Evening summary
What a day.
- President Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen finished up his testimony before the House Oversight Committee with a warning that if Trump loses in 2020, “there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”
- He also chose to use his closing remarks to criticize the president on everything from immigration, family separation, the government shutdown, to his attacks on the media. “I pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes that I have made or pay the heavy price that my family and I are paying,” he said.
- Shortly before the hearing wrapped up, Representative Mark Meadows, a Republican, reacted with outrage when Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat, criticized his decision to bring in a black woman as a prop to disprove racism as racist. “My nieces and nephews are people of color,” he exclaimed, but despite this, he still was a staunch proponent of the racist conspiracy theories surrounding Obama’s birthplace.
It’s been a hot second since Virginia has made its way onto this live blog, but the Washington Post is reporting today that first lady Pam Northam handed raw cotton to two African American schoolchildren during a tour of the historic governor’s residence and “asked them to imagine being enslaved and having to pick the crop.”
The incident came to light when one of the children’s mother, a state employee, complained. It comes not even a full month after Governor Ralph Northam ignited the whole Virginia firestorm after a college yearbook photo of a man in blackface next to a man in a Ku Klux Klan outfit on his personal page emerged, and he admitted to wearing blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson during a dance competition.
“The Governor and Mrs. Northam have asked the residents of the Commonwealth to forgive them for their racially insensitive past actions,” Leah Dozier Walker, who oversees the Office of Equity and Community Engagement at the state Education Department, wrote Feb. 25 to lawmakers and the office of Gov. Ralph Northam (D).
“But the actions of Mrs. Northam, just last week, do not lead me to believe that this Governor’s office has taken seriously the harm and hurt they have caused African Americans in Virginia or that they are deserving of our forgiveness,” she wrote.
The governor’s office told the Washington Post that Pam Northam “simply handed the cotton to whoever was nearby.” “I regret that I have upset anyone,” she said in a statement sent from the governor’s spokeswoman.
Cohen’s testimony was briefly interrupted when Republican Mark Meadows reacted with outrage over Representative Rashida Tlaib saying that bringing in a black woman as a prop to disprove racism struck her as racist. “My nieces and nephews are people of color,” he exclaimed.
After the hearing, several pointed out that whatever he believes his views on race to be, Meadows was a staunch proponent of the racist conspiracy theories surrounding Obama’s birthplace.
Here's Mark Meadows, who just sidetracked the entire House Oversight Committee to assure him he's not racist, saying that "2012 is the time we are going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is" pic.twitter.com/90L1xnWf6v
— Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) February 27, 2019
Updated
Cohen’s testimony could lead to the release of Trump’s tax returns.
Trump’s reasoning for not releasing his tax filings during the 2016 campaign was that he is being audited, but Cohen said he presumes that Trump is not. He said that Trump did not want to release his tax returns because he “didn’t want an entire group of think tanks, who are tax experts, to run through his returns.”
Updated
Journalism has played a vital role in exposing lies and revealing the truth during the Trump presidency, but the Guardian needs support from readers like you to continue this important work.
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In his closing remarks, Cohen admitted, “My loyalty to Mr Trump has cost me everything.”
He criticizes the president for a slew of his decisions and comments, on everything from family separations, the government shutdown, to Trump’s attacks on the media:
- “We honor our veterans, even in the rain. You tell the truth, even when it doesn’t aggrandize you. You respect the law and our incredible law enforcement agents.”
- “You don‘t attack the media and those who question what you don’t like or what you don’t want them to say. And you take responsibility for your own dirty deeds.”
- “You don’t separate families from one another, or demonize those looking to America for a better life. You don’t vilify people based the god they pray to, and you don’t cuddle up to our adversaries.”
- You don’t shut down the government before Christmas and New Year’s, just to appease your base.”
Cohen ended his closing remarks by saying, “I pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes that I have made or pay the heavy price that my family and I are paying.”
Committee chairman, Elijah Cummings, is placing the Cohen hearing in the broader context of US politics.
“I know it’s painful going to prison,” Cummings said. “And I know it’s painful being called a rat.”
