Cohen Submits False Statements to Congress Minimizing the Trump Tower Moscow Project in Accordance with the Party Line

Cohen Submits False Statements to Congress Minimizing the Trump Tower Moscow Project in Accordance with the Party Line

¶In early May 2017, Cohen received requests from Congress to provide testimony and documents in connection with congressional investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.⁹⁵³⁹⁵³ P-SCO-000000328 (5/9/17 Letter, HPSCI to Cohen); P-SCO-000000331 (5/12/17 Letter, SSCI to Cohen). At that time, Cohen understood Congress's interest in him to be focused on the allegations in the Steele reporting concerning a meeting Cohen allegedly had with Russian officials in Prague during the campaign.⁹⁵⁴⁹⁵⁴ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 2-3. Cohen had never traveled to Prague and was not concerned about those allegations, which he believed were provably false.⁹⁵⁵⁹⁵⁵ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 2-3. On May 18, 2017, Cohen met with the President to discuss the request from Congress, and the President instructed Cohen that he should cooperate because there was nothing there.⁹⁵⁶⁹⁵⁶ Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 2; Cohen 11/20/19 302, at 3.

¶Cohen eventually entered into a joint defense agreement (JDA) with the President and other individuals who were part of the Russia investigation.⁹⁵⁷⁹⁵⁷ Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 2. In the months leading up to his congressional testimony, Cohen frequently spoke with the President's personal counsel.⁹⁵⁸⁹⁵⁸ Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 2-3; Cohen 11/20/18, at 2-6. Cohen told investigators about his conversations with the President's personal counsel after waiving any privilege of his own and after this Office advised his counsel not to provide any communications that would be covered by any other privilege, including communications protected by a joint defense or common interest privilege. As a result, most of what Cohen told us about his conversations with the President's personal counsel concerned what Cohen had communicated to the President's personal counsel, and not what was said in response. Cohen described certain statements made by the President's personal counsel, however, that are set forth in this section. Cohen and his counsel were better positioned than this Office to evaluate whether any privilege protected those statements because they had knowledge of the scope of their joint defense agreement and access to privileged communications that may have provided context for evaluating the statements they shared. After interviewing Cohen about these matters, we asked the President's personal counsel if he wished to provide information to us about his conversations with Cohen related to Cohen's congressional testimony about Trump Tower Moscow. The President's personal counsel declined and, through his own counsel, indicated that he could not disaggregate information he had obtained from Cohen from information he had obtained from other parties in the JDA. In view of the admonition this Office gave to Cohen's counsel to withhold communications that could be covered by privilege, the President's personal counsel's uncertainty about the provenance of his own knowledge, the burden on a privilege holder to establish the elements to support a claim of privilege, and the substance of the statements themselves, we have included relevant statements Cohen provided in this report. If the statements were to be used in a context beyond this report, further analysis could be warranted.Show full note Cohen said that in those conversations the President's personal counsel would sometimes say that he had just been with the President.⁹⁵⁹⁹⁵⁹ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 6. Cohen recalled that the President's personal counsel told him the JDA was working well together and assured him that there was nothing there and if they stayed on message the investigations would come to an end soon.⁹⁶⁰⁹⁶⁰ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 2, 4. At that time, Cohen's legal bills were being paid by the Trump Organization,⁹⁶¹⁹⁶¹ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4. and Cohen was told not to worry because the investigations would be over by summer or fall of 2017.⁹⁶²⁹⁶² Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 8; Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 3-4. Cohen said that the President's personal counsel also conveyed that, as part of the JDA, Cohen was protected, which he would not be if he "went rogue."⁹⁶³⁹⁶³ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4. Cohen recalled that the President's personal counsel reminded him that "the President loves you" and told him that if he stayed on message, the President had his back.⁹⁶⁴⁹⁶⁴ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 11; Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 2.

