Trump Stuns Establishment Media, Points Blame to One Cohen Tweet Following Trump Tower Revelations
President Donald Trump called attention Sunday to an old tweet from Michael Cohen to cast doubt on his former attorney’s allegations about the now-infamous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians who promised dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael?” Trump tweeted, linking to a July 11, 2017 tweet from Cohen.
Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael? https://t.co/kXLCKZO5Fr
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
In the tweet, Cohen praised Trump Jr. “for being open, honest and transparent to the American people” about the Trump Tower meeting.
Days earlier, The New York Times broke the story that Trump Jr., his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met on June 9, 2016, with a group of Russians promising derogatory information on Clinton.
Trump Jr. released his emails scheduling the meeting on the morning of Cohen’s tweet. Cohen sent the tweet just after Trump Jr. told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he did not tell his father about the Trump Tower meeting.
So proud of @DonaldJTrumpJr for being open, honest and transparent to the American people. This nonsense needs to stop! pic.twitter.com/bJz3bhnept
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) July 12, 2017
Cohen is now reportedly singing a different tune about the Trump Tower meeting.
The longtime Trump fixer is willing to tell the special counsel’s office that he took part in a meeting in which Trump approved of his son hosting the Russian delegation, CNN reported Thursday.
Trump Jr. accepted the meeting after an acquaintance named Rob Goldstone emailed him to say that a Russian government attorney wanted to meet with the campaign to provide information on Hillary Clinton.
“If it is what you say I love it,” Trump Jr. replied.
Goldstone and the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, showed up to the meeting with three other Russians. All of the participants have described the meeting as a waste of time, saying that Veselnitskaya offered nothing of substance about Clinton. Instead, she wanted to discuss the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law that sanctions Russian human rights abusers.
The meeting attendees have all said that no follow up meetings took place.
The possibility that Trump and Trump Jr. have lied about Trump approving the meeting has reignited the debate over whether the Trump Tower conclave is evidence of a collusion conspiracy. Cohen’s claims could also cause legal problems for the Trumps. Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee in September that he did not tell his father about the meeting before it occurred. Trump’s denials could also potentially be used against him in the special counsel’s investigation into possible obstruction of justice on Trump’s part.
Despite Trump’s suggestion that the Cohen tweet got no media coverage, The Daily Caller News Foundation did report about it, and CNN referred to it during a segment on Friday.
A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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