Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress over Trump project in Russia
Former lawyer and fixer said Trump continued trying to develop tower in Moscow months into presidential campaign
Michael Cohen, one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers for more than a decade, said on Thursday that Trump continued trying to develop a tower in Russia months into his campaign for the US presidency.
Cohen made the explosive allegation, which directly contradicts previous statements by him and Trump, while pleading guilty to lying to Congress in a deliberate attempt to hinder the Trump-Russia investigation.
Cohen said that efforts to construct a Trump property in Moscow, the Russian capital, actually continued until June 2016 – several months more than he has said previously. By that time, Trump was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
In August last year, Cohen told congressional investigators in a statement that in January 2016 it was decided the Moscow development “was not feasible for a variety of business reasons and should not be pursued further”.
Prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday that Cohen now admitted that he had briefed Trump – identified as “Individual 1” – and Trump’s family members on the progress of the Moscow development more frequently than he previously admitted.
Authorities also said that Cohen specified that he had lied “to give the false impression that the Moscow project ended before the Iowa caucus” – the critical first vote in the presidential primary contest.
Cohen, who has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation, admitted one count of making a false statement during a hearing at the federal court in Manhattan.
Cohen worked on the planned “Trump Tower Russia” project with Felix Sater, a Russian-born associate of the Trumps, who claimed to have connections with influential figures in Moscow.
In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating election campaign finance laws. He told the court at the time that he did so at the direction of Trump.
Thursday’s developments followed several days of attacks against Mueller by Trump, who has repeatedly accused the special counsel of carrying out a “witch-hunt” against t him.
Mueller said on Monday that Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, had continued lying to investigators even after agreeing to cooperate with the inquiry into Russian election interference.
The new action against Manafort and Cohen promptly followed the president’s long-delayed submission of written answers to questions from Mueller. Investigators are likely to be comparing alleged and admitted lies told by Manafort and Cohen with the answers provided by Trump.
