The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said Sunday that a new plea deal from Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former longtime lawyer, raises questions as to whether the Kremlin still has a “hold over” President Trump.
Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in New York on Thursday to one count of lying to Congress about a real estate project the Trump Organization was pursuing in Moscow.
[READ: Michael Cohen’s plea agreement]
The president’s longtime personal lawyer initially claimed discussions about a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, but acknowledged that they lasted as late as June 2016, after Trump clinched the GOP’s presidential nomination.
“The fact that he was lying to the American people about doing business in Russia, and that the Kremlin knew he was lying, gave the Kremlin a hold over him,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” during an interview. “And one question we have now is, does the Kremlin still have a hold over him because of other lies they know about?”
Nadler, who is poised to become chairman of the Judiciary Committee next year when Democrats take over the House, said an ongoing question has been why Trump is “so obsequious” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“And it may be that it’s because the Kremlin has leverage over the president, which is a terrible thing if true,” he said.
Cohen’s guilty plea was the latest stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
As part of Cohen’s plea deal with the special counsel’s office, he agreed to cooperate with Mueller.
