The Province

Trump’s Russia ties go way back

Probe says Kremlin aimed early on to influence campaign

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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in touch as far back as 2015 with a Russian who offered “political synergy” with the Trump election campaign and proposed a meeting between the candidate and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the federal special counsel said.

Court filings from prosecutor­s in New York and special counsel Robert Mueller’s office Friday laid out previously undisclose­d contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermedia­ries and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his campaign by playing to both his political aspiration­s and his personal business interests.

The filings, in cases involving Cohen and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, capped a dramatic week of revelation­s in Mueller’s probe into possible co-ordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. They bring the legal peril from multiple investigat­ions closer than ever to Trump, tying him to an illegal hush money payment scheme and contradict­ing his claims that he had nothing to do with Russia.

Trump was undeterred, tweeting early Saturday: “AFTER TWO YEARS AND MILLIONS OF PAGES OF DOCUMENTS (and a cost of over $30,000,000), NO COLLUSION!”

Just before leaving Washington on Saturday afternoon for the Army-Navy game in Philadelph­ia, Trump told reporters “we’re very happy with what we are reading because there was no collusion whatsoever. There never has been. The last thing I want is help from Russia on a campaign.”

Trump described the investigat­ion as a “very one-sided situation, but I think it’s all turning around very nicely. As far as the reports that we see, according to everybody I’ve spoken to, I have not read it, there’s absolutely no collusion, which is very excellent.”

The court documents make clear how witnesses previously close to Trump have since provided damaging informatio­n about him in efforts to come clean to the government and in some cases get lighter prison sentences.

 ?? — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? U.S. President Donald Trump tosses the coin before the Army-Navy NCAA college football game in Philadelph­ia yesterday.
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. President Donald Trump tosses the coin before the Army-Navy NCAA college football game in Philadelph­ia yesterday.
 ??  ?? COHEN In touch in 2015
COHEN In touch in 2015

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