Trump on Cohen docs: ‘Totally clears’ him
President Trump took to Twitter late Friday afternoon, moments after court filings from special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosectors in New York were made public, claiming the documents “totally [clear] the President.”
“Totally clears the President. Thank you!” he tweeted.
The tweet came minutes after federal prosecutors in New York recommended that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former longtime attorney, receive a “substantial” prison term for several federal crimes, despite his cooperation with ongoing law enforcement investigations, including Mueller’s Russia probe.
In a filing made by New York prosecutors, Cohen claimed “Individual-1” asked him to approve illegal payments, an apparent reference to then-candidate Trump.
The filing also says Cohen told investigators about his contacts with individuals connected to the Trump White House in 2017 and 2018 and that he “described the circumstances of preparing and circulating his response to the congressional inquiries.”
{mosads}In a separate filing, Mueller described Cohen as having gone to “significant lengths” to cooperate with his Russia investigation, including meeting with attorneys from Mueller’s office on seven occasions and voluntarily providing information on a number of topics.
Mueller also deemed Cohen’s information to be “credible and consistent” with other evidence discovered in his investigation into Russian interference.
Following the filings, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that the filings revealed “nothing of value that wasn’t already known.”
“The government’s filings in Mr. Cohen’s case tell us nothing of value that wasn’t already known,” Sanders wrote. “Mr. Cohen has repeatedly lied and as the prosecution has pointed out to the court, Mr. Cohen is no hero.”
Mueller’s office also filed a memo saying Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors about his contacts with the White House and an associate with suspected ties to Russian intelligence while he was under investigation.
In a statement, Sanders claimed the special counsel filing in Manafort’s case said “absolutely nothing” about Trump.
“The government’s filing in Mr. Manafort’s case says absolutely nothing about the President,” Sanders wrote in a statement. “It says even less about collusion and is devoted almost entirely to lobbying-related issues. Once again the media is trying to create a story where there isn’t one.”
Trump on Friday issued a series of tweets slamming Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, again labeling the probe a “witch hunt” and claiming that there would be a “a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report.”