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.
