Trump-Cohen allegations: White House denies president ordered lawyer to lie about Russia links as Congress launches investigations
White House press secretary was also questioned about alleged poll rigging
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Your support makes all the difference.The White House has denied allegations that Donald Trump ordered former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Law enforcement officials claimed Mr Trump had instructed Cohen to claim negotiations over the Russian project ended months earlier than they actually did, according to explosive new claims.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders vehemently denied the allegations, reported by Buzzfeed News, during a brief exchange with reporters on the White House driveway.
“Look, that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Ms Sanders said when questioned about the claims. She said the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani had addressed the subject and called the report “categorically false”.
In response to the allegations Mr Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said: “Any suggestion – from any source – that the President counselled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false” and “today’s claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael Cohen’s malice and desperation, in an effort to reduce his sentence.”
Ms Sanders was also asked whether Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to rig any polls, referring to the former lawyer’s admission that he paid a small technology firm thousands of dollars in 2015 to rig online polls “at the direction and of the sole benefit” of the president.
“I think again that one statement – those two words – sum it up better than anything anybody else can say, and that is ‘categorically false’,” Ms Sanders responded.
Michael Cohen, who last year pleaded guilty to federal crimes while implicating Mr Trump, admitted to paying between $12,000 and $13,000 to the owner of RedFinch Solutions LLC.
The officials said Cohen confirmed to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team - which is investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia - that Mr Trump instructed the attorney to lie to the Senate and House intelligence committees.
It prompted immediate calls for the president to resign or face impeachment if the allegations were confirmed by Mr Mueller’s office.
With the US president still mired in deadlock over the government shutdown, the new allegations relating to Mr Cohen – sentenced to three years in prison in December – have prompted calls from top Democrats for his resignation or impeachment.
House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler have both pledged to investigate. Mr Schiff said: “We will do what’s necessary to find out if it’s true”.
Mr Cohen is set to testify before a congressional panel of the House of Representatives on 7 February about his role as Mr Trump’s right-hand man, following FBI special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the president’s alleged ties to Russia.
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Trump has tweeted for the first time since media reports alleging he ordered Cohen to lie to Congress. It’s not about Cohen. It’s about prayers mats. The president cited an unsubstantiated claim in a right-wing newspaper that the rugs were found at the US-Mexico border.
North Korea’s lead nuclear negotiator is due to hold talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington today - and could also meet Trump, Reuters has reported.
Kim Yong Chol arrived on Thursday evening for his first visit since last June, ahead of the landmark meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. Efforts since then to get Pyongyang to denuclearize appear to have stalled.
The State Department said Pompeo would meet Kim Yong Chol in Washington at 11am EST, and could also go to see the president at the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Another powerful Democrat has spoken out about the Trump-Cohen report. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said on Twitter that the House Judiciary Committee, which he heads, would also be investigating the matter. It follows a pledge by the House Intelligence Committee’s chairman Adam Schiff to examine claims the president ordered his lawyer to lie to Congress.
Trump has been tweeting some more about the Democrats, the government shutdown and the US-Mexico border. He has claimed (without offering any evidence) that: “Another big Caravan heading our way. Very hard to stop without a Wall!”
Here’s Chris Riotta with more on he president’s attempt to focus attention on an assertion made in The Washington Examiner that US ranchers found prayer mats at the border:
Another Democrat lawmaker raising the prospect of impeachment proceedings, if the Trump-Cohen report is substantiated. This time it’s Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
Another Democrat responds to the Trump-Cohen report. Rep. David Cicilline from Rhode Island says it’s the “the most serious threat” yet to his presidency.
Adam Schiff, chairman of the house intelligence committee, has suggested he will lead an investigation into the allegations surround Trump and Cohen.
Chairman of the House judiciary committee Jerry Nadler was even more explicit. His panel will probe Trump over whether he ordered a subordinate to lie to Congress.
Donald Trump has finally addressed the Cohen allegations, following a string of tweets about the border wall and the government shutdown.
In the below tweet, Trump's defense is that Cohen is lying about being ordered by him to make false statements to Congress. The problem with this, is that, according to the initial report, Robert Mueller has emails and texts corroborating Cohen's claims.
Trump also again continues his bizarre fixation with Cohen's father-in-law, whom he suggests committed a financial crime. The president admitted on Fox News earlier this week he couldn't remember the father-in-law's name.
"I don't know, but you'll find out, and you'll look into it because nobody knows what's going on over there," he said when asked for the name by host Jeanine Pirro.
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