Mueller's office reproves 'inaccurate' report on Trump probe

WASHINGTON - The office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Friday that the leading US website BuzzFeed News was "not accurate" to report that President Donald Trump directed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the possible Moscow Trump Tower project.

"BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate," said special counsel spokesman Peter Carr in a statement.

It's extremely rare for Mueller's office to comment on media reports about the ongoing investigation into the alleged Russia meddling of the 2016 elections and its ties with the Trump campaign.

BuzzFeed, citing two federal law enforcement officials, reported Thursday night that Mueller has evidence suggesting the president directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the possible Trump Tower project in Moscow. Trump on Friday accused Cohen of "lying to reduce his jail time."

Cohen admitted in the investigation that talks about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow extended into June 2016, when Trump was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Cohen initially told Congress that the talks fizzled out that January.

Cohen is set to testify voluntarily before the US House Oversight and Reform Committee on Feb 7. He was sentenced last month to three years in jail after pleading guilty to a series of crimes, including hush money payments prior to the 2016 presidential election to silence two women who claim to have had affairs with Trump.