NEW YORK: US prosecutors have revealed that a Russian offered cooperation to Donald Trump'scampaign as early as 2015, declaring that the president's ex-lawyer MichaelCohen had provided "relevant" and "substantial" help to theRussia investigation. In a separate case, federal prosecutors Friday demanded"substantial" jail time of between 51 to 63 months - four to fiveyears - for Cohen for bank fraud and campaign finance violations to which heplead guilty in August.
US AttorneyRobert Khuzami accused the 52-year-old, who once vowed to take a bullet for thepresident, of being motivated by "personal greed" and of"repeatedly" using his power and influence for "deceptiveends". "Totally clears the President. Thank you!" Trump tweetedcryptically as television networks were consumed by the Cohen documents - whichthe White House dismissed as revealing "nothing of value".
The campaignfinance violations to which Cohen plead guilty - unrelated to the Russia investigation- concerned hush payments he made on Trump's behalf to alleged former lovers ofthe president, including porn star Stormy Daniels. In the 40-page documentKhuzami drew a direct link between Cohen's illegal behavior and Trump. "Inparticular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to bothpayments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction ofIndividual-1," the document reads, referring to Trump.
Robert Mueller,the special counsel heading up the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016vote, followed up with a separate filing saying Cohen had made"substantial and significant efforts to remediate his misconduct, acceptresponsibility for his actions, and assist" the special investigation, athorn in Trump's side. Cohen continued to provide "relevant and truthfulinformation" to assist the probe, holding seven sessions withinvestigators, "many of them lengthy, and continues to make himselfavailable to investigators," it said.
He had providedinformation about contacts with Russian interests during the campaign, attemptsby Russians to reach the campaign and about contacts with "personsconnected to the White House" in 2017-2018, the filing added. Around Nov2015, some five months after Trump launched his bid for the presidency and wellbefore previously reported contacts, Cohen spoke to a purported "trustedperson" in the Russian Federation who offered the campaign "politicalsynergy" and "synergy on a government level."
Cohen said theunidentified person "repeatedly proposed" a meeting between Trump andRussian President Vladimir Putin, claiming it could have a"phenomenal" impact "not only in political but in a businessdimension as well". "Cohen, however, did not follow up on this invitation,"the filing added.
Trump claims'cleared'
The former fixerlast week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in connection with a Moscow realestate deal, which was being pursued as late as one month before Trumpofficially became the Republican nominee for president. Due to his help,Mueller declined to recommend additional jail time for Cohen for lying toCongress. Recent filings in the Mueller probe have suggested the White Houseknew that Cohen planned to lie to lawmakers about his contacts with Russians.They also suggest Trump and his family were in the loop on discussions withRussians on a Moscow project, even after the real estate tycoon secured theRepublican nomination in mid-2016.
In Washington,Mueller also detailed multiple "lies" that former Trump campaign chiefPaul Manafort told investigators, leading to a termination of his cooperationdeal, which could lead to a stiffer jail sentence for the 69-year-old. Aheavily redacted court filing said that Manafort's "lies" includeduntruths about his dealings with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate whoUS officials suspect is a Russian intelligence operative, and about hiscontacts with Trump administration officials after striking a plea agreement.The White House similarly dismissed that filing, arguing it "saysabsolutely nothing about the President". "Once again the media istrying to create a story where there isn't one," said Sanders.
Comey testifies
Meanwhile, formerFBI director James Comey testified before US lawmakers for the first time inover a year Friday, with much of the discussions centering on Hillary Clinton'semail use. Comey had pleaded for a public hearing after he was subpoenaed bythe outgoing Congress in November, but House Republicans including some ofTrump's allies insisted on a private session before the judiciary and oversightcommittees.
Comey wasquestioned as part of a Republican-led House inquiry into possible Russianinterference, and Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, featured prominently."Hillary Clinton's emails, for heaven's sake," Comey said aftertestifying for six hours. "I'm not sure we need to do this at all."Clinton had set up a private email server before becoming secretary of state in2009.
Republicansseized on the revelation years later, saying she broke department protocol byusing a private email account while a government official in order to hidesensitive correspondence. The issue became a flashpoint of the 2016 race.Republicans exited Friday's session complaining that Comey lawyers shut down certainavenues of questioning. Comey disputed that but gave a rationale for why hewould not publicly discuss some elements. "The FBI, for understandablereasons, doesn't want me talking about the details of the investigation that isstill ongoing, and began when I was FBI director," he said. - Agencies