Cummings says he lived in the inner city of Baltimore and calling someone a rat “is one of the worst things you can do” because in prison, people who have been called rats are known as snitches.
“The president called you a rat,” Cummings said. “We’re better than that, we really are!”
Cummings says he doesn’t know if people believe Cohen, but he is showing some compassion, noting Cohen came in with his head down and this must be one of the hardest things he can do. Cummings says he was moved by images of Cohen and his daughter, which makes Cohen visibly emotional.
Cummings is fired up.
“We have to get back to normal! And with that, this meeting is adjourned.”
Cohen: if Trump loses in 2020 'there will never be a peaceful transition of power'
Michael Cohen makes closing remarks addressed to Donald Trump.
If Trump loses in 2020, “there will never be a peaceful transition of power,” says Cohen.
Rashida Tlaib, the Democrat from Michigan, criticizes Republicans for bringing in Lynne Patton, a black HUD employee, to stand at the hearing as a way of disproving allegations that Donald Trump is a racist.
Tlaib says as a woman of color, the act of bringing in a black woman as a prop to disprove racism struck her as racist.
Mark Meadows, the Republican who invited Patton to the hearing, is extremely emotional after Tlaib’s comment, prompting chairman Elijah Cummings to intervene.
“No Mr. Chairman, I did not mean to call Mr. Meadows a racist,” Tlaib says
Cummings highlights that he is the son of sharecroppers and is in a good position to discuss racism.
Patton is a staunch defender of Trump and longtime friend of Cohen. The Washington Post said she posted on Instagram that she was sad to have been so close to Cohen. “As the daughter of a man born in Birmingham, Alabama, there is no amount of money in the world that would make me work for a man who I thought harbored bigoted or racist ideologies,” she wrote.
Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts, questions Cohen about Trump’s charity, the Trump Foundation.
She concludes by asking if a person who makes racist comments and “has a black friend,” can still be a racist?
Cohen says “yes.”
The black friend Pressley is referring to is most likely Lynne Patton, an official at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, who was invited by Republican Mark Meadows to stand at the testimony earlier today.
Patton told the Washington Post that she happened to be in DC for a HUD meeting when Meadows invited her to attend the hearing.
Updated
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat from New York, speeds through earlier lines of questioning.
Cohen confirms Trump presented inflated assets. Ocasio-Cortez asks where we can find evidence of this. Cohen says in the Trump Organization.
Ocasio-Cortez notes that she drives past a Trump golf course in the Bronx every day on the way from her home to work. She cites Washington Post reporting that suggest Trump has improperly devalued assets to gain tax benefits. “It’s identical what he did at Trump national golf club,” Cohen says
Ocasio-Cortez repeatedly asks Cohen who can provide information on Trump’s alleged efforts to avoid paying taxes.
Cohen says the person who can clarify these questions is Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer.
Updated
Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, asks about what he calls the “smoking gun” document in Cohen’s testimony – a check signed by Donald Trump Jr to fund illegal hush money payments to pornographic actor, Stormy Daniels.
Khanna asks if Trump’s criminal conspiracy involved the president, his eldest son and Allen Weisselberg, the Trumps’ longtime chief financial officer.
Cohen responds: “yes.”
Khanna asked whether the Southern District of New York (SDNY) is investigating a criminal conspiracy among the four people and Cohen responds he did not want to answer. Cohen has said repeatedly today that there are topics he cannot discuss related to the SDNY investigation.
The Guardian’s Jon Swaine wrote about the significance of the check this morning: “the finding that Donald Jr was directly involved in the scheme to pay off Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, could mean the president’s son faces legal jeopardy.”
As the investigation into Trump’s administration unfolds…
The Guardian will continue to provide insight, analysis and factual reporting to help bring the truth to light. But we need your help, too. What makes the Guardian different from so many others in media is our editorial independence, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, goes directly into funding our journalism. This support enables us to keep working as we do – but we must maintain and build on it for every year to come. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Updated
And we’re back – Cohen is in the hot seat again and the hearing has been gavelled in.
Updated
House passes universal background check bill
While on recess from the Cohen hearing, the House approved a bipartisan bill that would require background checks on all guns sales in the US.
