Giuliani says his comments on Trump Tower talks were ‘hypothetical’

“My recent statements about discussions during the 2016 campaign between Michael Cohen and then-candidate Donald Trump about a potential Trump Moscow ‘project’ were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the President,” Giualni said in a statement shared by many reporters on social media.

{mosads}”My comments did not represent the actual timing or circumstances of any such discussions. The point is that the proposal was in the earliest stage and did not advance beyond a free non-binding letter of intent,” the statement read.

 

Giuliani said the day before, on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” that Trump remembered having conversations about the real estate project with his former attorney, Michael Cohen, “throughout 2016” and “as far as October, November.”

{mosads}”Well, it’s our understanding that they went on throughout 2016. Weren’t a lot of them, but there were conversations. Can’t be sure of the exact date. But the president can remember having conversations with him about it,” Giuliani said.

He later added that Trump’s legal team’s answers to questions from special counsel Robert Mueller about the topic “cover until the election.”

The statement appeared to align with previous comments Giuliani had made on the topic. In December, he indicated that Cohen may have pursued discussions about a possible Trump Tower Moscow development until November 2016. 

“According to the answer that he gave, it would have covered all the way up to November of 2016,” Giuliani said on ABC’s “This Week,” referring to written responses that Trump gave special counsel Robert Mueller on the subject.

Cohen in 2018 pleaded guilty to lying to Congress  about when negotiations for a Trump Tower in Moscow concluded. Cohen had said while pleading guilty that efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow lasted until June 2016. 

But Giuliani’s recent comments raised more questions about that timeline.