Michael Cohen Attorney Says He Is Source of Trump-Russia CNN Report

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Michael Cohen attorney Lanny Davis admitted this week that he was a source for a much heralded July CNN article that reported Cohen saw Donald Trump Jr. inform his father about plans for a Trump Tower meeting between representatives of his campaign and a Russian lawyer.

The bombshell piece, by Jim Sciutto, Carl Bernstein and Marshall Cohen, contradicts the president’s claim that he had no knowledge of the sit-down until after he became president. The piece cites Davis, one of Cohen’s lawyers, but said he “declined to comment.”

The story received fresh attention this week after Davis appeared to contradict the news during an appearance on “Anderson Cooper 360,” revising his position to say he was no longer certain Cohen has witnessed Trump Sr. being informed.

Also Read: Anthony Scaramucci Plugs Upcoming Trump Musical in New York City (Video)

“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,” he said on air.

On Monday, Davis told BuzzFeed’s Steven Perlberg that he was, in fact, the source of the story and attributed his remarks on CNN’s airwaves to misspeaking.

“I made a mistake,” he told the website, adding, “I did not mean to be cute.”

Davis also told The Washington Post on Sunday that he could not longer stand by the original assertions he made to Sciutto, Bernstein and Cohen about what Donald Trump Sr. knew and when.

“Lanny Davis, a spokesman and attorney for Cohen, said in an interview this weekend that he is no longer certain about claims he made to reporters on background and on the record in recent weeks about what Cohen knows about Trump’s awareness of the Russian efforts,” The Post reported.

Reps for Davis and CNN did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap, but the channel told other outlets that it continues to stand by the story, which cited multiple sources.

Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women

Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate

Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers

Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
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Sam Seder

Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb

Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro

In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
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Perry Fein

In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn

Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
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Cheri Jacobus

Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black

Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon

Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.

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