Lanny Davis, an adviser representing Michael Cohen, revealed on Sunday that no one from the White House had ever told the then-Trump attorney not to lie to Congress or federal investigators.
December 16, 2018

Lanny Davis, a former Clinton adviser now representing Michael Cohen, revealed on Sunday that no one from the White House had ever told the then-Trump attorney not to lie to Congress or federal investigators.

During an interview on Face the Nation, Davis admonished Donald Trump for calling Cohen a "rat" after he decided to testify on behalf of the government.

"That's the language of a mobster, not of the president," Davis said.

According to Davis, Cohen "took ownership and personal responsibility" for lying about payments made to alleged Trump mistresses during the 2016 campaign.

"Let's remember that Michael Cohen has corroborating evidence for everything that he has said," Davis explained. "[Special counsel Robert Mueller] certainly does. On the issue of the purpose of the money paid to Stormy Daniels, [Donald Trump], the same man who called Michael Cohen a rat, denied on Air Force One to the American people that he knew anything about Stormy Daniels."

"Now that [Cohen] saw Donald Trump as president, he underwent a genuine transformation because he feared for his country and his family when Donald Trump was president," the attorney said. "[Trump] is the top law enforcement officer of the country and who does he praise? He praises people who have lied and refused to cooperate -- the opposite of what a president should do."

Davis declined to say whether Cohen had "evidence" proving the Trump campaign conspired with Russia because he did not want to influence an ongoing investigation.

Davis, however, did note that Trump was aware when Cohen "was about to lie" in testimony to Congress and did nothing to stop him.

"Not one person from the White House -- I can tell you this -- ever said, 'Don't lie,'" Davis explained. "He did need to be told that because he ended up lying and he's regretted it and he's going to jail for it."

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