President Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow told Michael Cohen to deceive members of Congress about when negotiations to construct a Trump Tower in Moscow concluded, Cohen testified to lawmakers.
Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, told the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year that Sekulow instructed him to issue a statement to lawmakers in 2017 that said talks about the project ended by Jan. 31, 2016, ahead of the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, the Washington Post reports. Cohen has since admitted the project was discussed up until June 2016.
Lanny Davis, who represents Cohen, told the Post he “cannot disagree” with the account of his client’s closed-door testimony.
Sekulow’s legal team attacked Cohen’s credibility, arguing he has a long history of deception.
“Cohen’s alleged statement are more of the same from him and confirm the observations of prosecutors in the Southern District of New York that Cohen’s ‘instinct to blame others is strong,’” attorneys for Sekulow said.
“That this or any Committee would rely on the word of Michael Cohen for any purpose — much less to try and pierce the attorney-client privilege and discover confidential communications of four respected lawyers — defies logic, well-established law and common sense,” they said.
[Also read: BuzzFeed updates story after Mueller report reveals Trump didn’t order Cohen to lie]
Cohen accused Sekulow of altering his statement to Congress in 2017 during public testimony to the House Oversight Committee in January. He said Trump’s “personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to Congress about the timing of the Moscow Tower negotiations before I gave it.”
“There were changes made, addition, Jay Sekulow, for one,” Cohen added.
Sekulow rejected Cohen’s assertion at the time as “completely false.”
Cohen pleaded guilty in November to “knowingly and willfully” making “a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement and representation” to the House and Senate Intelligence committees in 2017 regarding the real estate project in Moscow. He is serving three years in prison for lying to Congress, campaign finance violations, and tax and bank fraud.
