Did Michael Cohen Lie Under Oath? Lawyer Says He Did, And Didn’t Seek Pardon

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer, friend and fixer of president Donald Trump, will have to explain to authorities the conflicting statements made by his lawyer, Lanny Davis, who said Cohen had, and then hadn’t, asked Trump for a presidential pardon.

Davis’ stunning contradictions cast doubt on the veracity of Cohen’s explosive public statements made Feb. 27 before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. In his testimony, Cohen detailed a vast number of legal and ethical sins committed by Trump over the past years, and also called his former boss a racist, a conman and a cheat.

Cohen further testified under oath before the committee that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

Davis apparently didn’t see it that way. He said Cohen “directed his (former) attorney” in 2018 to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point “with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as other lawyers advising President Trump.”

Cohen was supposed to have made this remark after the FBI in early April raided his home, office and hotel room. Davis said Cohen’s former lawyers were later trying to forge an agreement to share information with 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,” said Davis, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Davis’ comments mean Cohen might have again lied to Congress under oath and committed perjury.

Davis, however, said these comments don’t conflict with Cohen’s congressional testimony on Feb. 27. He explained Cohen’s willingness to explore a pardon ended when Cohen withdrew from a joint defense agreement with the president's legal team.

He said this occurred when Cohen "authorized 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," according to Davis. "And his statement at the Oversight Hearing was true -- and consistent with his post-joint-defense-agreement commitment to tell the truth."

Cohen will begin serving his sentence for perjury in May after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other crimes. He’s also admitted he lied to Congress about the duration of negotiations in 2016 over Trump Towers, a Trump real estate project in Moscow.