Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told a “stone cold lie” to Congress when he denied seeking a pardon, President Trump said Friday.
Mr. Trump made the comment to reporters at the White House, saying only the media is talking about a possible pardon for Cohen.
“I don’t even discuss it,” the president said.
On Twitter, the president said Cohen “directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again! He also badly wanted to work at the White House. He lied!”
Cohen told a House committee this week that he never sought a pardon from the president on his eventual conviction for tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. A Cohen spokesman later said Cohen’s previous lawyer did direct his attorney in 2018 to explore possibilities of a pardon with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other lawyers advising the president.
Asked about the lawsuit brought by Cohen against the Trump organization for failing to pay his legal bills, the president said it was “the most ridiculous suit I’ve ever seen.”
“I had a bad lawyer,” he added. “That happened.”
Cohen, who will report to prison this spring to serve a three-year sentence, responded to the president on Twitter:
“Just another set of lies by @POTUS @realdonaldtrump. Mr. President…let me remind you that today is #InternationalWomensDay. You may want use today to apologize for your own #lies and #DirtyDeeds to women like Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford.”
He pleaded guilty to making hush-money payments on behalf of Mr. Trump to Ms. McDougal and Ms. Clifford, a porn actress known as Stormy Daniels, after they alleged affairs with Mr. Trump.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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