Michael Cohen, an attorney and executive vice president for the Trump Organization who in January 2016 asked Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide for help on a business deal, told The Wall Street Journal Monday he only discussed the real estate deal three times with Donald Trump during the campaign.
Cohen in late May became the focus of the expanding congressional investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 campaign, and recently provided information to congressional investigators about contacts he had with people connected to the Russian government.
Trump was pursuing a deal to build a huge Trump Tower in Moscow, and Cohen had reached out to Dmitry Peskov for help in proceeding with the stalled project.
The Washington Post on Sunday first reported of the Trump Organization's pursuit of a deal in Moscow as Trump ran for president.
Cohen told the Journal he spoke with Trump twice in 2015 and once in January 2016 about the licensing deal. His first discussion with Trump was about working on the deal and in October 2015, he asked for a signature from Trump on a nonbinding letter of intent for the project. Last year, he informed Trump that the proposal was no longer on the table.
Cohen told the Journal he didn't tell Trump that he had asked for Peskov's help and also told the paper he didn't recall receiving a response from Peskov.
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