Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the Senate Finance Committee and his economic team October 18, 2017 at the White House in Washington, DC
- President Donald Trump said his exploration during the 2016 campaign of building a Trump Tower in Moscow was "very legal."
- His statement came one day after his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen admitted lying about the project.
- Cohen's guilty plea confirmed that Trump was not being truthful when he denied having financial interests in Russia during the 2016 campaign.
- Cohen is expected to give dozens of hours of testimony, which could severely damage Trump.
President Donald Trump defended having "very legal" conversations about building a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential election, one day after his longtime fixer Michael Cohen admitted lying about the project.
Trump, who is in Argentina to attend the G20 summit, tweeted on Friday morning:
"Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail...
"...Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn't do the project. Witch Hunt!"
Cohen, who served as Trump's personal lawyer and fixer, on Thursday pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about the Trump Organization's plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The company ultimately did not go ahead with the project.
Prosecutors said Cohen knowingly misled congressional investigators when he said negotiations for the deal ended in January 2016 and that he did not discuss it extensively with Trump Organization executives.
Read more: Michael Cohen's latest plea deal shows Mueller's 'starting to finally get to the truth' behind Trump and Russia
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Michael Cohen.
Cohen's guilty plea was a confirmation that Trump was not being truthful when he denied having any financial interests in Russia during the campaign, according to reporting by Business Insider's Sonam Sheth.
It also adds context to other meetings and financial dealings between Trump campaign associates and Russian nationals during the 2016 election.
Cohen is expected to give dozens of hours of testimony that could severely damage Trump. The president called his former lawyer a liar and a "weak person" after the announcement of the plea deal:
Read more: Trump's team can't seem to get its story straight on whether Michael Cohen is a liar
Two law-enforcement officials also said that Cohen discussed the idea with a spokesman for Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, BuzzFeed News reported.
The Trump Organization also reportedly wanted to give Russian President Vladimir Putin the penthouse in the building.
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