Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, offered riveting testimony today, laying into his former boss as a “racist” and a “cheat” in a packed House Oversight and Reform Committee room.
A decidedly contrite Cohen said he was ashamed of things he had done as Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, saying he had paid for his loyalty dearly.
“I blindly followed his demands,” Cohen said in closing remarks after more than seven hours of testimony. “My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything.”
Wearing a powder blue tie and with Washington power attorney Lanny Davis behind him, Cohen offered up the names of Trump Organization employees who could be subject to scrutiny from congressional investigations and said Trump had prior knowledge of WikiLeaks’ dump of damaging Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential race.
Cohen, who has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators and is due to begin serving a three-year prison term in May, offered an inside look at what he has shared with federal agents.
And he hinted at things that he has told investigators in private that he cannot share publicly, stating that he was unable to discuss “any other wrongdoing or illegal acts” committed by the president because they are tied to an ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
The former lawyer repeatedly made reference to Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, practically suggesting that Democrats bring him in for testimony.
He also named other staffers in the Trump Organization, including Trump’s personal secretary, saying they would be able to corroborate his claims.
Cohen testified extensively about Trump’s involvement in a scheme to pay off women who claimed to have had affairs with him during the 2016 campaign — in connection with which Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law.
Donald Trump and adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2005.
“There is no doubt in my mind,” Cohen answered when asked about whether he had doubts Trump knew what he was paying for when he reimbursed Cohen for the hush-money payments throughout 2017, while he was in the Oval Office. Trump has offered shifting accounts of his knowledge of the payments but has denied any wrongdoing.
Cohen came to the hearing with a $35,000 check signed by Trump, evidence, he said, that showed he had been reimbursed.
Cohen also testified that he believed Trump inflated his assets in statements to Deutsche Bank in order to obtain a loan to bid on the Buffalo Bills.
Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said that it would be ultimately up to the committee’s chairman to decide whether to call Trump Organization staffers to testify.
But he said he was most interested in learning more about the president’s knowledge of the WikiLeaks’ email releases, as well as the Trump real estate projects.
Trump was “clearly misleading the American people at the height of the campaign,” Welch said.
Republicans used their time to rip into Cohen’s trustworthiness, arguing that he was upset that he was not given a job in Washington when Trump was elected and claiming that he would do almost anything to lower his prison sentence.
“You wanted to work for the White House, but you didn’t get brought to the dance,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the committee’s top Republican.
Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), both Trump stalwarts, took on most of the work, repeatedly questioning Cohen’s ability to even recognize the truth.
Republicans repeatedly pointed out Cohen’s crimes, particularly his false statements to Congress, and some even quoted from a scathing Dec. 7 sentencing memo in which federal prosecutors in Manhattan recommended Cohen serve a lengthy jail sentence.
“Cohen’s consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting … his remorse is minimal … his instinct to blame others is strong,” a poster displayed in the hearing room read, quoting from the court filing.
The hearing was filled with memorable moments.
At one point, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who a day before had issued a threatening tweet against Cohen, appeared in the committee room to consult with GOP members, a move that left onlookers wondering if Trump and his allies were seeking to send Cohen a signal.
The Florida Bar has announced that it was investigating Gaetz’s tweet that Democrats say smells of witness of intimidation.
And the day ended with an emotional monologue from Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who said he hoped Cohen’s testimony would “lead to a better Michael Cohen, a better Donald Trump, a better United States of America and a better world.”
Cohen also revealed that he briefed the-then candidate as well as Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow a half-dozen times during the presidential campaign.
Cohen also acknowledged that while he suspected it, he had no direct knowledge of the Trump campaign colluding with the Kremlin.
Trump was thousands of miles away from the hearing in Vietnam, where he is holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
But it seemed impossible that he was not watching at least some of the dramatic happenings in Washington.
In an early morning tweet ahead of today’s hearing, Trump launched a familiar attack on his former “fixer,” accusing him of “lying in order to reduce his prison time.”
Speaking to reporters following the hearing, Cummings said that the committee would follow up on Cohen’s testimony.
“This is not the end of the process, but the beginning,” he said.
The House Intelligence Committee will question Cohen behind closed doors on Wednesday.