President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said Tuesday that the American people can decide
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said Tuesday that the American people can decide « exactly who is telling the truth » when he testifies Wednesday to the House Oversight and Reform committee, setting the stage for a blockbuster public hearing that threatens to overshadow Trump’s summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Cohen, once Trump’s loyal attorney and fixer, has turned on his former boss and cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. He begins a three-year prison sentence in May after he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 and committing campaign finance violations while he was working for Trump.
« I look forward to tomorrow, to be able to in my voice to tell the American people my story, » Cohen told reporters Tuesday.
He made the comments after meeting with the Senate intelligence committee for more than nine hours behind closed doors. Cohen said he appreciated the opportunity to « clear the record and tell the truth » to the Senate committee after acknowledging he lied to the panel in 2017.
It was the first of three consecutive days of congressional appearances for Cohen. After the public hearing Wednesday, he will appear before the House intelligence panel Thursday, again speaking in private.
Cohen’s public testimony is likely to be a spectacle, in part because of the accusations he plans to level against the president. He’ll give lawmakers a behind-the-scenes account of what he will claim is Trump’s lying, racism and cheating, and possibly even criminal conduct, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. He is expected to provide what he will claim is evidence, in the form of documents, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential testimony.
Republicans are expected to aggressively attempt to discredit Cohen, given that he has acknowledged lying previously. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement Tuesday it was « 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.
