White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley Friday attacked the credibility of a news report that President Donald Trump had instructed his then-attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.
"This is absolutely absolutely ludicrous that we are giving any type of credence or credibility to a news outlet like BuzzFeed," Gidley told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "The author of the piece in question that you're talking about went on air this morning and said he couldn't corroborate any of his own evidence but he ran it anyway."
BuzzFeed News, while citing two unnamed law enforcement officials, reported Thursday that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress negotiations over a real estate project in Moscow during the 2016 election and that Cohen regularly briefed Trump on the matter.
Anthony Cormier, who shared a byline on the story, told CNN "New Day" Friday his sources check out and he's "100 percent" sure the story is accurate. However, he said he has "not personally" seen the evidence he cited.
Gidley said Cormier's comments show the story should not be believed.
"You're saying the president did not tell Michael Cohen to do that?" show anchor Bill Hemmer asked him.
"I'm telling you right now this is exactly why the president refuses to give any credence or credibility to news outlets because they have no ability to corroborate anything...the premise is ridiculous," said Gidley, adding that Cohen is a "liar" and a felon and he "just doesn't warrant any response from the White House."
Co-anchor Sandra Smith then asked Gidley again if the allegation were true, and he repeated he wouldn't give credence to Cohen, "who's a convicted felon."
"That's just ridiculous. I'm not going to do that from the White House," said Gidley.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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