Trump lawyer Michael Cohen claimed he tried to set up a 2015 lunch at Trump Tower between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin because Cohen and Trump thought it would be funny.
The revelation about the now-imprisoned Trump fixer’s efforts came in newly released FBI interview notes from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that are being released through a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by BuzzFeed. The 348 heavily redacted pages released Thursday, the third of many expected monthly releases of the secretive Mueller memos, include interviews with 19 different Trump figures.
“Cohen recalled that in 2015, the news reported that former President Barack Obama refused to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the United Nations General Assembly. Trump said it was stupid of Obama to say that. Trump had said many times he thought he would get along with Putin,” said the bureau notes from a 2018 meeting between Cohen and federal investigators. “After Trump’s comment, Cohen told him that if Trump wanted, Cohen could reach out to Putin’s office and try to arrange a meeting between the two of them. Cohen suggested it would be fun for the two men to meet at Trump Tower and have a burger. Trump agreed it was a good idea, and would be funny, and to go ahead and reach out.”
Cohen proceeded to go on Trump ally Sean Hannity’s radio show to float the idea, after which “Trump asked a handful of times for updates.”
Cohen “did a Google search for a phone number” for the Kremlin and called it from his office, pitching an unnamed woman about the idea, who said she would “speak to a supervisor and get back to him.” The woman also suggested that Cohen reach out to Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. Cohen emailed the woman his contact information and, when he didn’t hear back from her, he called her again a few days before Putin was slated to appear at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City.
“The woman told him it would not follow protocol for Putin to meet with Trump, and Cohen relayed that message to Trump,” investigators said Cohen told them.
Cohen also admitted his previous denials about talking to Trump about the idea were not true.
Trump’s former longtime lawyer pleaded guilty in 2018 to a host of crimes, including bank fraud, lying to Congress about the timing of an abandoned Trump Tower Moscow project, and facilitating illegal campaign contributions. He admitted he made hush money payments on behalf of Trump to women, notably porn star Stormy Daniels, who were accusing Trump of having extramarital affairs. Cohen is serving a three-year prison sentence.
