President’s ex-lawyer labels him ‘racist’ and a ‘conman’
PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s former personal lawyer has told Congress that Mr Trump knew in advance that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to his election opponent Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Michael Cohen gave evidence yesterday to the House Oversight and Reform Committee that Mr Trump is a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat”.
And he suggested Mr Trump also implicitly told him to lie about a Moscow property project.
Mr Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the project, which he says Mr Trump knew about as Cohen was negotiating with Russia during the 2016 election campaign.
The hearing was expected to produce the most damning depiction to date of Mr Trump’s campaign and business operations from a one-time member of the president’s inner circle.
It is the latest step in Cohen’s evolution from legal fixer for the president, he once boasted he would “take a bullet” for Mr Trump, to a foe who has implicated him in federal campaign finance violations.
“I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty, of the things I did for Mr Trump in an effort to protect and promote him,” Cohen said.
Cohen’s claims that Mr Trump had advance knowledge of the emails contradict the president’s assertions that he was in the dark, but it was not clear what evidence Cohen had to support the allegation or even how legally problematic it would be for Mr Trump.
Underscoring the deeply partisan nature of the proceedings, Democrats on the committee lifted an earlier restriction that the hearing not delve into Russia, while Republicans tried unsuccessfully to block the hearing on the grounds that Cohen had not provided his opening statement long enough in advance.