Trump’s personal lawyer refuses to cooperate with Congressional inquiries

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Trump’s Personal Lawyer Refuses to Cooperate With Congressional Inquiries
WASHINGTON — Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, said on Tuesday that he was refusing to cooperate with House and Senate intelligence committee investigations into Russian election meddling.

• The move may prompt lawmakers to issue subpoenas, compelling him to provide documents, testimony or other records.
• Mr. Cohen, a confidant of Mr. Trump who was also a spokesman during the campaign, called the requests “poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered.”
• “To date, there has not been a single witness, document or piece of evidence linking me to this fake Russian conspiracy,” he said in a text message. “This is not surprising to me because there is none!” Mr. Cohen’s response was first reported by ABC News.
• Mr. Cohen said he would comply with a subpoena should one be issued, “as I have nothing to hide.”
• Separately, Boris Epshteyn, a Trump campaign surrogate who briefly served in the White House press office, said in a statement that he had also received a request from the House committee seeking information, a development first reported by CBS News.
• The disclosures add Mr. Cohen and Mr. Epshteyn to a growing list of Trump associates under scrutiny as investigators examine whether members of Mr. Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian officials.
• Representatives for the senior Republicans and Democrats on the Senate and House panels declined to comment on the requests.
• Already a focus of the F.B.I.’s counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference, Mr. Cohen helped propose a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia to Mr. Trump that would allow the president to lift sanctions on Russia — an effort that, while not illegal, appeared troubling given growing questions about the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
• Mr. Cohen’s wife is Ukrainian, and he once worked to build an ethanol business there, in addition to working on deals for the Trump Organization connected to the republic of Georgia and a mixed martial arts fighter from Russia.
• Mr. Cohen was named in connection with Russian efforts to interfere in the election in an unverified dossier, paid for by Mr. Trump’s political opponents and compiled by a former British intelligence agent.
• Mr. Epshteyn, a lawyer and executive at an investment firm who grew up in Moscow and befriended Mr. Trump’s son Eric at Georgetown University, became known for his combative style during television interviews as he promoted Mr. Trump’s campaign.
• The congressional investigations have picked up some momentum in recent weeks, with several committees requesting materials and testimony from James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director whom Mr. Trump fired on May 9, and several of Mr. Trump’s associates.
• Last week, Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser, informed Senate investigators that he would not comply with its subpoena for documents, citing the Fifth Amendment’s protections against self-incrimination. He has apparently walked back that refusal and is prepared to give some business-related and personal documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee by next week, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing a person close to Mr. Flynn who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
• Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee’s top Democrat, responded after Mr. Flynn’s initial refusal by issuing subpoenas to two firms he owns. The committee later voted to give Mr. Burr and Mr. Warner blanket subpoena power, theoretically allowing them to speed the process through which they solicit information and testimony.
• Refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena puts Mr. Flynn at risk of being held in contempt of Congress, a rare move that could subject him to a criminal citation should lawmakers choose to pursue it.

Trump’s Personal Lawyer Refuses to Cooperate With Congressional Inquiries - The New York Times
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House Russia investigators subpoena Flynn, Cohen
The House intelligence committee issued subpoenas Wednesday to former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as part of the probe into Russian activity during the 2016 election.

• The subpoenas, the first from the House panel, seek their testimony, as well as documents from their businesses.
• "As part of our ongoing investigation into Russian active measures during the 2016 campaign, today we approved subpoenas for several individuals for testimony, personal documents and business records," Reps. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, and Adam Schiff, D-California — the co-leaders of the House investigation — said Wednesday in a statement.
• "We hope and expect that anyone called to testify or provide documents will comply with that request, so that we may gain all the information within the scope of our investigation. We will continue to pursue this investigation wherever the facts may lead," they added.
• The subpoenas come a day after Cohen said he would not cooperate with congressional investigators and amid turmoil inside the House investigation itself, as lawmakers wrangle with the role of House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-California, in the probe.
• A congressional source familiar with the committee's probe tells CNN that the House intelligence committee issued a total of seven subpoenas today. Four of the subpoenas were issued on the Russia probe and three others were issued seeking information on "unmasking."
• A source close to Flynn said Tuesday that the former national security adviser would comply with a series of Senate subpoenas issued for documents from Flynn and his businesses.

House Russia investigators subpoena Flynn, Cohen - CNN
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