New York, December 1 (RHC)-- U.S. President Donald Trump’s former longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump’s efforts to build a skyscraper in Moscow while he was running for president. 

Cohen admitted in court that he lied when he said plans for Trump’s Moscow project ended before the Iowa caucus in February 2016.  In fact, Cohen worked on the project up until June 2016 and continued to give direct updates to Trump, who is identified as “Individual 1” in the court documents. 

Michael Cohen also admitted he directly spoke with a Kremlin official about the project and even considered arranging for Trump to travel to Moscow after the 2016 Republican National Convention.  Cohen said he lied to Congress in an attempt to be consistent with Trump’s “political messaging” that the campaign had no ties to Russia. 

Cohen’s admission comes less than two weeks before he is scheduled to be sentenced on other charges.  In August, he pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.

Meanwhile, BuzzFeed News is reporting the Trump Organization planned to give a $50 million penthouse at the proposed Trump Tower Moscow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.