Tag: Michael Cohen

Cohen implicates Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, in mistress hush money scheme

Michael Cohen, former attorney for President Donald Trump, testifies to the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday. Credit: Bill Clark, CQ Roll Call

Trump’s former lawyer and fixer was asked if he is aware of any other illegal acts that haven’t come to light

This is a developing story. Follow this page for updates on the latest from the Cohen hearing.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, said Wednesday that Trump’s business operation is being investigated for illegal acts that haven’t yet been publicly disclosed.

Asked by Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of  Illinois if he was aware of any other wrongdoing or illegal acts that hadn’t yet been discussed in his testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Cohen replied, “Yes … those are part of the investigation that’s currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York,” referring to the Manhattan-based U.S. attorney’s that would have jurisdiction over Trump’s business empire’s headquarters.

Cohen is providing unprecedented insight to the Oversight Committee into how Trump ran his business empire for more than a decade.

View the complete February 27 article by Griffin Connolly and Ben Peters on The Roll Call website here.

Matt Gaetz apologizes and deletes tweet but insists he wasn’t threatening Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Trump, testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Hours after sending an incendiary tweet accusing Michael Cohen of infidelity, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) apologized late Tuesday, insisting he did not intend to threaten President Trump’s former lawyer on the eve of his highly anticipated testimony before Congress.

Without evidence, Gaetz suggested earlier Tuesday that Cohen, who is married, had multiple “girlfriends,” prompting some legal observers and Democrats to accuse the Florida Republican of engaging in witness tampering. About seven hours later, he issued a mea culpa in a tweet addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“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,” he wrote just before midnight. “I’m deleting the tweet & should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry.”

View the complete February 27 article by Meagan Flynn and Rachael Bade on The Washington Post website here.

Michael Cohen’s written statement: Trump a ‘racist,’ a ‘conman’ and a ‘cheat’

President’s former personal lawyer promises to provide ‘irrefutable’ proof of claims

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, will make extraordinary claims about a man whom he calls a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat,” according a copy of Cohen’s statement obtained by Roll Call.

The statement also indicates that Cohen plans to bring documents to his hearing before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that provide, he will claim, “irrefutable” proof that his testimony is “accurate and truthful.”

If the documents materialize, they potentially could have much more impact than critical comments about Trump by Cohen, a now-disbarred lawyer who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress.

[Read Cohen’s prepared testimony]

View the complete February 27 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Curtain rises on 3 days of Cohen drama

Michael Cohen is kicking off three straight days of Capitol Hill testimony on Tuesday, including a high-profile public appearance before a House committee that promises plenty of explosive moments as Democrats dig into investigations of his former boss, President Trump.

The Democratic-led House Oversight and Reform Committee has laid out broad parameters for Cohen’s public testimony Wednesday, which is expected to focus squarely on Trump’s family business. It will also encompass payments made to women who alleged affairs with Trump ahead of the 2016 election, which the attorney, in a deal with federal prosecutors announced last summer, admitted to arranging.

Separately, he will testify behind closed doors to the Senate and House Intelligence committees on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, in connection with the panels’ parallel investigations into Russia’s election interference.

View the complete February 26 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

In echoes of Watergate, Trump’s ex-lawyer is expected to tell all to House committee

Credit: Spencer Platt, Getty Images

After more than a decade as the keeper of Donald Trump’s secrets, Michael Cohen has been spilling the beans about the president’s private business deals, foreign interests and alleged mistresses to federal prosecutors in Washington and New York.

But apart from brief comments in the courtroom where he was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to several crimes, the president’s former personal lawyer, fixer and attack dog has not spoken publicly about what he now calls Trump’s “dirty deeds.”

That is likely to change Wednesday when Cohen testifies before the House Oversight Committee in a hearing that could be the most damaging for a president since former White House Counsel John Dean helped bring down Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

View the complete February 26 article by Chris Megerian on The Los Angeles Times website here.