At the moment, only licensed firearm dealers have to perform background checks - unlicensed dealers such as those at gun shows do not have to do background checks.
This is one of the most significant gun laws to pass the House in decades, but it is not expected to survive the Senate, where it faces a Republican majority.
Dems celebrating on the House floor as gun control activists cheer and yell "thank you" from the gallery. This would be the most significant gun control reform in many years... but the Republican-controlled Senate and President Trump have said they will block it.
— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) February 27, 2019
Summary
Donald Trump’s personal attorney and fixer for more than 10 years, Michael Cohen, has spent the day making shocking allegations against the US president – and is about to continue!
Below is a summary of Cohen’s allegations so far. Cohen is set to serve three years in prison starting in May for campaign finance violations.
- Cohen said Trump told him to lie bout the hush payments to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic actor who alleged she had an affair with Trump.
- Trump also asked Cohen to lie to Melania Trump about the payments to Stormy Daniels, Cohen alleged. Trump had Cohen speak to Melania over the phone, Cohen said, and mislead her.
- Cohen said he knew of other wrongdoing or illegality by Trump than what he has acknowledged publicly in response to a question from Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois. “Yes and again those are part of the investigation that’s currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York,” Cohen said.
- Donald Trump’s sons have been tweeting about Cohen, who testified today that their father “frequently told [Cohen] and others that his son Don Jr had the worst judgment of anyone in the world”. Eric Trump said: “Have fun in prison!”
- During a recess from the Cohen hearing, the House passed one of the most significant gun control measures in decades - though it is expected to be blocked by the Senate.
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Updated
In Michael Cohen’s testimony today, the president’s former personal attorney delivered a sharp warning to Donald Trump and the Republican party that the president faces legal and political peril on at least two fronts, writes the Guardian’s Jon Swaine:
Cohen was asked by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat forced to resign as party chairwoman over the WikiLeaks disclosures, how they could corroborate his explosive allegations, which are based on remarks he says he overheard in Trump’s office.
“I suspect that the special counsel’s office and other government agencies have the information you’re seeking,” Cohen said. Trump denied both allegations in his written answers to questions from Mueller.
Cohen also reiterated that Trump lied repeatedly to the American public during the 2016 campaign by saying he had no dealings with Russia. In fact, Cohen has told prosecutors, Trump was keenly pursuing a lucrative tower in Moscow until June 2016.
Trump’s former fixer cautioned that he could not prove the “collusion” with Moscow that the president vehemently denies. Still there was, Cohen said, “something odd” about the affectionate back-and-forth Trump had with Vladimir Putin in public remarks over the years.
Updated
Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign has sent an email about Cohen’s testimony. In the email, the campaign describes Cohen, the president’s personal attorney and fixer for more than 10 years, as “a felon, a disbarred lawyer and a convicted perjurer.”
Kayleigh McEnany, national press secretary for the campaign, cited the Southern District of New York’s assessment of Cohen in the statement. The Southern District of New York is currently investigating Trump and Cohen said in his testimony today he has spoken to the court several times.
McEnany said:
As noted by the Southern District of New York, Cohen’s wide array of crimes were ‘marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life’ and his ‘instinct to blame others is strong.’ Prosecutors said his actions were to ensure that he would ‘profit personally, build his own power, and enhance his level of influence.’ This is the same Michael Cohen who has admitted that he lied to Congress previously. Why did they even bother to swear him in this time?
Updated
One other important bit from Cohen’s testimony – he encouraged Congress to invite Rhona Graff in for questioning, claiming she could provide information to support some of his claims.
Graff is a longtime administrator at the Trump Organization. “When you need to reach Trump, call Rhona,” Politico explained in 2017.
Cohen just told Congress it would be smart to bring Rhona Graff in for questioning because of her proximity to President Trump. She’s been Trump’s admin at the Trump Org for years — managed Trump’s calendar/schedule and was the email conduit for a man who never uses email.
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) February 27, 2019
Graff reportedly testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session when Republicans had control of the House.
The investigation into President Trump’s campaign and administration is closer than ever to bringing the truth to light.
