Trump denies report he asked top ally to oversee Cohen investigation

Source: The Hill | February 19, 2019 | Brett Samuels

President Trump on Tuesday denied a report that he asked his former acting attorney general to put an ally of his in the U.S. attorney’s office in charge of a wide-ranging investigation into his former attorney, Michael Cohen.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office announcement on space policy, Trump dismissed a New York Times report published a short time earlier that said he asked then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to put U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in charge of the investigation. 

“I don’t know who gave you that,” Trump said, calling the report “fake news.”

The White House declined to comment on The Times report before it was published.

The Times reported that Trump requested Berman be put in charge of the investigation that has since resulted in jail time for Cohen, even though Berman recused himself from the probe.

Whitaker, whose tenure ended last week with the confirmation of Attorney General William Barr, knew Berman could not un-recuse himself, the Times reported. Trump then grew frustrated with Whitaker and the appointee’s inability to address his mounting legal problems.

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Berman, who donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign, recused himself from the investigation prior to an FBI raid of Cohen’s hotel room and office last April. Trump had interviewed Berman personally for the U.S. attorney job in New York’s Southern District in a break with traditional hiring practices for the role.

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