Administration

Lanny Davis: Cohen ‘more than happy’ to tell Mueller ‘all that he knows’

Michael Cohen’s attorney on Tuesday night said his client had knowledge that would be “of interest” to Robert Mueller and would be willing to tell the special counsel “all that he knows.”

“Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows,” Davis said on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

Cohen’s attorney suggested President Trump had knowledge of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, as well as advanced knowledge of the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) by Russian intelligence officers.

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Davis, who is a contributor to The Hill, would not say whether Cohen has already been in contact with the special counsel, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice on the part of Trump.

But Davis said Cohen is willing to talk to the special counsel about the Trump Tower meeting, which Davis described as “the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democracy system.”

The meeting has become a flashpoint in Mueller’s investigation as Trump and his allies have frequently changed their story about why the meeting was held, originally saying it was about Russian adoption policy. Trump has since acknowledged that the meeting was meant to gather dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Davis said Cohen is also willing to discuss whether Trump knew in advance about the DNC hack.

“We know he publicly cheered it on, but did he also have private information?” Davis said of the hack.

Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations.

Cohen said in testimony Tuesday that he committed the campaign violation “at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” an indirect reference to Trump. Cohen did not mention Trump by name, but the account he provided matched his payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump. Cohen told the judge that he made a $130,000 payment at the direction of the candidate to keep someone quiet.

Earlier Tuesday, Davis argued that Cohen’s guilty plea showed Trump also committed a crime.

“Michael Cohen took this step today so that his family can move on to the next chapter. This is Michael fulfilling his promise made on July 2nd to put his family and country first and tell the truth about Donald Trump,” Davis said in a statement.

“Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election,” he continued. “If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”