Trump-Cohen allegations: White House denies president ordered lawyer to lie about Russia links as Congress launches investigations
White House press secretary was also questioned about alleged poll rigging
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The White House has denied allegations that Donald Trump ordered former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Law enforcement officials claimed Mr Trump had instructed Cohen to claim negotiations over the Russian project ended months earlier than they actually did, according to explosive new claims.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders vehemently denied the allegations, reported by Buzzfeed News, during a brief exchange with reporters on the White House driveway.
“Look, that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Ms Sanders said when questioned about the claims. She said the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani had addressed the subject and called the report “categorically false”.
In response to the allegations Mr Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said: “Any suggestion – from any source – that the President counselled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false” and “today’s claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael Cohen’s malice and desperation, in an effort to reduce his sentence.”
Ms Sanders was also asked whether Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to rig any polls, referring to the former lawyer’s admission that he paid a small technology firm thousands of dollars in 2015 to rig online polls “at the direction and of the sole benefit” of the president.
“I think again that one statement – those two words – sum it up better than anything anybody else can say, and that is ‘categorically false’,” Ms Sanders responded.
Michael Cohen, who last year pleaded guilty to federal crimes while implicating Mr Trump, admitted to paying between $12,000 and $13,000 to the owner of RedFinch Solutions LLC.
The officials said Cohen confirmed to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team - which is investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia - that Mr Trump instructed the attorney to lie to the Senate and House intelligence committees.
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Show all 15It prompted immediate calls for the president to resign or face impeachment if the allegations were confirmed by Mr Mueller’s office.
With the US president still mired in deadlock over the government shutdown, the new allegations relating to Mr Cohen – sentenced to three years in prison in December – have prompted calls from top Democrats for his resignation or impeachment.
House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler have both pledged to investigate. Mr Schiff said: “We will do what’s necessary to find out if it’s true”.
Mr Cohen is set to testify before a congressional panel of the House of Representatives on 7 February about his role as Mr Trump’s right-hand man, following FBI special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the president’s alleged ties to Russia.
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Following the aforementioned meeting, the White House has announced President Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet for a second time for a summit in February.
The White House says reports that Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress are "categorically false", according to Reuters.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders spoke to reporters about the allegations following Buzzfeed's explosive report.
Ms Sanders said the allegations are "categorically false", echoing comments made by Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Mr Giuliani said: "Any suggestion - from any source - that the President counselled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false" and "today's claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael Cohen's malice and desperation, in an effort to reduce his sentence."
Here's US Editor, Andrew Buncombe, with answers to some of your burning questions about these dramatic new allegations:
This was the last tweet from Michael Cohen (who has unsurprisingly remained silent on his social media account today):
"Look, that's absolutely ridiculous," Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during a brief exchange on the White House driveway. She said Mr Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani had addressed this subject and had said in a statement that the report was "categorically false."
Legal experts say the allegation exposed Trump to a new level of risk in an investigation that has already resulted in convictions of or guilty pleas from four former campaign aides, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
"It's a seismic event," Andy Wright, an associate White House counsel under former Democratic President Barack Obama, told Reuters.
Michael Cohen was seen outside his apartment building in New York today with his left arm in a sling. He did not comment and his adviser, Lanny Davis, also declined to comment, and his lawyer, Guy Petrillo, did not respond to a request for comment.
That's all for our live coverage today of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen. Thanks for reading along.
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