Candidate Trump's Awareness of and Involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow Project

Candidate Trump's Awareness of and Involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow Project

¶The President's interactions with Cohen as a witness took place against the background of the President's involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow project.

¶As described in detail in Volume I, Section IV.A.1, supra, from September 2015 until at least June 2016, the Trump Organization pursued a Trump Tower Moscow project in Russia, with negotiations conducted by Cohen, then-executive vice president of the Trump Organization and special counsel to Donald J. Trump.⁹⁰⁹⁹⁰⁹ In August 2018 and November 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple crimes of deception, including making false statements to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project, as described later in this section. When Cohen first met with investigators from this Office, he repeated the same lies he told Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project. Cohen 8/7/18 302, at 12-17. But after Cohen pleaded guilty to offenses in the Southern District of New York on August 21, 2018, he met with investigators again and corrected the record. The Office found Cohen's testimony in these subsequent proffer sessions to be consistent with and corroborated by other information obtained in the course of the Office's investigation. The Office's sentencing submission in Cohen's criminal case stated: "Starting with his second meeting with the [Special Counsel's Office] in September 2018, the defendant has accepted responsibility not only for his false statements concerning the [Trump Tower] Moscow Project, but also his broader efforts through public statements and testimony before Congress to minimize his role in, and what he knew about, contacts between the [Trump Organization] and Russian interests during the course of the campaign. . . . The information provided by Cohen about the [Trump Tower] Moscow Project in these proffer sessions is consistent with and corroborated by other information obtained in the course of the [Special Counsel's Office's] investigation. . . . The defendant, without prompting by the [Special Counsel's Office], also corrected other false and misleading statements that he had made concerning his outreach to and contacts with Russian officials during the course of the campaign." Gov't Sentencing Submission at 4, United States v. Michael Cohen, 1:18-cr-850 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 7, 2018), Doc. 14. At Cohen's sentencing, our Office further explained that Cohen had "provided valuable information . . . while taking care and being careful to note what he knows and what he doesn't know." Transcript at 19, United States v. Michael Cohen, 1:18-cr-850 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 12, 2018), Doc. 17 (Cohen 12/12/18 Transcript).Show full note The Trump Organization had previously and unsuccessfully pursued a building project in Moscow.⁹¹⁰⁹¹⁰ See Volume I, Section IV.A.1, supra (noting that starting in at least 2013, several employees of the Trump Organization, including then-president of the organization Donald J. Trump, pursued a Trump Tower Moscow deal with several Russian counterparties). According to Cohen, in approximately September 2015 he obtained internal approval from Trump to negotiate on behalf of the Trump Organization to have a Russian corporation build a tower in Moscow that licensed the Trump name and brand.⁹¹¹⁹¹¹ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 1-4; Cohen 8/7/18 302, at 15. Cohen thereafter had numerous brief conversations with Trump about the project.⁹¹²⁹¹² Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 2, 4. Cohen recalled that Trump wanted to be updated on any developments with Trump Tower Moscow and on several occasions brought the project up with Cohen to ask what was happening on it.⁹¹³⁹¹³ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 4. Cohen also discussed the project on multiple occasions with Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump.⁹¹⁴⁹¹⁴ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 4, 10.

¶In the fall of 2015, Trump signed a Letter of Intent for the project that specified highly lucrative terms for the Trump Organization.⁹¹⁵⁹¹⁵ MDC-H-000618-25 (10/28/15 Letter of Intent, signed by Donald J. Trump, Trump Acquisition, LLC and Andrey Rozov, I.C. Expert Investment Company); Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 3; Written Responses of Donald J. Trump (Nov. 20, 2018), at 15 (Response to Question III, Parts (a) through (g)). In December 2015, Felix Sater, who was handling negotiations between Cohen and the Russian corporation, asked Cohen for a copy of his and Trump's passports to facilitate travel to Russia to meet with government officials and possible financing partners.⁹¹⁶⁹¹⁶ MDC-H-000600 (12/19/15 Email, Sater to Cohen). Cohen recalled discussing the trip with Trump and requesting a copy of Trump's passport from Trump's personal secretary, Rhona Graff.⁹¹⁷⁹¹⁷ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 5.

¶By January 2016, Cohen had become frustrated that Sater had not set up a meeting with Russian government officials, so Cohen reached out directly by email to the office of Dmitry Peskov, who was Putin's deputy chief of staff and press secretary.⁹¹⁸⁹¹⁸ See FS00004 (12/30/15 Text Message, Cohen to Sater); TRUMPORG_MC_000233 (1/11/16 Email, Cohen to pr_peskova@prpress.gof.ru); MDC-H-000690 (1/14/16 Email, Cohen to info@prpress.gov.ru); TRUMPORG_MC_000235 (1/16/16 Email, Cohen to pr_peskova@prpress.gov.ru). On January 20, 2016, Cohen received an email response from Elena Poliakova, Peskov's personal assistant, and phone records confirm that they then spoke for approximately twenty minutes, during which Cohen described the Trump Tower Moscow project and requested assistance in moving the project forward.⁹¹⁹⁹¹⁹ 1/20/16 Email, Poliakova to Cohen; Call Records of Michael Cohen. (Showing a 22-minute call on January 20, 2016, between Cohen and the number Poliakova provided in her email); Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 2-3. After the call, Cohen saved Poliakova's contact information in his Trump Organization Outlook contact list. 1/20/16 Cohen Microsoft Outlook Entry (6:22 a.m.). Cohen recalled briefing candidate Trump about the call soon afterwards.⁹²⁰⁹²⁰ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5. Cohen told Trump he spoke with a woman he identified as "someone from the Kremlin," and Cohen reported that she was very professional and asked detailed questions about the project.⁹²¹⁹²¹ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5-6; Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 4. Cohen recalled telling Trump he wished the Trump Organization had assistants who were as competent as the woman from the Kremlin.⁹²²⁹²² Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5.

