(RNN) – Michael Cohen is claiming President Donald Trump knew about and approved a meeting with a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin at Trump Tower in 2016, CNN is reporting.
A source told the network Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, alleges that he witnessed Donald Trump Jr. telling his father about the meeting before it happened.
The meeting, between Trump Jr. and the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, which allegedly included the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chair Paul Manafort, is one of the key events in the origins of the Russia investigation.
The president has denied he knew about the meeting, in which damaging information on Hillary Clinton was promised to Trump Jr.
Trump’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, refuted the claim on Chris Cuomo’s show.
“The question is what did the president know,” he added. “People would have to be in room with the president, who could corroborate Cohen, which they can’t cause it didn’t happen.”
He also said Cohen was unreliable.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s just no credible. I would not accept him as a witness as a prosecutor,” Giuliani said.
Trump Jr. has downplayedthe meeting as a “wasted 20 minutes” and asserted Trump was never told about it.
In the early days of its revelation, though, Trump Jr. did try to hide its true intentions.
Cohen has told associates he is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia investigation.
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