BuzzFeed Bombshell Fizzes Out? Mueller’s Office Disputes BuzzFeed Report Claiming Trump Directed Cohen To Lie To Congress  

In a statement released on Friday evening , a spokesperson for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office said the Buzzfeed report, which alleged that President Trump instructed Michael Cohen to lie, was “not accurate.”

“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The statement from Mueller’s office represents a setback to Trump’s opponents who were hoping to use the report and initiate impeachment against him on the grounds of direct involvement in suborning perjury.

Buzzfeed News reported on Thursday night that President Donald Trump instructed his then personal attorney Michael Cohen to wilfully lie to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow in an attempt to suppress his own involvement in those discussions. Buzzfeed based its report on two unnamed federal law enforcement officials. However no other media organisation has thus far independently corroborated Buzzfeed’s claims even 24 hours after it’s publication.

During this successful presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly denied charges that he had business dealings in Russia. Buzzfeed report however claimed that Trump allegedly endorsed Cohen’s plan for him to travel to Russia in July 2016 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the prospects for constructing a Trump Tower at Moscow. The report also claimed that Trump’s children were also heavily involved in the project planning and would receive regular updates from Cohen on the status of negotiations.

BuzzFeed said Mueller’s investigators learned about President Trump’s directive “through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.”

In November last year, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the time period of discussions over the Moscow real estate project. After initially testifying that the discussions concluded in January 2016, Cohen admitted in a two-page memo to the House that the project planning continued until as late as June 2016 with Trump directly involved in the process. Trump defended himself claiming that given the good possibility of his defeat in the presidential election , he had no choice but to continue pursuing his business opportunities.

On Friday, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani had dismissed reports that President counseled Cohen to lie. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the allegation “absolutely ridiculous.”