After BuzzFeed wrote an article about President Trump directing his attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about Russian negotiations, the news weren’t the only ones who went crazy. The office of the special counsel disputed BuzzFeed News’ article and backed up Trump less than 12 hours after the report was published.
A Lie
“President Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project” reads the controversial BuzzFeed article title. The article reports that President Trump had a project in Moscow even though he told the public he had no business deals in Russia. [1]
According to BuzzFeed, Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress in order to minimize Trump’s involvement with Russia. The special counsel found out about Trump’s order through multiple witnesses and Cohen acknowledging those instructions.
“The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.”
Special Counsel
It’s not an unknown fact that President Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller don’t agree on much. Which is why it was so surprising when Mueller disputed the BuzzFeed news report that bashed Trump.
It’s rare that a statement leaves Mueller’s office that is longer than four words: “We’ll decline to comment.”
But less than half a day after the BuzzFeed report was published Mueller’s spokesman, Peter Carr said that “BuzzFeed’s descriptions of specific statements made to the Special Counsel’s office, and the characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.” [2]
Mueller has previously said that many stories published about the Russia investigation are misleading and inaccurate, but the special counsel has never put out a statement disputing any one story until now.
That’s not All
For the past day, President Trump has been railing against fake news and mainstream media.
Many people are saying that the Mainstream Media will have a very hard time restoring credibility because of the way they have treated me over the past 3 years (including the election lead-up), as highlighted by the disgraceful Buzzfeed story & the even more disgraceful coverage!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2019
BuzzFeed has not taken down its article though. Instead, it stands by the accuracy of its reporting by investigative reporters Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold. Editor-in-Chief, Ben Smith, even tweeted that the special counsel should be more clear about what he was disputing.
In response to the statement tonight from the Special Counsel’s spokesman: We stand by our reporting and the sources who informed it, and we urge the Special Counsel to make clear what he’s disputing.
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) January 19, 2019
Notes:
- ^Leopold, Jason. “Donald Trump Told Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About Moscow Tower Project.” BuzzFeed News, 19 Jan. 2019, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/trump-russia-cohen-moscow-tower-mueller-investigation?ref=bfnsplash. (go back ↩)
- ^Choi, David. “Mueller’s office disputes bombshell report on Trump’s alleged involvement with Michael Cohen’s testimony to Congress.” Business Insider, 18 Jan. 2019, www.businessinsider.com/muellers-office-disputes-buzzfeed-news-report-on-michael-cohen-2019-1?_ga=2.179393828.1453521350.1547928971-1402556697.1544806520. (go back ↩)
