Report: Michael Cohen says Trump knew about 2016 Trump Tower meeting in advance

President Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, claims that Trump knew in advance of the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and Russians who promised to deliver damaging information on Hillary Clinton, people with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
They also told CNN Cohen is willing to share this information with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Cohen says he was one of several people with Trump when Trump Jr. informed him of the offer, and Trump said he should go ahead with the meeting. Since news of the meeting broke in the summer of 2017, Trump has denied ever knowing about the meeting in advance. Trump Jr. set up the meeting with a publicist he knew, and it was attended by several Russians, including Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.
Cohen does not have recordings of the moment when Trump learned about the meeting, CNN reports. Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told CNN that Cohen is "certainly a source that is not credible."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The NCAA is a 'billion-dollar sports behemoth' that 'should not be a nonprofit'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
What's a pocket rescission and can Trump use one?
The Explainer The White House may try to use an obscure and prohibited trick to halt more spending
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
Speed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crime
Speed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline