Cohen ready to accuse Trump of lies, racism: sources
Litany of accusations, sources say
• Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, is prepared to depict the U.S. president as a liar and possible criminal who manipulated his financial statements and frequently made racist remarks, a person familiar with his planned testimony to Congress said.
Cohen, who once said he’d take a bullet for Trump, is expected to describe in vivid detail what he says are Trump’s improper business practices and crude comments, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of Cohen’s public testimony on Wednesday.
He is also expected to present documents to support his claims related to alleged criminal conduct and financial improprieties, the person said. Cohen declined to comment.
But Cohen’s credibility will be on trial over three days on Capitol Hill after he pleaded guilty to nine felonies, including lying to Congress. He also has been disbarred in New York, according to a state appeals court filing made public Tuesday.
“Disgraced felon Michael Cohen is going to prison for lying to Congress and making other false statements,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word, and pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies.”
Trump and his staff are said to have been preparing for the testimony, which will take place while the president is in Vietnam for a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.
Cohen testified behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee for hours on Tuesday and will do the same on Thursday before the House Intelligence panel. Questions will focus in part on his role in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
The main event for the public will be Wednesday, when he testifies in an open session of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Cohen, who is scheduled to report to prison on May 6, will face questions from Democrats about Trump’s business deals and hushmoney payments — and from Republicans who maintain that nothing he says can be trusted.
Cohen is poised to say that Trump lies about his net worth and the value of his assets when it suits him, was deeply involved in Cohen’s hush-money payments to women who claimed extramarital affairs with him and was regularly kept apprised in 2016 of Cohen’s efforts to help build a luxury Trump tower in Moscow, the person said. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported earlier Tuesday on Cohen’s intended testimony.
Even before he testifies, Cohen’s appearance is generating sharp debate along party lines.
“Obviously, he has a story to tell and he wants to tell it. And I want him to tell it,” said Gerald Connolly, a Virginia Democrat and the chairman of the Oversight subcommittee on government operations. When it comes to Trump’s businesses and Trump personally, Connolly said, “This is not just some marginal figure.”
But Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Oversight panel’s top Republican, says there’s nothing to be gained.
“That’s right,” Jordan said in a tweet. “Oversight Dems first big witness: a guy going to prison in two months for LYING TO CONGRESS.”
Cohen has admitted that he lied to Congress last year when he testified that the proposed Trump tower in Moscow had been scrapped in January 2016. In fact, he said, the talks continued through June of that year, well into Trump’s presidential campaign.
Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, has circulated a memo that spells out an agreement on what topics can be discussed during his panel’s hearing. He said Monday night the list is based on consultations with Mueller, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, and Justice Department officials from the Southern District of New York.
Cohen won’t be allowed to discuss matters still under investigation by Mueller, who’s almost finished his probe into whether Trump or anyone close to him was involved in Russian interference in the 2016 election. .
But Cohen can discuss topics including: Trump’s debts and payments and any ties to efforts to influence the 2016 election; Trump’s compliance with financial disclosure requirements, campaign finance laws and tax laws; Trump’s businesses, including his hotel in Washington; and potentially fraudulent or inappropriate practices by the Trump Foundation.