¶In August 2017, Cohen began drafting a statement about Trump Tower Moscow to submit to Congress along with his document production.⁹⁶⁵⁹⁶⁵ P-SCO-000003680 and P-SCO-0000003687 (8/16/17 Email and Attachment, Michael Cohen's Counsel to Cohen). Cohen said it was not his idea to write a letter to Congress about Trump Tower Moscow. Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 7. The final version of the statement contained several false statements about the project.⁹⁶⁶⁹⁶⁶ P-SCO-00009478 (Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. (Aug. 28, 2017)). First, although the Trump Organization continued to pursue the project until at least June 2016, the statement said, "The proposal was under consideration at the Trump Organization from September 2015 until the end of January 2016. By the end of January 2016, I determined that the proposal was not feasible for a variety of business reasons and should not be pursued further. Based on my business determinations, the Trump Organization abandoned the proposal."⁹⁶⁷⁹⁶⁷ P-SCO-00009478 (Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. (Aug. 28, 2017)). Second, although Cohen and candidate Trump had discussed possible travel to Russia by Trump to pursue the venture, the statement said, "Despite overtures by Mr. Sater, I never considered asking Mr. Trump to travel to Russia in connection with this proposal. I told Mr. Sater that Mr. Trump would not travel to Russia unless there was a definitive agreement in place."⁹⁶⁸⁹⁶⁸ P-SCO-00009478 (Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. (Aug. 28, 2017)). Third, although Cohen had regularly briefed Trump on the status of the project and had numerous conversations about it, the statement said, "Mr. Trump was never in contact with anyone about this proposal other than me on three occasions, including signing a non-binding letter of intent in 2015."⁹⁶⁹⁹⁶⁹ P-SCO-00009478 (Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. (Aug. 28, 2017)). Fourth, although Cohen's outreach to Peskov in January 2016 had resulted in a lengthy phone call with a representative from the Kremlin, the statement said that Cohen did "not recall any response to my email [to Peskov], nor any other contacts by me with Mr. Peskov or other Russian government officials about the proposal."⁹⁷⁰⁹⁷⁰ P-SCO-00009478 (Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. (Aug. 28, 2017)).

¶Cohen's statement was circulated in advance to, and edited by, members of the JDA.⁹⁷¹⁹⁷¹ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 8-9. Cohen also testified in Congress that the President's counsel reviewed and edited the statement. Hearing on Issues Related to Trump Organization Before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, 116th Cong. (Feb. 27, 2019) (CQ Cong. Transcripts, at 24-25) (testimony by Michael Cohen). Because of concerns about the common interest privilege, we did not obtain or review all drafts of Cohen's statement. Based on the drafts that were released through this Office's filter process, it appears that the substance of the four principal false statements described above were contained in an early draft prepared by Cohen and his counsel. P-SCO-0000003680 and P-SCO-0000003687 (8/16/17 Email and Attachment, Cohen's counsel to Cohen).Show full note Before the statement was finalized, early drafts contained a sentence stating, "The building project led me to make limited contacts with Russian government officials."⁹⁷²⁹⁷² P-SCO-0000003687 (8/16/17 Draft Statement of Michael Cohen); Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4. In the final version of the statement, that line was deleted.⁹⁷³⁹⁷³ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4. A different line stating that Cohen did "not recall any response to my email [to Peskov in January 2016], nor any other contacts by me with Mr. Peskov or other Russian government officials about the proposal" remained in the draft. See P-SCO-0000009478 (Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. (Aug. 28, 2017)). Cohen thought he was told that it was a decision of the JDA to take out that sentence, and he did not push back on the deletion.⁹⁷⁴⁹⁷⁴ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4. Cohen recalled that he told the President's personal counsel that he would not contest a decision of the JDA.⁹⁷⁵⁹⁷⁵ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5.

¶Cohen also recalled that in drafting his statement for Congress, he spoke with the President's personal counsel about a different issue that connected candidate Trump to Russia: Cohen's efforts to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin in New York during the 2015 United Nations General Assembly.⁹⁷⁶⁹⁷⁶ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 10-11. In September 2015, Cohen had suggested the meeting to Trump, who told Cohen to reach out to Putin's office about it.⁹⁷⁷⁹⁷⁷ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 11; Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 4. Cohen spoke and emailed with a Russian official about a possible meeting, and recalled that Trump asked him multiple times for updates on the proposed meeting with Putin.⁹⁷⁸⁹⁷⁸ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 11; Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 5. When Cohen called the Russian official a second time, she told him it would not follow proper protocol for Putin to meet with Trump, and Cohen relayed that message to Trump.⁹⁷⁹⁹⁷⁹ Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 5. Cohen anticipated he might be asked questions about the proposed Trump- Putin meeting when he testified before Congress because he had talked about the potential meeting on Sean Hannity's radio show.⁹⁸⁰⁹⁸⁰ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 11. Cohen recalled explaining to the President's personal counsel the "whole story" of the attempt to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin and Trump's role in it.⁹⁸¹⁹⁸¹ Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2. Cohen recalled that he and the President's personal counsel talked about keeping Trump out of the narrative, and the President's personal counsel told Cohen the story was not relevant and should not be included in his statement to Congress.⁹⁸²⁹⁸² Cohen 3/19/19 302, at 2; see Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 11 (recalling that he was told that if he stayed on message and kept the President out of the narrative, the President would have his back).

