CNN has yet to issue a correction or retraction on a July report alleging President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with the Russians.
CNN cited “sources with knowledge” in the July 27 article, which asserted that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was prepared to tell special counsel Robert Mueller that the president knew about his son’s meeting with the Russians before it happened. Donald Trump Jr. said he took the meeting because he was promised dirt on then-candidate Hillary Clinton.
Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment on the reporting at the time.
The Atlantic called CNN’s reporting “hazy,” pointing out that there was no “material evidence” that Cohen was with Trump when he allegedly learned about the Trump Tower meeting.
On Wednesday, Davis debunked CNN’s report multiple times. (RELATED: Lanny Davis Obliterated CNN’s ‘Bombshell’ Report About Michael Cohen And Trump Tower)
First, when CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Davis what evidence he has that Trump knew about the meeting, Davis responded simply that Cohen’s testimony in front of Congress was “accurate.”
North Carolina GOP Sen. Richard Burr and Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, the leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, indicated on Tuesday that Cohen told the committee that he did not know about the meeting in advance.
Next, in an interview with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, Davis asserted that CNN’s reporting got “mixed up.”
“Well, I think the reporting of the story got mixed up in the course of a criminal investigation. We were not the source of the story. And the question of a criminal investigation, the advice we were given, those of us dealing with the media is that we could not do anything other than stay silent,” Davis said, explaining why he did not correct the report at the time.
“So Michael Cohen does not have information that President Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians beforehand or even after?” Cooper clarified.
“No, he does not,” Davis confirmed.
Who were CNN’s sources on this fake story that Michael Cohen had information on Trump having prior knowledge about the Trump Tower meeting? This was a massive story, spurring all kinds of talk of collusion. Now it’s been debunked. https://t.co/hDoB9NOoZp @dailycaller
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 23, 2018
So Lanny Davis was on CNN last night and was asked about whether Michael Cohen really does know that Donald Trump knew about Trump Tower meeting in advance: pic.twitter.com/e7yXIPdkn0
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 23, 2018
Despite Davis appearing on their network last night, CNN still has not put a correction or clarification on the story and has not updated with Davis’ comments.
