Trump denies prior knowledge of Russian lawyer meeting

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump on Friday denied he knew beforehand of his son's meeting with a Russian lawyer who was offering dirt of Trump's Democratic challenger in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

The Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 has been a source of controversy for the president as he grapples with allegations of possible collusion with Russia and what U.S. intelligence officials have described as its influence campaign aimed at undercutting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

National media reported Thursday that Trump's former longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen claims Trump knew about the meeting before it occurred and is will to share that information with Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is probing Russia and possible Trump campaign collusion.

"No, I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.," Trump worte on Twitter. "Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?)"

Cohen is currently under federal investigation on possible campaign finance violations and bank fraud allegations. He has not been charged.

Trump further tore into Mueller who is reportedly investigating Trump's tweets as part of his investigation into possible obstruction of justice.

"The only Collusion with Russia was with the Democrats, so now they are looking at my Tweets (along with 53 million other people) - the rigged Witch Hunt continues!" he said in a barrage of early-morning tweets.

Trump and his administration regularly call Mueller's probe a "witch hunt."

There is no evidence to support Trump's suggestion that Russia colluded with the Democratic Party, and the Democratic National Committee was the target of a massive hack tied to Russia that released embarrassing e-mails during the 2016 election.