President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will not testify before a House committee next month as scheduled, his adviser said Wednesday, depriving Democrats for now of…
Published Wednesday, Jan. 23,2019| 11:37 a.m.
Updated 40 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will not testify before a House committee next month as scheduled, his adviser said Wednesday, depriving Democrats for now of a prime opportunity to scrutinize Trump, his links to Russia and payments to buy the silence of a porn star.
Cohen indefinitely delayed his Feb. 7 appearance before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He blamed threats from Trump and the president’s attorney-spokesman, Rudy Giuliani, and cited his own ongoing cooperation in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Cohen adviser Lanny Davis said the decision was made on advice of Cohen’s lawyers.
„This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first,“ Davis said in a statement.
The statement did not detail the threats. But Trump and Giuliani have publicly urged the Justice Department to investigate Cohen’s father-in-law, insinuating he was part of some unspecific criminal activity. Trump, for example, told Fox News this month that Cohen „should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that’s the one that people want to look at.“
Asked about the claim of a threat, Trump accused Cohen of lying.
