Donald Trump’s Former Lawyer Pleads Guilty To Lying About Communications With Russia, Reportedly Offered Putin a Penthouse in Trump’s Moscow Hotel

Hours after Donald Trump’s former attorney pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump’s commercial real estate in Russia, as well as his communication with Russian officials in regards to the property plans, new details about the building at the center of the plea deal have been released. 

According to Buzzfeed News, the Trump Organization planned to give a $50 million penthouse to President Vladimir Putin inside the planned Trump Tower Moscow back in 2016, and to make matters worse, negotiations to build the development extended well into 2016. 

However, in August of 2017, Cohen testified to Congress that negotiations stopped in January 2016, but as it turns out, communications lasted through June  after Trump had already become the Republican Party’s nominee.

According to court documents unsealed Thursday, Cohen informed Trump regularly about the negotiations. While it remains unclear if Trump was aware about the penthouse deal, the news highlights the relationship between Trump and Putin.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

However, Trump defended the Trump Tower project on Thursday, amid the legal drama, saying, “There was a good chance that I couldn’t have won [the presidential election], in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?” 

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