And the Guardian is here to help bring clarity, analysis, and fact-based reporting to this critical moment in American history. But we need your help, too. More people around the world are reading and supporting the Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism. And unlike many news organizations, we haven’t put up a paywall. We have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our reporting accessible to everyone, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. We hope you’ll consider making a contribution. Every contribution we receive goes directly into funding our journalism.
Updated
Florida representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican, is being investigated by Florida’s lawyer licensing organization, according to the Daily Beast.
Counsel for the Florida Bar told the Daily Beat that Gaetz was being investigated based on a complaint received from a member of the general public.
Yesterday, Gaetz appeared to threaten Michael Cohen on Twitter, writing: “Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?”
Legal experts, conservative and liberal, were quick to point out that his comment veered close, if not sped directly into, witness tampering territory.
Gaetz first defended his tweet, before later apologizing. He has since deleted the tweet in question.
Speaker, I want to get the truth too. While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did. I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry. https://t.co/Rdbw3sTQJD
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 27, 2019
There’s a break in the Cohen hearing – a recess starts now while committee members go vote on a bill requiring background checks on all firearm sales in the country. The recess should last about an hour.
Chip Roy, Republican from Texas, coming in hot: In 2011 my daughter was born and I was fighting cancer. Americans are mystified by the national deficit, and about border security. This hearing “is an embarrassment for our country”.
“I yield my time.”
Chip Roy is having some kind of speed-reading acid flashback of Fox news chyrons he has seen
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) February 27, 2019
Updated
Cohen says Trump asked him to lie to Melania Trump over payments
Cohen says Donald Trump asked him to lie to Melania Trump over those Stormy Daniels payment.
Trump had Cohen speak to Melania over the phone, Cohen says, and mislead her.
Cohen says he feels threatened by Trump’s statements about him on Twitter. Trump has repeatedly mentioned Cohen’s father-in-law in tweets.
“I don’t walk with my wife if we go to a restaurant. I don’t walk with my children. I make them walk ahead of me,” Cohen says.
Key moments from Michael Cohen’s explosive testimony – video
Updated
Mark DeSaulnier, California Democrat, asks Cohen about Trump Tower Moscow.
Cohen says he discussed a potential Trump Tower Moscow deal with Donald Trump “early on in [Trump’s presidential] campaign”.
“[Trump] told me to speak to Corey [Lewandowski] and see what dates might be available.”
Cohen says he and Lewandowski then discussed dates when Trump could potentially visit Russia to help seal the tower.
The trip never happened, Cohen says, because Cohen could not secure a suitable piece of property for the tower.
Cohen concludes by telling the hearing that he is concerned that members of the administration, “if they do follow” Trump, could face his own fate.
Robin Kelly, Illinois Democrat, asks Cohen about the shell company he set up and used to pay Stormy Daniels for her silence, and why he used an unusual payment procedure.
Why did you use this complicated process?
Cohen says it’s not difficult to start a LLC in that manner. But the reason he conducted the payment like this was because he didn’t want his own wife to know about it – she handles the finances.
Kelly: Did Trump “know you were going through this process to hide the payment?”
Cohen: “Yes.”
Cohen says Trump was concerned that his distinctive signature would be noticed if the check was seen elsewhere.
Kelly asks why Trump reimbursed him over a dozen payments for the $135,000 payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels, instead of a lump sum.
“In order to hide the payment,” Cohen said.
Did Mr Trump know about this reimbursement method?
“Absolutely,” Cohen says. “We discussed it. Everything had to go through Mr Trump.”
The Guardian’s reporting on Donald Trump’s attempts to avoid taxes was cited during Michael Cohen’s testimony this morning.
This kind of in-depth, investigative reporting is time consuming and expensive, but it plays an essential role in exposing the truth and holding Trump accountable. We hope you’ll consider making a contribution to the Guardian to support our work.
The 2016 Guardian story referenced today revealed an attempt by Donald Trump to slash the property tax bill on a New York golf club he owned. Records show he claimed the property was worth $50m – but then said it was worth just $1.4m when it came time to pay tax.
The investigation into Trump’s campaign and administration is closer than ever to bringing the truth to light, and the Guardian is here to help bring clarity, analysis and fact-based reporting to this critical moment in American history. Make a contribution today.
