Ocasio-Cortez got Cohen to name names — and help build a case for getting Trump’s tax returns.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) questioning of Michael Cohen during his congressional testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, February 27, didn’t produce the type of fireworks the first-term Democrat is sometimes known for. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t significant: Ocasio-Cortez got President Donald Trump’s former lawyer to name names for future lines of inquiry, and she also made progress on furthering the Democrats’ case for seeking out Trump’s tax returns.
The New York Democrat followed up on questions asked by her House colleagues and asked Cohen to identify specific individuals who might have more information.
She asked who might know about the “treasure trove” of documents in the office of David Pecker, chairman and CEO of National Enquirer parent company American Media Inc. and a Trump ally who has been involved in “catch and kill” schemes tied to the president in the past. Cohen’s response: Pecker, former Enquirer executive editor Barry Levine, and Enquirer chief content officer Dylan Howard.
Ocasio-Cortez also asked about Cohen’s assertion that Trump inflated the value of certain assets to insurance companies and who else might know about that. Again, he provided a list of names: Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman, and Matthew Calamari.
While not the most exciting lines of questioning, in getting Cohen to name names, Ocasio-Cortez got more potential witnesses to add to a list of figures to testify before Congress as it probes into Trump’s past.
Of course, Weisselberg, the Trump Organization CFO, came up a lot on Wednesday. His signature appeared on one of the partial reimbursement checks paid to Cohen for his hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, along with the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. As the Daily Beast pointed out, Weisselberg was mentioned at least 35 times during Cohen’s testimony, and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said he “probably will” bring Weisselberg and Trump Jr.
