Trump denies knowledge of 2016 meeting
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 Trump Tower meeting between a Russian lawyer and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
“I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr,” Trump declared on Twitter Friday morning.
His assertion further escalated the public feud between the president and Cohen, his longtime adviser, amid reports that Cohen is willing to assert to investigators that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the gathering.
Trump Jr. agreed to meet with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016 because he believed she would provide damaging information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to help his father’s presidential campaign. The episode has come under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The president, Trump Jr. and others have repeatedly said that Trump was not aware of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting until he was asked about it by reporters in July 2017. But Cohen has told associates that he witnessed an exchange between then-candidate Trump and Trump Jr. sometime before the June 9 meeting in which Trump Jr. updated his father about an upcoming gathering in which he would get information about Clinton, according to one person familiar with discussions among Cohen’s friends.
Cohen told associates that Trump responded with encouragement, the person said. Cohen has expressed a willingness to talk to federal prosecutors about the exchange, the person added.
CNN first reported that Cohen has said that Trump knew in advance about the meeting and approved it going forward.
Cohen did not specifically refer to the alleged exchange between Trump and his eldest son during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee last year, according to people familiar with his appearance. Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis declined to comment.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, said that Cohen is not credible and that the exchange described by Cohen did not take place.
“Michael Cohen is getting caught up in his lies,” Giuliani said in an interview Friday with The Washington Post.
Alan Futerfas, an attorney for Trump Jr., said in a statement that his client “has been professional and responsible throughout the Mueller and Congressional investigations. We are very confident of the accuracy and reliability of the information that has been provided by Mr. Trump, Jr., and on his behalf.”
The intensifying hostility between Trump and his former lawyer comes as Cohen is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations. Investigators also are scrutinizing loans he took out against his taxi medallion business.
On Friday, Trump lashed out at Cohen without naming him, saying on Twitter: “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!”