Michael Cohen Puts Dagger In The Heart Of Steele Dossier During Congressional Testimony
2:48 PM 02/27/2019 | Politics
Chuck Ross | Reporter
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen denied during congressional testimony Wednesday that he visited Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, as the infamous Steele dossier alleges.
“Have you ever been to Prague?” South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican, asked Cohen during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing.
“I’ve never been to Prague,” said Cohen, adding: “I’ve never been to the Czech Republic.”
Michael Cohen (CNN Screenshot: February 27, 2019)
Cohen’s testimony, which he gave under oath, would seem to settle one of the most significant allegations made by Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote a dossier of anti-Trump research on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC.
Steele’s 35-page report is a roadmap of sorts for the allegation that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government to influence the election.
Steele claimed that Cohen visited Prague in August 2016 to meet with Kremlin officials to discuss making non-traceable payments to hackers.
Cohen denied the claim after BuzzFeed published the dossier on Jan. 10, 2017. Cohen’s claim also undercuts numerous news reports that claimed evidence supports the dossier.
McClatchy has published two reports that claimed that the special counsel’s office has evidence that Cohen visited Prague. Cohen has denied both.
Cohen began cooperating with the special counsel’s investigation in July 2018. He has been sentenced to three years in prison on various charges, including tax evasion, bank fraud, and making false statements to Congress.
In his testimony Wednesday, he said that he has no evidence that President Trump or members of the campaign colluded with Russia.