Michael Cohen’s lawyer says Cohen sought pardon from Donald Trump, apparently contradicting testimony
- Lanny Davis says Michael Cohen ‘directed his lawyer to explore possibilities of a pardon’, although Cohen told Congress last week he had never asked for one
- Cohen is meanwhile suing the Trump Organisation for failing to pay his legal bills
Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, “directed his lawyer” to explore a potential presidential pardon last year, his current lawyer said Thursday, appearing to contradict his client’s testimony to Congress.
Cohen testified under oath last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.
On Thursday, Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, said Cohen had in fact “directed his lawyer to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump”.
The conversation happened in the months after the FBI’s early April raid on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, while Cohen’s lawyers were involved in an agreement to share information with Trump’s legal team.
At the time, Cohen was “open to the ongoing ‘dangling’ of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media,” Davis said in a statement. The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.