Cohen claims that Trump knew in advance of the Trump Tower 2016 meeting



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Cohen's statement would contradict the repeated denials of Trump, Donald Trump Jr., their lawyers and other administration officials who said the president knew nothing about the Trump Tower meeting before that it is not addressed by the New York Times in July 2017

Cohen claims that he was present, as well as several others, when Trump was informed of the offer of the Russians by Trump Jr. By Cohen's account, Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians, sources said. ] To be clear, these sources stated that Cohen has no evidence, such as audio recordings, to corroborate his claim, but he is willing to attest to his account.

Cohen testified privately last year before two congressional committees in the election of 2016. A source familiar with the testimony of Cohen's home said that he did not not testified that Trump had advanced knowledge. Cohen's claims have not been mentioned in separate reports issued by Republicans and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee.

Contacted by CNN, one of Cohen's lawyers, Lanny Davis, declined to comment

"I do not see how he has credibility," said Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, Chris Cuomo on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Thursday night

. Giuliani also said that Cohen is "the kind of witness who can really destroy your entire business" and called Cohen, who was one of the Trump Organization's top lawyers for a decade, a "liar." pathological".

WSJ: A senior official of the Trump Organization appeared to testify in the investigation of Michael Cohen
  WSJ: A senior official of the Trump Organization appeared to testify in the Michael Cohen's Survey

"Donald Trump Jr. has been professional and responsible throughout the Mueller and Congressional investigations," Alan said. Futerfas, a lawyer for Donald Trump Jr. "We are very confident of the accuracy and reliability of the information provided by Mr. Trump, Jr., and on his behalf."

According to people who discussed the issue with Cohen, he expressed hope that this statement about the Trump Tower meeting will help him reach Mueller and perhaps alleviate his legal problems. He is under surveillance by federal prosecutors in Manhattan after Mueller dismissed Cohen's case to them.

The June 2016 meeting was arranged after a publicist who knew Trump Jr. told him in emails – in clear terms – that a senior Russian official "offered to provide the Trump campaign" with detrimental information about Clinton, and that the sensitization was "part of Russia and his government's support for Mr. Trump." At the time, the Russian operation to secretly reinforce Trump's candidacy was not publicly known. Asset. Jr. replied, "if that's what you say, I like it," and started organizing the meeting.
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Trump stated on July 12, 2017 that he "had no only heard two or three days ago. " A week later, Trump repeated that he "knew nothing about the meeting" because "no one told me about it".

Around the same time, CNN's Jake Tapper asked Sekulow to confirm Trump's claims. the controversial meeting. Sekulow's answer: "Yes, I swear it."

But the highest denial may have been given by Trump Jr. in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last year

"He was not aware" Trump Jr. told lawmakers, referring to his father's knowledge of the meeting. "And, frankly, by the time someone knew of it, it was the summer of this year, as I said earlier, I would not have wanted to involve him because it had nothing to do with him. " [19659009] RELATED: Michael Cohen sent rockets, but Trump never came to help

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Trump's critics have long doubted these denials. They indicate a series of phone calls made by Trump Jr. to a blocked phone number before and after the meeting. They also note that two days before the meeting, Trump mysteriously announced his intention to make a "big speech" on the Clinton scandals. Trump Jr. says that he did not have any filth at the meeting – and the speech never happened.

Even Steve Bannon, former chief strategist of the White House and senior Trump campaigner, said the meeting was "treacherous" only "the chance that Don Jr. did not guide them (the Russians) until In his father's office on the twenty-sixth floor is nil. Trump Jr. denied Bannon's allegation. Bannon's comments, to author Michael Wolff for his book "Fire and Fury," sparked the bitter public divorce between Bannon and Trump in early 2018.

Axios reported that Bannon did not not first hand to know if Trump Jr. told his father, and Bannon later said that his "traitor" remark was directed to Manafort and not Trump Jr.

Update: This story has been updated with more comments by Rudy Giuliani.

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