¶Cohen thought his phone call renewed interest in the project.⁹²³⁹²³ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 5. The day after Cohen's call with Poliakova, Sater texted Cohen, asking him to "[c]all me when you have a few minutes to chat . . . It's about Putin they called today."⁹²⁴⁹²⁴ FS00011 (1/21/16 Text Messages, Sater & Cohen). Sater told Cohen that the Russian government liked the project and on January 25, 2016, sent an invitation for Cohen to visit Moscow "for a working visit."⁹²⁵⁹²⁵ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 5; 1/25/16 Email, Sater to Cohen (attachment). After the outreach from Sater, Cohen recalled telling Trump that he was waiting to hear back on moving the project forward.⁹²⁶⁹²⁶ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5.

¶After January 2016, Cohen continued to have conversations with Sater about Trump Tower Moscow and continued to keep candidate Trump updated about those discussions and the status of the project.⁹²⁷⁹²⁷ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 6. In later congressional testimony, Cohen stated that he briefed Trump on the project approximately six times after January 2016. Hearing on Issues Related to Trump Organization Before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, 116th Cong. (Feb. 27, 2019) (CQ Cong. Transcripts, at 24) (testimony of Michael Cohen). Cohen recalled that he and Trump wanted Trump Tower Moscow to succeed and that Trump never discouraged him from working on the project because of the campaign.⁹²⁸⁹²⁸ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 6. In March or April 2016, Trump asked Cohen if anything was happening in Russia.⁹²⁹⁹²⁹ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 4. Cohen also recalled briefing Donald Trump Jr. in the spring—a conversation that Cohen said was not "idle chit chat" because Trump Tower Moscow was potentially a $1 billion deal.⁹³⁰⁹³⁰ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 10.

¶Cohen recalled that around May 2016, he again raised with candidate Trump the possibility of a trip to Russia to advance the Trump Tower Moscow project.⁹³¹⁹³¹ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 7. At that time, Cohen had received several texts from Sater seeking to arrange dates for such a trip.⁹³²⁹³² Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 7. On May 4, 2016, Sater wrote to Cohen, "I had a chat with Moscow. ASSUMING the trip does happen the question is before or after the convention. . . . . Obviously the premeeting trip (you only) can happen anytime you want but the 2 big guys [is] the question. I said I would confirm and revert."⁹³³⁹³³ FS00015 (5/4/16 Text Message, Sater to Cohen). Cohen responded, "My trip before Cleveland. Trump once he becomes the nominee after the convention."⁹³⁴⁹³⁴ FS00015 (5/4/16 Text Message, Cohen to Sater). On May 5, 2016, Sater followed up with a text that Cohen thought he probably read to Trump:

Peskov would like to invite you as his guest to the St. Petersburg Forum which is Russia's Davos it's June 16-19. He wants to meet there with you and possibly introduce you to either Putin or Medvedev. . . . This is perfect. The entire business class of Russia will be there as well. He said anything you want to discuss including dates and subjects are on the table to discuss.⁹³⁵⁹³⁵ FS00016-17 (5/5/16 Text Messages, Sater & Cohen).

¶Cohen recalled discussing the invitation to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum with candidate Trump and saying that Putin or Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev might be there.⁹³⁶⁹³⁶ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 7. Cohen remembered that Trump said that he would be willing to travel to Russia if Cohen could "lock and load" on the deal.⁹³⁷⁹³⁷ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 7. In June 2016, Cohen decided not to attend the St. Petersburg Economic Forum because Sater had not obtained a formal invitation for Cohen from Peskov.⁹³⁸⁹³⁸ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 7-8. Cohen said he had a quick conversation with Trump at that time but did not tell him that the project was over because he did not want Trump to complain that the deal was on-again-off-again if it were revived.⁹³⁹⁹³⁹ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 8.

¶During the summer of 2016, Cohen recalled that candidate Trump publicly claimed that he had nothing to do with Russia and then shortly afterwards privately checked with Cohen about the status of the Trump Tower Moscow project, which Cohen found "interesting."⁹⁴⁰⁹⁴⁰ Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2. At some point that summer, Cohen recalled having a brief conversation with Trump in which Cohen said the Trump Tower Moscow project was going nowhere because the Russian development company had not secured a piece of property for the project.⁹⁴¹⁹⁴¹ Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2. Cohen could not recall the precise timing of this conversation, but said he thought it occurred in June or July 2016. Cohen recalled that the conversation happened at some point after candidate Trump was publicly stating that he had nothing to do with Russia. Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2. Trump said that was "too bad," and Cohen did not recall talking with Trump about the project after that.⁹⁴²⁹⁴² Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2. Cohen said that at no time during the campaign did Trump tell him not to pursue the project or that the project should be abandoned.⁹⁴³⁹⁴³ Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2.