohen without naming him, saying, “Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!”

One of Cohen’s attorneys is Lanny Davis, a longtime friend and adviser to the Clintons.

Cohen is under federal investigation for bank fraud as well as possible campaign finance violations, and FBI agents are scrutinizing whether he had inflated the value of his taxi medallion business to seek additional financing.

Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and others repeatedly have said the president knew nothing about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting until he was asked about it by reporters in July 2017.

CNN reported that Cohen claims he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians’ offer by Trump Jr. in 2016. Cohen has told people that Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians.

Cohen’s credibility was challenged Thursday evening by the president’s current lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani. The former New York mayor said late Thursday that Cohen “isn’t credible at all, and there are witnesses who know what he’s claiming isn’t true.”

Giuliani declined to name the witnesses. When asked if Trump would be willing to talk about the Russian meeting with special counsel Robert Mueller, Giuliani said, “I still have my doubts about the people around Mueller.”