Cohen's lawyer says Trump team dangled pardon

Published March 8, 2019
The statement appears to contradict Cohen's sworn testimony that he had never asked for a pardon from Trump.  — AFP/File
The statement appears to contradict Cohen's sworn testimony that he had never asked for a pardon from Trump. — AFP/File

The attorney for President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, says the president's advisers dangled the possibility of a pardon last year.

Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, said in a written statement on Thursday that his client was “open to the ongoing 'dangling' of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media” in the months after the FBI raided Cohen's home, office and hotel room in April 2018.

Davis, who was not Cohen's lawyer at the time, says Cohen “directed his attorney” to explore a possible pardon with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others on Trump's legal team.

The statement appears to contradict Cohen's sworn testimony last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

The Senate intelligence committee is interested in re-interviewing Donald Trump Jr. and other witnesses after President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, spoke to the committee last week.

That's according to a person familiar with the probe who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential investigation. The committee first interviewed Trump Jr. in 2017.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican member of the panel, said Thursday on CNN that senators “clearly need to re-interview some witnesses whose accounts (Cohen) contradicts.” She did not name the witnesses.

Cohen told a House committee last week that he had briefed Trump Jr. approximately 10 times about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017 he was only “peripherally aware” of the proposal.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, “directed his attorney” to explore a potential presidential pardon last year with Trump's legal team. That's according to a statement Thursday by Lanny Davis, Cohen's current attorney.

Davis' statement appears to contradict Cohen's public testimony before the House Oversight Committee last week. Cohen said under oath he never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

Davis said Thursday that his client was “open to the ongoing 'dangling' of a possible pardon” after the FBI raided his home and hotel room in April. He said Cohen “directed his attorney” to explore a pardon.

The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Cohen was Trump's longtime personal lawyer and fixer.

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