Michael Cohen’s attorney admits to being CNN source; network stands by report

Michael Cohen’s attorney is admitting he was an anonymous source for a bombshell CNN story that suggested then-candidate Donald Trump had advance knowledge of a Trump Tower meeting between his eldest son and Russians in June 2016.

“I made a mistake,” Davis told BuzzFeed on Monday. 

He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper last week that he and Cohen “were not the source of the story.”

{mosads}The original CNN report also noted that Cohen, the president’s former personal attorney, was prepared to talk to special counsel Robert Mueller.

CNN says it stands by the story, which co-bylined by Jim Sciutto, Carl Bernstein and Marshall Cohen, and cites other unidentified sources.

Davis’s admission has led to criticism of CNN, as Davis was both an anonymous source and referenced as someone who declined to comment in the story. Davis is also an opinion contributor to The Hill.

“Contacted by CNN, one of Cohen’s attorneys, Lanny Davis, declined to comment,” the story states.

Lanny Davis has told BuzzFeed News that he was an anonymous source for CNN’s Trump Tower bombshell, a story he now disputes. He also regrets lying about his involvement, on CNN’s own air, in an interview with Anderson Cooper last week https://t.co/gUO3piTM0V

— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) August 27, 2018

Other outlets admitted Lanny was their anonymous source. CNN was still standing by its story as of last night and claimed, implausibly, that it was confident in its sourcing. This hurts their already problematic case, to put it mildly. https://t.co/6mHz3S3IH7

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) August 27, 2018

Lanny Davis said he was a source who lied to CNN. That’s on him.

But CNN in the story in question wrote “one of Cohen’s attorneys, Lanny Davis, declined to comment.”

That means CNN might have misled readers about talking to Davis. Thats a bigger problem than a source-burn https://t.co/l7BXtzHU6m

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) August 27, 2018