Cohen testimony: Trump’s ex-lawyer claims ‘criminal conspiracy’ and gives dire warning to Congress in public testimony
Cohen said he is worried that there will 'never be another peaceful transfer of power' if Mr Trump loses re-election in 2020
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer, has given dramatic testimony before the House Oversight Committee, were he discussed a criminal conspiracy involving the president, his oldest son Donald Trump Jr, and the chief financial officer of the Trump Organisation, Allen Weisselberg — and then cast the president as an existential threat to American democracy.
During one particularly notable exchange, Cohen was asked by Democratic Representative Ro Khanna about a cheque making a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, which he called a "smoking gun" that proves several individuals were involved in the conspiracy.
"Are you telling us, Mr Cohen, that the president directed transactions in conspiracy with Allen Weisselberg and his son, Donald Trump Jr, as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud?" Mr Khanna asked in relation to the cheque. "Is that your testimony today?"
"Yes," Cohen said.
Cohen, who will serve a three year prison sentence starting in May, said during his testimony that he believes the US is at a critical juncture in its history. Mr Trump, a man who Cohen once said he would take a bullet for, is a threat to American democracy, he said.
"If he loses the [2020] election, I worry there would never be a peaceful transition of power," he said.
Throughout his hours-long testimony on Wednesday, Cohen said that he is remorseful for ever allowing himself to end up in Mr Trump's inner circle. Cohen, who worked as the president's private attorney for a decade said that he had caused considerable damage to his family and reputation — and repeatedly apologised even as Republicans questioned why they should believe his testimony given he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress once before already.
“I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience,” Cohen said.
Cohen also suggested that the president was aware that political consultant Roger Stone was in discussion with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about the site’s access to stolen Democratic National Committee emails.
The president's former personal attorney said that he was in a room when Mr Stone told Mr Trump about the leaks, and that nobody made an effort to contact the FBI regarding those leaks.
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In Hanoi, the US president was asked by a reporter if he had any response to the Michael Cohen news but apparently just ignored the question.
Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey argue in The Washington Post the timing of the Cohen sideshow is deliberate.
“Nothing else gets to Trump worse than being upstaged,” Trump biographer Tim O’Brien tells them.
“It’s an epic troll, one of the most epic trolls of Trump’s life.”
With Michael Cohen due to report to prison on 6 May for lying to the House and Senate intelligence committees in 2017, the path forward for Democrats rides on his credibility today: if his evidence convincingly furthers the Russia narrative, impeachment proceedings become more likely.
Leaving his closed hearing before the latter on Tuesday, Cohen declared he wants to "clear the record and tell the truth."
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attacked him yesterday, declaring it "laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word".
The president's earlier Twitter attack followed the same approach: "He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time."
Loyal senators like John Cornyn of Texas have similarly said: "I don't have any desire to go listen to a lying lawyer."
The less said about Florida congressman Matt Gaetz's approach to the same tactic, the better.
This is interesting.
The Kremlin appears to be joining in with the efforts to discredit Michael Cohen ahead of his testimony before the House today, disputing his claims on the longevity of the Moscow Trump Tower project.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said an email the Russian government received from Cohen in January 2016 when Donald Trump was still a presidential candidate concerning the proposed real estate venture made no mention of Mr Trump's personal interest in the project.
"No, no. That was never mentioned. On the contrary, the email was about how the project was not working out," Mr Peskov said.
The Kremlin has previously confirmed receiving the email, but said it neither replied nor discussed the matter with President Vladimir Putin.
Here's a little on what we can expect today.
The House Oversight Committee itself, chaired by Democratic representative Elijah Cummings, will limit their questioning to avoid crossover with the two intelligence committees inquiring into the Trump camp's Russian ties.
That will put questions about "any financial or other compromise or leverage foreign actors may possess over Donald Trump, his family, his business interests, or his associates" off-limits for Mr Cummings' panel.
They will instead focus on President Trump's debts and payments "relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election," as well as his compliance with financial disclosure, campaign finance and tax laws, it said.
Whether anyone else involved in arranging the payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal could face charges, including Trump Organisation executives who prosecutors say reimbursed Cohen for the payoffs, is an interesting question. The president maintains the payments were a private matter, not a campaign expense.
Possible conflicts of interest faced by Mr Trump, including at his Trump International Hotel in Washington, will be targets for the Cummings panel, as will the Trump Foundation and "efforts by the president and his attorney to intimidate Mr Cohen or others not to testify," the committee has said.
The committee also can ask about "public efforts by the president and his attorney to intimidate Mr Cohen or others not to testify."
New Jersey Democratic congressman Bill Pascrell has called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Republican Matt Gaetz over his threatening tweet to Michael Cohen last night.
Representative Gaetz tweeted: "Hey @MichaelCohen212, do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she'll remain faithful when you're in prison. She's about to learn a lot..."
He subsequently deleted it and apologised after being rebuked by House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A reminder of what Cohen plans to tell the committee about his experience of the president expressing racist views from Tom Embury-Dennis.
Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, apologies on Tuesday night for threatening Michael Cohen ahead of the congressional hearing. Cohen, the former fixer and attorney for Mr Trump, is expected to give a testimony against Mr Trump.
Mr Gaetz threatened to release damaging information of Cohen on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, hinting that the former attorney is guilty of extramarital affairs. The threat prompted an implicit rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and questions among legal experts whether the congressman has committed witness tampering.
In his apology, Mr Gaetz apologized for his word choice but still called Cohen a "liar."
"While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did," the Florida Republican wrote on Twitter. "I'm deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry."
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