President Donald Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, reportedly claims.
Cohen is willing to repeat the stunning assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, CNN reported Thursday night.
The new accusation refutes what Trump, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., their lawyers, and other administration officials have all insisted: The president was totally in the dark about the controversial meeting before it took place.
Trump's eldest son, along with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior campaign aide Paul Manafort, took part in the meeting with Nataliya Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer and acknowledged Kremlin informant.
Donald Trump Jr. told investigators from the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2017 that he did not tell his father about the meeting beforehand, according to documents released by the committee.
But, according to CNN, Cohen alleges he was there, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians' offer by Trump Jr. — and then-candidate Trump green-lighted the sit-down.
Cohen never said a word about Trump's advance knowledge when the fixer testified to two congressional committees last fall.
One of Cohen's attorneys, Lanny Davis, declined to comment.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani dismissed the assertion, saying "He's certainly a source that is not credible."
Trump Jr.'s lawyer, Alan Futerfas, said he is "very confident of the accuracy and reliability of the information that has been provided by Mr. Trump, Jr., and on his behalf."
CNN reported Cohen's new assertion came in hopes of relieving his legal troubles; he is under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan after special counsel Robert Mueller referred his case to them.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Revelations of Cohen’s possible testimony come just days after a 2016 recording of a conversation between Trump and Cohen appeared to show the president was informed of a payment designed to prevent news of an alleged affair with a Playboy model from coming to light. Spokespeople for Trump had previously denied the affair and knowledge of a scheme to have American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, pay her for her story.
Material from Reuters was used in this story.
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