Michael Cohen is willing to testify that Donald Trump knew about the now famous Trump Tower meeting with the Russians in advance of that meeting. That claim would contradict what Trump and other administration officials have been saying all along, i.e. that Trump never heard about it until the New York Times asked about it in July, 2017, and that could be explosive. CNN:
Cohen alleges that he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians’ offer by Trump Jr. By Cohen’s account, Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians, according to sources.
To be clear, these sources said Cohen does not have evidence, such as audio recordings, to corroborate his claim, but he is willing to attest to his account.
Cohen’s testimony would not only make a liar out of Trump but out of Trump Jr. as well. Junior’s lawyer is already chiming in.
“Donald Trump Jr. has been professional and responsible throughout the Mueller and Congressional investigations,” said Alan Futerfas, an attorney for Donald Trump Jr. “We are very confident of the accuracy and reliability of the information that has been provided by Mr. Trump, Jr., and on his behalf.”
And of course Rudy Giuliani weighed in and said that Cohen is “certainly a source that is not credible.” Rudy has had a busy day impugning people’s credibility. He said that Michael Avenatti couldn’t get on any news shows because he’s known to be such a liar and Avenatti responded that Giuliani is “a train wreck of a lawyer” and offered to debate facts and law with Giuliani anytime, anywhere.
Michael Cohen has said that he’s sick of being “a punching bag” and he’s throwing some punches of his own. This is going to get ugly, and bear in mind, Robert Mueller will want to shut down the investigation until after the midterms, so the next month or so is going to be crucial.
