Trump says Michael Cohen 'directly' asked him for a pardon

(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

published 8 March 2019

President Trump on Friday accused his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, of lying to Congress again, saying he "directly" asked for a pardon.

Trump on Twitter was responding to Cohen saying in his congressional testimony last week that he has never "asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr. Trump." Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, later said Cohen did direct his attorney at the time to contact Trump's lawyers about the possibility of a pardon and that Cohen's statement was only referring to the period after he began cooperating with prosecutors.

Trump now says Cohen asked him for a pardon "directly" and that "I said NO." Earlier on Friday, Trump had stopped short of making this claim, saying that Cohen's "lawyers said that they went to my layers and asked for pardons" and that "I can go a step above that, but I won't go do it now." He also told reporters that he knows Cohen "lied about the pardon" from "watching and seeing you folks at night."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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