Michael Cohen did explore idea of presidential pardon, lawyer reveals

Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer “directed his attorney” to explore a potential presidential pardon last year, his current legal representative has said.

Michael Cohen testified under oath last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Mr Trump.

But on Thursday, his lawyer Lanny Davis said Cohen had in fact “directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump”.

The conversation happened in the months after the FBI in early April raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, while his lawyers were involved in an agreement to share information with Mr Trump’s legal team.

At the time, Cohen was “open to the ongoing ‘dangling’ of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media”, Mr Davis said in a statement.

Mr Davis’s comment raises questions about whether Cohen, who is expected to begin a three-year prison sentence in May, lied to Congress last week.

But it also highlights how the issue of pardons has emerged as a significant line of inquiry for congressional investigators.

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the president’s wide latitude in granting them.

But investigators want to know if the prospect of presidential pardons were somehow offered or used inappropriately.

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations since turning on his former boss and co-operating with special counsel Robert Mueller. During last week’s public testimony, he called Mr Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist.

Mr Trump, in turn, has said Cohen “did bad things unrelated to Trump” and “is lying in order to reduce his prison time”.

In his statement on Thursday, Mr Davis said when he was brought on to Cohen’s legal team in June, his client “authorised me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered”.

“That continues to be the case,” Mr Davis said. “And his statement at the Oversight Hearing was true — and consistent with his post-joint defence agreement commitment to tell the truth.”

Politicians have requested information about talks on possible pardons for Cohen and other defendants close to the president who have become entangled in Mr Mueller’s investigation. He is investigating possible co-ordination between Russia and Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Cohen is headed to prison in May after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other crimes.

Federal prosecutors have said Mr Trump directed Cohen to arrange payments to buy the silence of two women — porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — who had alleged they had sex with Mr Trump. The president has denied having an affair.