U.S. News
Michael Cohen Testifies Before Congress
Editor-In-Chief Orlando Angelone
WASHINGTON (Duke's Dispatch) - President Trump's former Lawyer of ten years Michael Cohen testified before congress about alleged wrongdoings involving himself, the Trump Foundation, Donald Trump Jr., and President Donald Trump.
He testified before the House Committee on Oversight chaired by Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and co-chaired by Jim Jordan (R-OH). The Hearing lasted for over seven hours and consisted of many points of interest.
The hearing started with an opening statement from Cohen, where he stated that, “[he] is not protecting Mr. Trump anymore,” and that, “[his] loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost [him] everything: [his] family’s happiness, friendships, [his] law license, [his] company, [his] livelihood, [his] honor, [his] reputation, and soon [his] freedom,” Cohen said. “[he] will not sit back, say nothing, and allow [President Trump] to ruin the country.”
Cohen repeatedly stated that President Trump had directed him to perform illegal acts, and presented checks that the President had signed whilst in the Oval Office that were written out to Stormy Daniels and other individuals.
Cohen also said that the President had made him threaten his high school so that they would not release his transcripts or SAT scores, and when asked by a Democratic Congresswoman, he stated that he had threatened people at the behest of the president at least 500 times.
The Republican members of the House Committee on Oversight spent a majority of their time trying to discredit Michael Cohen. Many Republican members said that Cohen was only turning on the President to get a book, TV, or movie deal, whilst others stated a more reliable excuse, which was that Michael Cohen will be going to federal prison for lying to congress.
House Republicans generally receives criticism for not questioning cohen about the issue at hand, which was criminal actions done by Cohen and Trump, though the Republicans would say that the credibility of Michael Cohen is a real issue.
The Top G.O.P Member of the House Oversight Committee, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said during the hearing about the Democrats in charge of the committee that, “Your first big hearing, your first announced witness, Michael Cohen … a guy who is going to prison in two months for lying to Congress.”
During questioning Representative Jordan asked Cohen how long he had worked in the White House for President Trump. Michael Cohen promptly answered that he never did, and that is when Mr. Jordan said that, “That’s the point isn’t it, Mr Cohen? You wanted to work at the White House. You didn’t get brought to the dance.”
Another part of the hearing saw Congressman Mark Meadows (R - North Carolina) present an African American friend of the President in response to when Michael Cohen had stated that Trump was a racist during his opening statement.
Though House Republicans tried to discredit Cohen for his lying to Congress, Democrats were quick to state that Cohen had lied at the behest of the president and that he was lying about the President not committing any crimes, though Republicans have refuted this.
An interesting point of the Hearing came when Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D - New York) was questioning Cohen. Cohen said that Donald Trump had, "Inflated his worth in an attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills," but that he had also, "Deflated his wealth to avoid paying property tax on his hotels," the revelations were new and will most likely lead to another investigation by either the Special Counsel Robert Mueller or the Southern District of New York.
Overall the hearing was full of interesting and important revelations about the actions of the President, and could lead us one step closer to finding the truth on whether the President committed illegal acts or not.