This article has been updated based on court documents.
President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and former Trump Organization executive vice president Michael Cohen minutes ago pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in federal court.
In his statement, Cohen told the court that as recently as June of 2016, Trump was still negotiating to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Official Justice Dept. court documents state the negotiations continued “as late as approximately June 2016.”
MSNBC had earlier reported Cohen had stated the negotiations continued into January of 2017.
Axios, citing a CNN report, says the negotiations continued as late as August of 2017:
Here is NBC News’ report:
Trump during the campaign and after repeatedly told voters he had no business ties to Russia. Cohen’s sworn statements prove that to be false.
“Cohen made a surprise appearance Thursday in a New York courtroom at around 9 a.m.,” The Associated Press reports. “He admitted to making false statements in 2017 to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.”
UPDATE: 10:21 AM ET –
The August 2017 date Axios and CNN are apparently reporting appears to be in question. But NBC News’ January 2017 date has not been called in to question.
UPDATE: 10:35 AM ET –
NCRM has examined the official Justice Dept. documents and determines Cohen admitted the negotiations continued as late as June of 2016, not into 2017, as MSNBC, CNN, and Axios reported. This report has been updated as a result.
This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. This story will be updated, and NCRM will likely publish follow-up stories on this news. Stay tuned and refresh for updates.