955 concerned about those allegations, which he believed were provably false. On May 18, 2017, Cohen met with the President to discuss the request from Congress, and the President instructed Cohen that he should cooperate because 956 there was nothing there. Cohen eventually entered into a joint defense agreement (JDA) with the 957 President and other individuals who were part of the Russia investigation. In the months leading up to his congressional testimony, Cohen frequently spoke 958 with the President’s personal counsel. Cohen said that in those conversations the President’s personal counsel would sometimes say that he had just been with 959 the President. Cohen recalled that the President’s personal counsel told him the JDA was working well together and assured him that there was nothing there 960 and if they stayed on message the investigations would come to an end soon. 961 At that time, Cohen’s legal bills were being paid by the Trump Organization, and Cohen was told not to worry because the investigations would be over by 962 summer or fall of 2017. Cohen said that the President’s personal counsel also conveyed that, as part of the JDA, Cohen was protected, which he would not be 963 if he “went rogue.” Cohen recalled that the President’s personal counsel reminded him that “the President loves you” and told him that if he stayed on 964 message, the President had his back. In August 2017, Cohen began drafting a statement about Trump Tower 965 Moscow to submit to Congress along with his document production. The final version of the statement contained several false statements about the 966 project. First, although the Trump Organization continued to pursue the project until at least June 2016, the statement said, “The proposal was under consideration at the Trump Organization from September 2015 until the end of January 2016. By the end of January 2016, I determined that the proposal was not feasible for a variety of business reasons and should not be pursued further. Based on my business determinations, the Trump Organization abandoned the 967 proposal.” Second, although Cohen and candidate Trump had discussed possible travel to Russia by Trump to pursue the venture, the statement said, “Despite overtures by Mr. Sater, I never considered asking Mr. Trump to travel to Russia in connection with this proposal. I told Mr. Sater that Mr. Trump would 968 not travel to Russia unless there was a definitive agreement in place.” Third,