¶Cohen said that his "agenda" in submitting the statement to Congress with false representations about the Trump Tower Moscow project was to minimize links between the project and the President, give the false impression that the project had ended before the first presidential primaries, and shut down further inquiry into Trump Tower Moscow, with the aim of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.⁹⁸³⁹⁸³ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 8; Information at 4-5, United States v. Michael Cohen, 1:18-cr-850 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 29, 2018), Doc. 2 (Cohen Information). Cohen said he wanted to protect the President and be loyal to him by not contradicting anything the President had said.⁹⁸⁴⁹⁸⁴ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4. Cohen recalled he was concerned that if he told the truth about getting a response from the Kremlin or speaking to candidate Trump about travel to Russia to pursue the project, he would contradict the message that no connection existed between Trump and Russia, and he rationalized his decision to provide false testimony because the deal never happened.⁹⁸⁵⁹⁸⁵ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 4; Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 2-3, 4, 6. He was not concerned that the story would be contradicted by individuals who knew it was false because he was sticking to the party line adhered to by the whole group.⁹⁸⁶⁹⁸⁶ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 9. Cohen wanted the support of the President and the White House, and he believed that following the party line would help put an end to the Special Counsel and congressional investigations.⁹⁸⁷⁹⁸⁷ Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 8-9.

¶Between August 18, 2017, when the statement was in an initial draft stage, and August 28, 2017, when the statement was submitted to Congress, phone records reflect that Cohen spoke with the President's personal counsel almost daily.⁹⁸⁸⁹⁸⁸ Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 2-3; Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5; Call Records of Michael Cohen (Reflecting three contacts on August 18, 2017 (24 seconds; 5 minutes 25 seconds; and 10 minutes 58 seconds); two contacts on August 19 (23 seconds and 24 minutes 26 seconds); three contacts on August 23 (8 seconds; 20 minutes 33 seconds; and 5 minutes 8 seconds); one contact on August 24 (11 minutes 59 seconds); 14 contacts on August 27 (28 seconds; 4 minutes 37 seconds; 1 minute 16 seconds; 1 minutes 35 seconds; 6 minutes 16 seconds; 1 minutes 10 seconds; 3 minutes 5 seconds; 18 minutes 55 seconds; 4 minutes 56 seconds; 11 minutes 6 seconds; 8 seconds; 3 seconds; 2 seconds; 2 seconds).Show full note On August 27, 2017, the day before Cohen submitted the statement to Congress, Cohen and the President's personal counsel had numerous contacts by phone, including calls lasting three, four, six, eleven, and eighteen minutes.⁹⁸⁹⁹⁸⁹ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5; Call Records of Michael Cohen. (Reflecting 14 contacts on August 27, 2017 (28 seconds; 4 minutes 37 seconds; 1 minute 16 seconds; 1 minutes 35 seconds; 6 minutes 16 seconds; 1 minutes 10 seconds; 3 minutes 5 seconds; 18 minutes 55 seconds; 4 minutes 56 seconds; 11 minutes 6 seconds; 8 seconds; 3 seconds; 2 seconds; 2 seconds)). Cohen recalled telling the President's personal counsel, who did not have first-hand knowledge of the project, that there was more detail on Trump Tower Moscow that was not in the statement, including that there were more communications with Russia and more communications with candidate Trump than the statement reflected.⁹⁹⁰⁹⁹⁰ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5. Cohen stated that the President's personal counsel responded that it was not necessary to elaborate or include those details because the project did not progress and that Cohen should keep his statement short and "tight" and the matter would soon come to an end.⁹⁹¹⁹⁹¹ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5. Cohen also vaguely recalled telling the President's personal counsel that he spoke with a woman from the Kremlin and that the President's personal counsel responded to the effect of "so what?" because the deal never happened. Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5. Cohen recalled that the President's personal counsel said "his client" appreciated Cohen, that Cohen should stay on message and not contradict the President, that there was no need to muddy the water, and that it was time to move on.⁹⁹²⁹⁹² Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5. Cohen said he agreed because it was what he was expected to do.⁹⁹³⁹⁹³ Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 5. After Cohen later pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project, this Office sought to speak with the President's personal counsel about these conversations with Cohen, but counsel declined, citing potential privilege concerns.⁹⁹⁴⁹⁹⁴ 2/8/19 email, Counsel for personal counsel to the President to Special Counsel's Office.

