The attorney for President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen is tempering the confidence with which he suggested Cohen had information on Trump’s knowledge of Russian meddling efforts in the 2016 election.
Lanny Davis, who is representing Cohen, over the weekend told The Washington Post that he is unsure if Cohen knows whether Trump was aware of Russian meddling on his behalf during the presidential election.
Davis, who is an opinion contributor to The Hill, this past week has claimed Cohen may have information that is of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into ties between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.
{mosads}He now says he “should have been more clear” that he doesn’t know the extent of Cohen’s knowledge, particularly when it comes to the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting attended by the president’s son and a Russian lawyer with ties to the government.
Trump on Saturday tweeted about Davis’s recanting, claiming it proves the allegation that Trump knew in advance about the meeting was “another phony story by the Fake News Media.”
“Michaels Cohen’s attorney clarified the record, saying his client does not know if President Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting (out of which came nothing!),” Trump tweeted. “The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!”
The Post last month reported that Cohen had witnessed a conversation between Trump and his son about the meeting before it occurred. They attributed the story to an anonymous source at the time, but the newspaper revealed over the weekend that Davis was that source.
“I should have been more clear — including with you — that I could not independently confirm what happened,” Davis told the Post. “I regret my error.”
Davis in recent days has conducted interviews on multiple broadcast news networks, claiming he is “not sure” of what Cohen knows.
Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) last week in a joint statement said they want Cohen to testify again in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. They said Cohen testified he did not know about the Trump Tower meeting until reports emerged in the press.
Burr and Warner, who are overseeing an investigation into ties between Russia and Trump, said Cohen told the committee he does not want to amend his testimony, the Post reported.