Trump may have spoken to Michael Cohen about testimony to congress, says Rudy Giuliani: 'So what?'

Incident is at centre of seething controversy

Donald Trump may indeed have spoken to his then lawyer Michael Cohen about false testimony he delivered to Congress, and which is now at the centre of a seething political controversy, Rudy Giuliani has said.

Last week, BuzzFeed reported that Mr Trump’s personal lawyer delivered the false information to politicians about the then candidate’s business interests in Moscow on the orders of the man who is now president. Democrats and opponents of Mr Trump leapt on the story, saying it showed the president had committed perjury.

On Friday evening, after the White House and the president’s lawyer dismissed the claim, special counsel Robert Mueller issued a rare statement to suggest that at least elements of the story were not true.

“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the special counsel’s office, and characterisation of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony are not accurate,” spokesman Peter Carr said.

On Sunday, Mr Giuliani, a former New York mayor who now serves as Mr Trump’s main lawyer, conceded the president may have spoken to Cohen about the testimony he delivered to two congressional committees about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen delivered the information in writing, then in person when he appeared before both the Senate and House intelligence committees. He claimed it would not have been of any significance if he had spoken with him.

“I don’t know if it happened or didn’t happen. It may be attorney-client privilege if it happened, where I can’t acknowledge it. But I have no knowledge that he spoke to him, but I’m telling you I wasn’t there then,” he told CNN. “So what if he talked to him about it?”

Mr Giuliani also said Mr Trump’s conversations with Cohen about a possible deal in Moscow may have continued up until the 2016 election.

Cohen told Congress that negotiations had ended in January 2016, and later admitted to Mr Mueller they had gone on until June, by which point Mr Trump was effectively the only Republican candidate left in the race.

Appearing on NBC, Mr Giuliani said the president’s written answers to questions from Mr Mueller “cover up to the election” with regards to discussions about the possible deal.

“It’s our understanding that they went on throughout 2016,” he added. “There weren’t a lot of them, but there were conversations. Can’t be sure of the exact dates, but the president can remember having conversations with him about it.

Supporters of the president have seized on the statement from Mr Mueller – who Mr Trump has frequently claimed is leading a “witch hunt” – to attack the media. The president himself, thanked Mr Mueller, telling reporters: “It was a total phoney story, and I appreciate the special counsel coming out with a statement last night.”

Meanwhile, BuzzFeed has said it stands by its report and has invited Mr Mueller to specify what aspects of it are not correct.

Cohen was sentenced in December to three years in prison for tax and fraud charges, for lying to Congress and for a pair of campaign finance violations stemming from hush money that prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege Mr Trump directed his former fixer to pay to a porn star and a former model on the eve of the election.

He is due to go to jail in March. Before that, he is scheduled to again appear before politicians on 7 February when he is set to will testify publicly to members of the House oversight committee.