¶At the same time that Cohen finalized his written submission to Congress, he served as a source for a Washington Post story published on August 27, 2017, that reported in depth for the first time that the Trump Organization was "pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow" at the same time as candidate Trump was "running for president in late 2015 and early 2016."⁹⁹⁵⁹⁹⁵ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 7; Carol D. Leonnig et al., Trump's business sought deal on a Trump Tower in Moscow while he ran for president, Washington Post (Aug. 27, 2017). The article reported that "the project was abandoned at the end of January 2016, just before the presidential primaries began, several people familiar with the proposal said."⁹⁹⁶⁹⁹⁶ Carol D. Leonnig et al., Trump's business sought deal on a Trump Tower in Moscow while he ran for president, Washington Post (Aug. 27, 2017). Cohen recalled that in speaking to the Post, he held to the false story that negotiations for the deal ceased in January 2016.⁹⁹⁷⁹⁹⁷ Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 7.

¶On August 28, 2017, Cohen submitted his statement about the Trump Tower Moscow project to Congress.⁹⁹⁸⁹⁹⁸ P-SCO-000009477 - 9478 (8/28/17 Letter and Attachment, Cohen to SSCI). Cohen did not recall talking to the President about the specifics of what the statement said or what Cohen would later testify to about Trump Tower Moscow.⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹ Cohen 11/12/18 302, at 2; Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 9. He recalled speaking to the President more generally about how he planned to stay on message in his testimony.^10001000 Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 9. On September 19, 2017, in anticipation of his impending testimony, Cohen orchestrated the public release of his opening remarks to Congress, which criticized the allegations in the Steele material and claimed that the Trump Tower Moscow project "was terminated in January of 2016; which occurred before the Iowa caucus and months before the very first primary."^10011001 Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 7; see, e.g., READ: Michael Cohen's statement to the Senate intelligence committee, CNN (Sept. 19, 2017). Cohen said the release of his opening remarks was intended to shape the narrative and let other people who might be witnesses know what Cohen was saying so they could follow the same message.^10021002 Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 7. Cohen said his decision was meant to mirror Jared Kushner's decision to release a statement in advance of Kushner's congressional testimony, which the President's personal counsel had told Cohen the President liked.^10031003 Cohen 9/18/18 302, at 7; Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 6. Cohen recalled that on September 20, 2017, after Cohen's opening remarks had been printed by the media, the President's personal counsel told him that the President was pleased with the Trump Tower Moscow statement that had gone out.^10041004 Cohen 11/20/18 302, at 6. Phone records show that the President's personal counsel called Cohen on the morning of September 20, 2017, and they spoke for approximately 11 minutes, and that they had two more contacts that day, one of which lasted approximately 18 minutes. Call Records of Michael Cohen. (Reflecting three contacts on September 20, 2017, with calls lasting for 11 minutes 3 seconds; 2 seconds; and 18 minutes 38 seconds).Show full note

¶On October 24 and 25, 2017, Cohen testified before Congress and repeated the false statements he had included in his written statement about Trump Tower Moscow.^10051005 Cohen Information, at 4; Executive Session, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. House of Representatives, Interview of Michael Cohen (Oct. 24, 2017), at 10-11, 117-119. Phone records show that Cohen spoke with the President's personal counsel immediately after his testimony on both days.^10061006 Call Records of Michael Cohen. (Reflecting two contacts on October 24, 2017 (12 minutes 8 seconds and 8 minutes 27 seconds) and three contacts on October 25, 2017 (1 second; 4 minutes 6 seconds; and 6 minutes 6 seconds)).