Trump Blames Cohen Hearing for Failure of North Korea Summit

07:20 GMT, 4 March 2019

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump has suggested that the Democrats’ decision to interview his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen on the day of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could have contributed to the fact that he walked away from the summit in the Vietnamese capital with no deal.

Sputnik

"For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the 'walk'", Trump said on Twitter.

Trump said on 28 February that Cohen had been incorrect in his testimony to Congress this week and had "lied a lot", adding that holding Cohen's hearing during the US-North Korea summit was wrong.

‘Love Letter to Trump’: Cohen’s Unearthed Book Pitch Belies Congress Testimony

1 March 2019, 21:14 GMT

Last week, Trump and Kim met in Hanoi for their second summit to try to negotiate a deal on North Korea's denuclearisation but the meeting ended with the US president walking away from the negotiations empty-handed. At the same time in Washington, Cohen was testifying before a congressional committee, labelling the US president a "racist" and "conman".

Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for financial crimes that include tax fraud and hush-money payments to two women Trump allegedly had affairs with in violation of campaign finance laws, as well as lying to Congress.