Politics

Trump Hits Back At Michael Cohen, Justice Department Claims

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump expressed his frustration Sunday morning with his former attorney Michael Cohen and recent court filings alleging that he attempted to circumvent campaign finance law during the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before his departure for the annual Army-Navy college football game in Philadelphia, U.S., December 8, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before his departure for the annual Army-Navy college football game in Philadelphia, U.S., December 8, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Trump’s tweets come after a Friday court filing by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York which alleges that he worked with Cohen to circumvent campaign finance law when directing payments to two women threatening to go public with affair allegations against the then-presidential candidate. The Southern District of New York’s filing suggested that Cohen “acted in coordination and at the direction of” an unnamed person, who is said to be Trump. (RELATED: Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty In Mueller Probe To Lying To Congress)

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to the G-20 summit in Argentina from the White House in Washington, U.S., Nov. 29, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to the G-20 summit in Argentina from the White House in Washington, U.S., Nov. 29, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The payments were later disclosed by Trump in a May 2018 financial disclosure form. The president noted that if his payments to the two women were campaign finance violations that it was his lawyer’s error, and not his own.

The White House forcefully pushed back against any suggestion that the Cohen filings endanger Trump saying “the government’s filings in Mr.Cohen’s case tell us nothing of value that wasn’t already known. Mr. Cohen has repeatedly lied and as the prosecution has pointed out to the court, Mr. Cohen is no hero.”

Trump tweeted shortly after the filing’s revelation that they cleared him of wrongdoing entirely.