Trump: I did not know about Trump Tower meeting
President Trump on Saturday maintained he “did NOT know about” the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between his campaign officials and a Kremlin-connected lawyer.
Trump has long denied knowing about the meeting during his campaign, but his tweet followed a month of controversy over allegations that his former attorney, Michael Cohen, was claiming Trump had prior knowledge of the meeting.
“Michaels Cohen’s attorney clarified the record, saying his client does not know if President Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting (out of which came nothing!),” Trump tweeted. “The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!”
{mosads}CNN reported last month that Trump’s longtime “fixer” was claiming that the president knew the meeting was taking place during his campaign. The meeting, which took place in June 2016 at Trump Tower, is reportedly a focal point of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Trump officials colluded with Russians to influence the 2016 election for Trump.
Sources told CNN that Cohen said he was present during a meeting between Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr., when they discussed the offer from Russians of dirt on Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Trump then allegedly approved Trump Jr. and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s decision to meet with the Russian lawyer.
Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, confirmed this week that his client was “present at a discussion with” Trump and Trump Jr. related to the meeting but did not confirm details of what was discussed. Davis is a columnist for The Hill.
However, Cohen reportedly told lawmakers behind closed doors last year that he didn’t know of any foreknowledge by Trump of the meeting. Questions about whether Cohen changed his testimony prompted Democrats on Capitol Hill to suggest he return for additional questioning on the subject.
“Nothing has changed,” Davis told Axios of the testimony on Thursday. He told CNN the testimony was “accurate.”
Cohen this week pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion and making or facilitating two illegal campaign contributions. He implicated the president in the contributions and Trump has criticized his former attorney for “flipping.”