The perils of investigating a complete buffoon

Democrats are probing a mess. If they’re not careful, they’ll join it

OPINION — Only President Donald Trump could announce the parameters of his relationship with the newly Democratic House with a bite-sized limerick in his State of the Union address. “If there is going to be peace and legislation … there cannot be war and investigation,” Trump said with a did-you-see-what-I-did-there smile on his face. “It just doesn’t work that way.”

Was it a threat? Was it a poem? Is there a war happening that we don’t know about? Whatever Trump meant with his rhyme, it illustrated the very real challenge Democrats have on their hands, with a fleet of committee chairmen eager to investigate the president, a progressive base hungry for results, and a president who has never played by (and has often broken) the rules in his personal life, in his business affairs, and as president — right down to that little ditty in the State of the Union.

Unlike some past Congresses, which used to have to dig for years to find an area where they could effectively investigate the White House, Trump’s life and administration almost present more conflicts, curiosities and potential crimes than any Congress could digest. From the Russia conspiracy to the Trump family finances to the Trump hotel’s guest lists, it’s a target-rich environment. But the challenge for Democrats will be to not become part of the mess in the process.

View the complete February 26 commentary by Patricia Murphy on The Roll Call website here.

Republican Matt Gaetz threatens Cohen over ‘girlfriends’ on eve of testimony

Rep. Matt Gaetz takes a selfie with President Donald Trump after Trump’s State of the Union address in Washington D.C., on Jan. 30, 2018. Credit:: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call, Getty Images

The Florida congressman asked Cohen on Twitter, ‘Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?’

Rep. Matt Gaetz appeared to openly intimidate President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen less than 24 hours before Cohen publicly testifies against his old boss in the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

“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…” the Florida Republican tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

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…

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 26, 2019

Cohen is expected to testify before two separate House committees this week that Trump directed him to commit multiple crimes. They include sending illegal hush payments to two of the president’s former mistresses, and lying to Congress about the timeline of negotiations for a Trump Tower in Moscow.

View the complete February 26 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Cohen Gave Prosecutors New Information on the Trump Family Business

Michael D. Cohen, scheduled to begin serving a three-year prison sentence in May, has met with prosecutors about possible irregularities at the Trump Organization. Credit: Susan Walsh, AP

Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, met last month with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, offering information about possible irregularities within the president’s family business and about a donor to the inaugural committee, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Cohen, who worked at the Trump Organization for a decade, spoke with the prosecutors about insurance claims the company had filed over the years, said the people, who did not elaborate on the nature of the possible irregularities.

While it was not clear whether the prosecutors found Mr. Cohen’s information credible and whether they intended to pursue it, the meeting suggests that they are interested in broader aspects of the Trump Organization, beyond their investigation into the company’s role in the hush money payments made before the 2016 election to women claiming to have had affairs with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty last summer to arranging those payments.

View the complete February 22 article by Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Maggie Haberman on The New York Times website here.

Michael Cohen to testify before House panel on Feb. 27

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, will testify before the House Oversight Committee next week, the panel announced Wednesday night.

Cohen will testify at 10 a.m. on Feb. 27, the committee’s chairman, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), said in a statement.

“I am pleased to announce that Michael Cohen’s public testimony before the Oversight Committee is back on, despite efforts by some to intimidate his family members and prevent him from appearing,” Cummings said. “Congress has an obligation under the Constitution to conduct independent and robust oversight of the Executive Branch, and this hearing is one step in that process.”

View the complete February 20 article by Felicia Sonmez on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s fantasy claim that Michael Cohen’s hush-money payments were no crime

“Michael Cohen plead [sic] guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime. President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!”

— President Trump, in a tweet, Aug. 22, 2018

“Michael Cohen pled guilty to something that isn’t even a crime.”

— Trump, in a Fox News interview, Dec. 13, 2018

“Many campaign finance lawyers have strongly stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance. Cohen was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead [sic] to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not guilty even on a civil basis. Those charges were just agreed to by him in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence.”

View the complete January 28 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.