President Trump accused former attorney Michael Cohen Friday of lying about Mr. Trump’s alleged knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting between a Russian operative and his son, and suggested the Clintons are pushing a smear campaign.
In a series of early-morning tweets, Mr. Trump hit back hard against the claim raised Thursday night by his former personal attorney, who’s now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.,” the president said. “Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?).”
CNN reported Thursday night that Mr. Cohen is contradicting the president’s repeated assertions that he didn’t know about the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer who had promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. Among those attending the meeting were Donald Trump Jr., campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The president’s tweet about Mr. Cohen’s unrelated “jam” refers to a taxi cab business that his lawyer formerly ran in New York with Evgeny Friedman, known as the “Taxi King.” Friedman pleaded guilty in a New York state court in May to a charge of tax evasion in a plea deal.
He’s said to be cooperating with prosecutors, and FBI search warrants for Mr. Cohen’s business records specifically sought information about the taxi business.
The president also tweeted about Mr. Cohen, “He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!”
Mr. Cohen recently retained Washington lawyer Lanny Davis, who was a top adviser to former President Bill Clinton.
The president said he was addressing Mr. Cohen’s claim about the Trump Tower meeting “so the Fake News doesn’t waste my time with dumb questions.”
He also responded to reports that Mr. Mueller is now examining his tweets about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James B. Comey for evidence of potential obstruction of justice. The special counsel is investigating possible collusion by the Trump campaign with Russians who interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
“The only Collusion with Russia was with the Democrats, so now they are looking at my Tweets (along with 53 million other people) - the rigged Witch Hunt continues! How stupid and unfair to our Country…,” the president tweeted.
Mr. Trump and his legal team continue to deny any wrongdoing.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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