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.
Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall – in pictures
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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Meanwhile, a leaked report shows the Trump administration considered speeding up the deportation of migrant families after they were separated from their families by denying them their legal right to asylum hearings.
According to a 2017 draft of what became the government’s family separation policy, officials also wanted to increase prosecutions of migrant parents arriving in the US, which, the authors said, would be “reported by the media” and “have a substantial deterrent effect”.
The draft plan was made public by the office of Democrat senator Jeff Markley, which said it had been leaked by a government whistleblower.
Intriguingly, Trump's own nominee for attorney general said in his confirmation hearing earlier this week that a president coaching somebody to testify falsely would be a crime.
"Yes," he responded when asked by senator Lindsey Graham. “Under an obstruction statute, yes.”
Brian Klaas, a political scientist at University College London, says obstruction would be an impeachable offence.
In yet another headache for Trump, Democrats now in control of the House are working out which committee will take the lead in investigating his business ties to Deutsche Bank, lawmakers and aides familiar with the plans told Reuters.
As the new Democratic House of Representatives majority launches a range of investigations into the Republican president and his businesses, the intelligence committee and financial services committee are poised to dig into his ties with Deutsche, one of the world's largest financial institutions.
Democratic lawmakers' aides are discussing how to divide up the investigative work among committees and prevent overlap on requesting documents, aides said.
Since US voters in November shifted majority control of the House from the Republicans to the Democrats, the party has been promising to probe the first two years of Trump's administration and possible conflicts of interest presented by his hotel, golf course and other ventures, as well as Trump family members.
White House officials did not respond to a request for comment. The White House in the past has referred questions about Trump businesses to the Trump Organization.
Officials at the Trump Organization could not immediately be reached for comment.
Had Robert Mueller already alluded to evidence Trump allegedly directed Cohen to lie to Congress?
Below is a passage in the special counsel's Cohen sentencing memo. Here is a link to the full text.
Chuck Todd, NBC's political editor, has had his say about the bombshell Trump allegations.
"You can't overstate how significant this development is."
Former FBI special agent Josh Campbell has appeared on CNN to address the Trump-Cohen report.
"This is not just a day of revelation, but this is a day of soul-searching ... for those who have been enabling the president."
He continues: "They're going to have to do some soul-searching and prepare for the fact they may have been wrong, they may have been used, and this president might be a crook."
Here is William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, telling the Senate explicitly that a president "convincing a witness to change testimony" would be obstruction of justice.
Donald Trump's preferred breakfast news programme, Fox & Friends, has decided to headline on a story about a migrant caravan, instead of the allegations making global headlines that Trump ordered Cohen to lie to Congress.
Intriguingly, some members of Congress who supported impeaching Bill Clinton are still around, including 14 Republican senators. The Washington Post has looked at whether any of them are likely to join Democrats and vote to oust Trump.
The president will face more questions about the government shutdown today as it hits the four-week mark. Officials at federal law enforcement bodies - including Trump’s favourite agency, the FBI - have expressed concerns the closure is affecting their investigations.
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