The office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is disputing the accuracy of a story from online news website BuzzFeed stating that president Donald Trump instructed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to the U.S. Congress.
Mueller's office on Jan. 19 contested a report in Buzzfeed that alleges Trump personally told Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Organization's deal to build a luxury residential hotel in Moscow. Trump had hoped to conceal this deal during his presidential run in 2016.
The story revealed that Trump personally instructed Cohen to lie by claiming negotiations about the Trump Tower in Moscow ended months earlier than they actually did to hide Trump's involvement.
If ultimately proven true, the allegations Trump ordered Cohen to lie on his behalf opens the president to charges of subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice. The latter is a ground for impeachment.
Subornation of perjury is a crime in the United States. It consists of coercing another person into committing perjury. Specifically, subornation of perjury is a felony and a felony is legal ground for a president's impeachment.
Citing two unnamed federal law enforcement officials, the BuzzFeed report also said Cohen regularly briefed Trump on the project to build a Trump hotel in Moscow.
BuzzFeed's stunning story surged to the top of the news cycle when it broke. Democrats promised an investigation while some called for the start of impeachment proceedings against Trump.
On Jan. 19, however, Mueller's office took the unusual step of criticizing the Buzzfeed story.
Mueller's office disputed how BuzzFeed presented statements allegedly made by members of Mueller's team. Mueller's statement, however, did not include specifics or a sweeping denial of the story's overall theme that the president directed Cohen to lie to Congress.
Mueller only disputed parts of the Buzzfeed story, specifically "specific statement," but did not question the accuracy of the entire story. This oddity has led some political pundits to surmise the Buzzfeed story remains a truthful account.
"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," said Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller office.
On Jan. 17, Buzzfeed published a story saying that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow Tower project. The story also said Trump supported a plan by Cohen that Trump visits Russia during the presidential campaign to personally meet President Vladimir Putin for the purpose of jump-starting the tower negotiations.
"Make it happen," said Trump to Cohen, who was in charge of the tower project.
Trump has since denied he's ever had any business deals with Russia. The twin sources cited by Buzzfeed, however, said Trump's children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular and detailed updates about the Moscow tower project from Cohen.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying about the Trump Moscow Tower deal in testimony. He also admitted to lying in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees.
