Giuliani Calls Claims Trump Directed Lawyer Cohen To Lie To Congress 'Categorically False'

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2019) US President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani on Friday denied accusations that his client could have directed his former personal legal counsel Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.

"Any suggestion that the President counseled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false," Giuliani said in a statement on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that his committee will investigate allegations that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress under oath in order to hide details about his talks regarding a real estate project in Russia.

Giuliani called Cohen a "convicted criminal and liar," adding that the new claims against Trump are "just more made-up lies born of Cohen's malice and desperation, in an effort to reduce his sentence."

On Thursday, Buzzfeed reported that Cohen has told Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller that Trump personally instructed him to lie about the timing of the negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

The talks on the project, which Trump sought Kremlin's help to secure the deal, continued into at least the middle of 2016, the height of the election campaign for the presidency, the report said.

As Trump campaigned, he repeatedly denied having business dealings with Russia.

Cohen is set to testify before the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee on February 7.

On January 10, Cohen said in a statement that he agreed to testify publicly and looks forward to having the privilege of giving an opportunity to provide a "full and credible account" of Trump's relations with Russia.

Last month, Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison for lying to Congress in connection with Mueller's investigation into allegations of Trump-Russia collusion and allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election.

Trump has denied any collusion with Russia, saying the investigation is a political witch hunt that has not produced evidence in two years.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied meddling in the US election, saying the allegations were invented to excuse the election loss of a presidential candidate as well as deflect public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption.