Putin Spokesman Confirms Cohen Tried To Contact Kremlin While Trying To Build Moscow Trump Tower

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Michael Cohen contacted the Kremlin twice in order to seek assistance in the construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former fixer, sent his office two separate emails in January 2016 asking to arrange a meeting with a high ranking member of Putin’s staff.

The Russian official’s claims fall in line with charges levied against Cohen by special counsel Robert Mueller, who claims that Cohen lied to Congress by telling lawmakers that Trump had ceased his efforts to build the skyscraper in the Russian capital in January 2016.

Cohen admitted this week that those efforts had continued until June of the same year, months after Trump had won the Republican nomination during the 2016 presidential election.

“Indeed, Mr Cohen made some requests, in which he said his company had actually planned to construct a building in Moscow and was unable to establish necessary business contacts,” Peskov said.

Peskov went on to say that in his emails, Cohen was attempting to arrange a meeting with Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, and one of the highest members of the Russian government.

“We called them back and asked what the presidential administration has to do with that and whether they are aware who they contacted,” Peskov added. “We told them that the Presidential Administration doesn’t build houses, and if they want to invest in Russia that we will be happy to see them at the St Petersburg Economic Forum.”

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Cohen said this week that he had had a 20-minute conversation with a member of Peskov’s office while pursuing the project.

President Trump has since commented on his former lawyer’s guilty plea, saying that the scrutiny over the now abandoned Russian construction project was part of the special counsel’s “witch hunt.”

Both Trump and members of the Russian government have denied claims that they cooperated in order to get Trump elected president.