Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Asked Putin Aide For Help

Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for President Trump and executive vice president of Trump's company, emailed an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin during last year's election seeking help with a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow, according to documents submitted to Congress Monday, the Washington Post reported.

According to The Post: "Cohen’s email marks the most direct interaction yet documented of a top Trump aide and a similarly senior member of Putin’s government."

In January of 2016, Cohen emailed Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's top press aide and Putin's personal spokesman, after talks between the Trump Organization and a Russian company regarding the Trump Tower project in Russia stalled. (For more national political news, sign up for the free White House Patch email newsletter.)

In the email, submitted to Congress, Cohen wrote:

“As this project is too important, I am hereby requesting your assistance. I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals. I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon,” Cohen wrote.

The email shows that the Trump Organization was asking for help from the Russian government to advance Trump's business interests at the same time the then-candidate was speaking favorably about Putin on the campaign trail, as The Post points out.

The revelation comes less than 24 hours after The Post's Sunday night exclusive piece about the Trump Organization's pursuit of the Moscow development.

>> Read today's Washington Post report by Rosalind S. Helderman, Tom Hamburger and Carol D. Leonnig here.

This is a developing story. Patch will update it with more details.

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AP Photo/Richard Drew