Trump lawyer says footage used in TV ad was a 'mistake'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A lawyer for real estate mogul Donald Trump said the use of footage from Morocco to illustrate illegal immigration into the United States in a TV ad for the presidential candidate was a "mistake."

Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, told CNN Tuesday that there's "no doubt" someone in the campaign made a mistake in using the footage.

"I think the point is well taken that we have 2,000 miles of open border at the southern border and, well, whoever the person is, I'm sure I'll be sending them a letter very soon on behalf of Mr. Trump, but the bottom line is it's the same thing," Cohen said. "The point is that they're coming through."

He continued: "Yeah, I'm going to have a conversation with whoever made the mistake – there's no doubt about that – but the truth is people are pouring through our borders, which are open."

The ad referred to illegal immigration into the United States from its southern border with Mexico. It showed crowds of people climbing over a border fence. However, PolitiFact reported Monday that the video was traced to Morocco, where migrants passed over the border into the small Spanish town of Melilla.

Previously, Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager told NBC News the footage was used intentionally.

"No shit it's not the Mexican border but that's what our country is going to look like. This was 1,000 percent on purpose," Lewandowski said.

Later Tuesday, Cohen walked back his remarks.

"I wasn't aware of the question as stated, knew little about the ad or campaign strategy," he told The Washington Post in an email, adding that he does not speak for the Trump campaign.

NBC News reported the ad is slated to air in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, with $750,000 and $500,000 ad buys, respectively.