Special counsel Robert Mueller has been seeking information about events related to President Trump’s longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, as part of his investigation into Russia, according to a new report.
Mueller has requested documents and talked to witnesses about at least two incidents pertaining to Russia that involved Cohen, according to the Washington Post. Cohen, however, is not believed to be a subject of Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
One of the incidents Mueller has been looking into is Cohen’s discussions about building a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen, an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, had discussed with Felix Sater, a real estate developer, a deal to build the tower.
He also emailed Dmitry Peskov, a top press aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in January 2016 when he sought help advancing the project.
Peskov confirmed he received the email, which Cohen sent to a public “Press Office of the Kremlin” email address, but didn’t respond.
Mueller reportedly has asked for documents pertaining to the Trump project in Moscow and his investigators questioned witnesses about the real estate deal.
The special counsel is also looking into a Ukrainian peace proposal that a Ukrainian lawyer, Andrii Artemenko, passed along to Cohen. Artemenko gave Cohen the proposal, which was described as being friendly to Russia, during a Jan. 27, 2017 meeting at a hotel in New York, according to the Washington Post.
Sater reportedly organized the meeting attended by Cohen and Artemenko.
Cohen’s lawyer rebuked the suggestion Mueller was looking into events involving his client.
“Unsourced innuendo like this succeeds only because the leakers know the special counsel will not respond to set the record straight,” Stephen Ryan said in a statement to the Washington Post.
Though Cohen did not work for Trump’s presidential campaign or the White House, he was among nine others close to Trump named in a grand jury subpoena sent to former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg by the special counsel’s office last week.
The subpoena requested records and communications that Nunberg exchanged with Cohen, as well as former White House communications director Hope Hicks, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, and longtime informal Trump adviser Roger Stone, among others.
Cohen has also been in the spotlight after confirming he facilitated a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a former porn star who allegedly had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. The payment was made to Daniels just before the presidential election.
On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported Cohen’s lawyer received information from closed-door testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.
