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Despite Cohen's lawyer's changing answers, CNN stands by Trump Tower report

Lanny Davis
Lanny Davis. Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images

CNN is standing by its story that Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, claimed he was willing to tell special counsel Robert Mueller that Trump knew about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and the Russians.

Why it matters: Lanny Davis, Cohen's attorney, admitted he was one of CNN's anonymous sources for the story, but backed off his original claim instead saying Cohen does not know if Trump knew about the meeting. A CNN spokeswoman said the story, which CNN first reported in July, had "more than one source" and the organization remained confident in its reporting despite Davis' flip.

Between the lines: Davis told Axios' Jonathan Swan earlier this month that Cohen doesn't know whether Trump knew about the meeting and refused to shoot down CNN's original story, but explained that Cohen's team was not the source of it.

CNN says the story noted that Cohen did not have evidence to support his claim and only reported that Cohen was making the claim while seeking a deal from prosecutors.

Donald Trump