Trump lawyer denies any ties to Russian election meddling
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WASHINGTON, (APP/AFP): President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen said Tuesday he had no ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election and saw "not a hint" that Trump himself was involved, labelling such allegations political.
But Cohen's decision to go public with his statement ahead of a planned closed- door hearing by the Senate Intelligence Committee added to the rising tensions between investigators and the White House over the probe into possible collusion with Russian election meddling.
Angered lawmakers cancelled the meeting -- one of a series of closed interviews with people close to the president -- and announced Cohen could expect to be questioned at a future open hearing now set for next month.
"We were disappointed that Mr Cohen decided to pre-empt today's interview by releasing a public statement prior to his engagement with committee staff, in spite of the committee's requests that he refrain from public comment," said Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner, committee chair and vice chair, respectively.
But Cohen's lawyer Stephen Ryan suggested the legislators had already broken their agreement when someone last week leaked out the date of Cohen's appearance at the committee.
