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US special counsel says report Trump told ex-aide Cohen to lie not accurate
A report by Buzzfeed news which revealed that President Donald Trump personally directed his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a possible Moscow real estate project has been described as inaccurate by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The office of the special counsel disputed key elements of the media report raising questions about the story that has dominated U.S. news coverage for the past 24 hours.
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, said in the special counsel’s first comment on a media report since its probe started 20 months ago.
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The report by Buzzfeed news, citing two unnamed law enforcement officials revealed that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress by claiming negotiations over the project ended earlier than they actually did.
Published on Thursday, the report which Democrats have vowed to investigate also said that Cohen regularly briefed Trump and his family on the Moscow Trump Tower project – even as Trump said he had no business dealings with Russia.
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