after he slammed Cohen at the White House,<\/a> where he teased his new claim in comments to reporters on the South Lawn before leaving for Alabama to survey the tornado damage.<\/p>\n\u201cHis [Cohen\u2019s] lawyer said that they went to my lawyers and asked for pardons,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd I can go a step above that but I won\u2019t go to it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president said Cohen \u2014 who one said he\u2019d \u201ctake a bullet for the president\u201d but has since turned against him \u2014 told a \u201cstone cold\u201d lie in his statement before the committee.<\/p>\n
This week, Cohen\u2019s attorney Lanny Davis said his client had entertained the possibility of a pardon as part of a joint defense agreement Cohen had with Trump after Cohen\u2019s office was raided almost a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring that time period, he 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,\u201d Davis said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The discussion of a pardon was broached by Cohen\u2019s lawyer at the time, Stephen Ryan, who spoke with the president\u2019s attorneys in the months after the raid.<\/p>\n
The joint defense agreement, which allowed lawyers for Trump and Cohen to share information, ended in July 2018.<\/p>\n
Davis said the pardon was \u201cdangled\u201d by Team Trump and that Cohen\u2019s statement to the committee was truthful.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter July 2, 2018, Mr. 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,\u201d Davis said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis statement at the Oversight Hearing was true \u2014 and consistent with his post-joint defense agreement commitment to tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for a variety of crimes, including campaign finance violations.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n