US President Donald Trump pursued a business deal to erect a tower bearing his name in Moscow throughout 2016, his lawyer has said, raising new questions for congressional investigators looking into possible ties between the President and Russia.

Key points: Rudy Giuliani said the discussions about the Moscow project may have continued as late as November 2016

Rudy Giuliani said the discussions about the Moscow project may have continued as late as November 2016 Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to lying about the project's timeline to Congress

Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to lying about the project's timeline to Congress Mr Cohen had said he abandoned the project in January 2016, while prosecutors showed talks in at least June

Mr Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the President may have continued to pursue the project and had discussions about it with his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, until as late as October or November 2016, when Mr Trump was closing in on his election victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress by saying that he had abandoned the project in January 2016, even though prosecutors say he actually continued pursuing it into that June.

"It's our understanding that [the discussions] went on throughout 2016," Mr Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, told NBC's Meet the Press program.

"Probably up to, could be up to as far as October, November," he said.

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"But the President's recollection of them is that the thing had petered out quite a bit."

The Moscow deal ultimately did not materialise but Mr Giuliani's remarks suggest that Mr Trump's discussions about the project with Mr Cohen may have dragged on months longer than had been publicly known.

"That is news to me. And that is big news," Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also said on Meet the Press.

"It's remarkable that we're two years after the fact and just discovering it [now]."

An investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Moscow and Mr Trump's campaign has loomed large over his presidency, amid media reports of his team's connections with Russia.

Trump and Cohen may have discussed testimony

Donald Trump and Michael Cohen may have spoken about congressional testimony, Mr Giuliani said. ( Reuters: Jonathan Ernst )

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Mr Cohen has admitted to lying about the Moscow project in a 2017 congressional interview.

Mr Giuliani said the President and his former personal lawyer may have discussed this testimony and that it would not matter even if they had.

Mr Giuliani said in the interviews with CNN and NBC News that Mr Trump never directed Mr Cohen to lie.

"I don't know if it happened or didn't happen," he said.

"And so what if he talked to him about it?"

The question arose in light of a Buzzfeed News report from last week that said Mr Trump had instructed Mr Cohen to lie to Congress, and that Mr Cohen relayed that to special counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators.

Mr Mueller's office took the unusual step of issuing a statement disputing the story.

Reuters/AP