- Joined
- Nov 21, 2005
- Messages
- 8,161
- Reaction score
- 133
Donny is scared, dominos starting to fall.
Michael Cohen pleads guilty, says he lied about Trump's knowledge of Moscow project
President Donald Trump spoke more extensively during the presidential election with his-then attorney Michael Cohen about the proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow than Cohen admitted to Congress last year, Cohen said while pleading guilty Thursday in federal court to a charge from special counsel Robert Mueller's office.
RELATED: Read Michael Cohen's plea agreement
Cohen, who previously said talks about the Moscow project had ended in January 2016, just prior to the Iowa caucuses, said he had lied out of a sense of obligation to Trump.
"I made these statements to be consistent with Individual-1's political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual-1," Cohen said. Individual-1 was identified in court filings as Trump, and Cohen identified him as such in a New York courtroom Thursday.
Cohen, who famously once declared he would "take a bullet" for Trump, is cooperating with Mueller and has spoken with the special counsel's office for more than 70 hours on topics beyond Moscow, a source with knowledge of the discussions told CNN.
He pleaded guilty earlier this year to eight counts in a separate case from the Manhattan US attorney's office. Cohen did not have an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors on that case.
Thursday's revelations are potentially significant because they appear to show that Trump was engaged in business dealings with Russia in the midst of a campaign in which Moscow interfered to help elect him.
They could also intersect with other information that Mueller knows to create political and legal jeopardy for the President.
RELATED: Trump abruptly cancels planned Putin meeting
Related: Track the publicly known developments of the sprawling investigations into Trump and Russia.
Trump responded to Cohen's admission at the White House on Thursday, calling his former lawyer "very weak."
"He's a weak person," Trump said before departing for Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"He was convicted with a fairly long-term sentence with things unrelated to the Trump Organization," Trump said. "What he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence."
In fact, Cohen hasn't been sentenced in either case, and the charges to which he pleaded guilty in August included information about his reimbursement by the Trump Organization for payments he made or helped orchestrate to conceal allegations from two women about sexual encounters with Trump before he ran for office. Trump has denied those claims.
Michael Cohen pleads guilty, says he lied about Trump's knowledge of Moscow project
President Donald Trump spoke more extensively during the presidential election with his-then attorney Michael Cohen about the proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow than Cohen admitted to Congress last year, Cohen said while pleading guilty Thursday in federal court to a charge from special counsel Robert Mueller's office.
RELATED: Read Michael Cohen's plea agreement
Cohen, who previously said talks about the Moscow project had ended in January 2016, just prior to the Iowa caucuses, said he had lied out of a sense of obligation to Trump.
"I made these statements to be consistent with Individual-1's political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual-1," Cohen said. Individual-1 was identified in court filings as Trump, and Cohen identified him as such in a New York courtroom Thursday.
Cohen, who famously once declared he would "take a bullet" for Trump, is cooperating with Mueller and has spoken with the special counsel's office for more than 70 hours on topics beyond Moscow, a source with knowledge of the discussions told CNN.
He pleaded guilty earlier this year to eight counts in a separate case from the Manhattan US attorney's office. Cohen did not have an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors on that case.
Thursday's revelations are potentially significant because they appear to show that Trump was engaged in business dealings with Russia in the midst of a campaign in which Moscow interfered to help elect him.
They could also intersect with other information that Mueller knows to create political and legal jeopardy for the President.
RELATED: Trump abruptly cancels planned Putin meeting
Related: Track the publicly known developments of the sprawling investigations into Trump and Russia.
Trump responded to Cohen's admission at the White House on Thursday, calling his former lawyer "very weak."
"He's a weak person," Trump said before departing for Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"He was convicted with a fairly long-term sentence with things unrelated to the Trump Organization," Trump said. "What he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence."
In fact, Cohen hasn't been sentenced in either case, and the charges to which he pleaded guilty in August included information about his reimbursement by the Trump Organization for payments he made or helped orchestrate to conceal allegations from two women about sexual encounters with Trump before he ran for office. Trump has denied those claims.