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“We’re very happy with what we’re reading because there was no collusion whatsoever,” Trump told reporters Saturday at the White House before boarding Marine One for the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia.
In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes after being charged by Manhattan federal prosecutors. Those included tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and campaign-finance violations tied to his work for Trump, including payments Cohen made or helped orchestrate that were designed to silence women who claimed affairs with the then-presidential candidate.
Trump has denied those claims. Asked Saturday if he directed Cohen to commit election-related crimes, Trump firmly said, “No.”
Trump called special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation a “very one-sided situation.”
The President also argued that the “last thing I wanted is help from Russia on the campaign” and pivoted to attacking Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. He pointed to the role the law firm working for Clinton’s campaign played in funding Fusion GPS for opposition research on him. Fusion GPS is the research firm that hired the former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the Russian dossier on Trump, as a subcontractor.
He also quoted Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera, saying “this is collusion illusion” and “there is nothing impeachable here.”
Rivera, who made the comments Saturday morning on Fox News, has called Trump a friend and appeared on his hit reality TV show, “Celebrity Apprentice.”
The President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani echoed Trump on Saturday, arguing that “Mueller’s late Friday dump demonstrates yet again no evidence connected to President.”
Prosecutors said Cohen should receive a “substantial” prison sentence of roughly four years for tax fraud and campaign finance crimes.
In a separate filing, prosecutors from Mueller’s office accused Cohen of lying to them about his contacts with Russia.
Despite the revelations in the filings, Trump tweeted after their release on Friday, “Totally clears the President. Thank you!”
CNN’s Liz Stark, Katelyn Polantz, Marshall Cohen and Erica Orden contributed to this report.
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