Cohen Lawyer Backtracks Russian Collusion Comments, 'I Am Just Not Sure'
The sound and fury of Lanny Davis, the lawyer for Michael Cohen, have become muted as he has begun to walk away from comments he made following Cohen’s guilty plea last week.
The contrast between Davis on Wednesday and the same man on Saturday was stark, particularly on the subject of President Donald Trump’s knowledge of the hacking done to members of the Democratic National Committee.
On Wednesday, Davis said Cohen had knowledge “of interest” to Mueller and was “more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows,” according to The Washington Post.
“He had matters that would be of interest to the special counsel relating to pre-knowledge of computer hacking by Donald Trump. Which if true, if true, would constitute knowledge of a crime committed by a foreign government in hacking our computers which was part of the indictment of 12 Russians that the special counsel has already published. So my observation is that he can speak to that and beyond that I can’t go, it will have to play out with the special counsel,” Davis said.
On Saturday, Davis said it was always possible that he had, in fact, been correct, but he could also not rule out that fact that he could have been wrong, according to The Washington Post .
“I am not sure. There’s a possibility that is the case. But I am not sure,” he said.
“I was giving an instinct that he might have something to say of interest to the special counsel” about the DNC hack, Davis said.
After further consideration, he said, “I am just not sure.”
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1033909003330437120
Likewise, Davis waffled publicly about his claim that Cohen would be able to prove that the president knew in advance about a July 2016 Trump Tower meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign representatives and a Russian lawyer, The Hill reported.
Davis said Saturday that he “could not independently confirm what happened” and denied his own claim in a CNN interview.
So Lanny Davis was on CNN last night and was asked about whether Michael Cohen really does know that Donald Trump knew about Trump Tower meeting in advance: pic.twitter.com/e7yXIPdkn0
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 23, 2018
Davis also admitted that he had been the source of a Washington Post report last month that Cohen had witnessed a conversation between the two Trumps about the meeting before it ever took place.
The president noted that fact in a Saturday tweet.
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!). The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2018
“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!). The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!” Trump tweeted.
CNN, however, is standing by a story it wrote claiming that its sources told it the president knew about the meeting before it took place, The Daily Caller reported.
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