US special counsel Robert Mueller has disputed a claim that President Trump told his long-time lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.
Mr Mueller’s office said the report by Buzzfeed News was “not accurate”.
The website said that Cohen had told investigators that Donald Trump had instructed him to lie about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Mr Trump later denied the report saying his ex-lawyer had lied to investigators to “reduce his jail time”.
Responding to the special counsel’s statement, Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith tweeted that he stood by the story.
Democratic politicians have said they will investigate the allegations.
What did Mueller’s office say?
In a brief statement, it said: “Buzzfeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterisation of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.”
The statement did not say which parts of the BuzzFeed report were inaccurate.
It is extremely rare for Mr Mueller’s office to issue such a statement.
The special counsel is investigating alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election and whether Trump campaign figures were complicit – a claim repeatedly denied by Mr Trump.
Buzzfeed said its report was based on testimony from two unnamed law enforcement officials investigating the matter.
Cohen told Congress that talks over the Trump Tower plan had taken place between September 2015 and January 2016, when the project was scrapped.
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Source: BBC
