Michael Cohen maybe, possibly knows whether President Trump knew about the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting before it happened. And that might land him back in front of Congress.
Last year, President Trump's ex-lawyer gave sworn testimony to lawmakers, where Axios reports that he said he was unsure if the president knew Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort were meeting with a Russian lawyer to apparently gather dirt on Hillary Clinton. But last month, a CNN report said Cohen claimed Trump did know about the whole matter beforehand and gave it his approval. Trump has said he didn't know the meeting even happened until nearly a year later.
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On Tuesday, Cohen reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors regarding tax evasion, as well as campaign finance violations related to two payments he made to women who alleged affairs Trump. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of financial crimes. While the deal doesn't say whether Cohen agreed to speak with Mueller, cooperation could affect his sentencing, PBS reports.
If anything, the Senate Intelligence Committee is definitely interested in what Cohen has to say. The committee's chairman and ranking member released a joint statement Tuesday saying they "recently re-engaged with Mr. Cohen," after media reports suggested that the lawyer himself knew about the Trump Tower meeting ahead of time. Cohen's legal team stood by his previous testimony, the statement notes, but the committee hopes the plea agreement won't stop Cohen from reappearing before the committee "for our ongoing investigation."
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