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Cohen confesses to lying about Trump Tower Moscow deal
WASHINGTON — The surprise plea agreement with President Donald Trump’s former lawyer made clear that prosecutors believe Michael Cohen was continuing to pursue the Trump Tower Moscow project weeks after his boss had clinched the Republican nomination for president and while investigators believe Russians were meddling in the 2016 election on his behalf.
Cohen confessed in his guilty plea that he lied to Congress about the Moscow real estate deal he pursued on Trump’s behalf during the heat of the 2016 Republican campaign. He said he lied to be consistent with Trump’s “political messaging.”
Cohen said he discussed the proposal with Trump on multiple occasions and with members of the president’s family, according to documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and possible co-ordination with the Trump campaign. Cohen acknowledged considering travelling to Moscow to discuss the project.
There is no clear link in the court filings between Cohen’s lies and Mueller’s central question of whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. And nothing said in court on Thursday, or in associated court filings, addressed whether Trump or his aides had directed Cohen to mislead Congress.