Rep Carol Miller, Republican, is very disappointed about Cohen being invited here as a witness.
“I am appalled. We could be focussed on actual issues that are facing America.”
Cohen is a convicted felon, she notes. We can’t believe anything he says.
“One of the most appalling facts about this hearing,” Miller says, is that Cohen has used his experiences with Trump “for his own greed and profit”.
A full house from Miller – the old not credible, wanted to profit duo – and then she asks about a book deal. Someone’s read the GOP talking points.
Ralph Norman, from South Carolina: Mr Cohen you committed several crimes.
This continues for about five minutes.
Jackie Speier, Democrat, asks Cohen about several rumors, including whether Trump had a love child or physically harmed Melania Trump.
Cohen doesn’t think either are true.
Cohen says Trump told him to threaten people – “with litigation” – roughly 500 times during his 10 year employment.
Cohen breaks down as he says: “I wish I could go back in time” and act differently. He apologizes to his children.
Updated
Peter Welch, Democrat from Vermont, notes that Trump told the New York Times he had never spoken to Roger Stone about the emails, taken from DNC servers, which, Wikileaks released during the presidential campaign.
Welch asks Cohen if Trump’s claim was true.
Cohen: No it was not.
Cohen says he was in Trump’s office when Trump spoke to Stone about the emails. (Cohen also said this in his statement.) Trump and Stone talked on speakerphone.
Cohen says he doesn’t think Trump was aware of what the email ‘dump’ was going to be.
Clay Higgins, Louisiana: “I’ve arrested several thousand men and you remind me of many of them.”
Higgins, clearly coming into this with an open mind, says Cohen reminds him of the ones who go back to a life of crime after being caught.
Higgins asks Cohen about a potential television deal. This is becoming a real hobbyhorse. Higgins continues: “I ask you good sir” – (what year is this?) – have you got a book/television deal.
Cohen, surprisingly, hasn’t signed a book deal in the past 30 minutes that he’s been sitting there giving evidence.
Cohen: Trump told me to lie about Stormy Daniels payments
Cohen tells the hearing that Trump directed him to lie about the hush payments to Stormy Daniels.
Cohen says Trump told him to say Trump had no knowledge of payments Cohen made to Daniels in exchange for her silence regarding an alleged affair with Trump. Trump was president when this happened.
Directing those payments to Daniels is a crime – one of the crimes for which Cohen is about to serve three years in prison.
Cohen is asked about Trump’s relationship with Felix Sater, a real estate developer with ties to the mob. Sater reportedly assisted the Trump Organization with a mooted Moscow hotel.
Trump has claimed not to know Sater well. In a sworn deposition in 2013, Trump said “if he [Sater] was sitting in the room right now I really wouldn’t know what he looked like”.
Cohen suggests Trump may have lied under oath about his relationship with Sater. Cohen says Sater had an office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, which Cohen says is “Mr Trump’s floor”. He says there are Trump Organization documents which would detail the Trump-Sater relationship.
If someone is found to have lied while giving a sworn deposition they can be charged with perjury.
Journalism has played a vital role in exposing lies and revealing the truth during the Trump presidency…
But the Guardian needs support from readers like you to continue this important work. A free press, an independent judiciary and empowered citizens are essential to keeping our democracy strong. What makes the Guardian different from so many others in media is our editorial independence, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders.
And unlike many news organizations, we don’t have paywall: we have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our reporting accessible to everyone, regardless of where they live or what they can afford.
Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, goes directly into funding our journalism. We hope you’ll consider making a contribution today.
Cohen says he is aware of further Trump illegality
Raja Krishnamoorthi’s questioning of Cohen may have yielded the most significant moment in the hearing so far.
Krishnamoorthi asked Cohen for details on when he last spoke with Trump or his agents:
Cohen: “Unfortunately this topic is actually something that’s being investigated right now by the Southern District of New York, and I’ve been asked by them not to discuss and not to talk about these issues.”
Krishnamoorthi asks if there is any other wrongdoing or illegality by Trump that Cohen is aware of:
“Yes and again those are part of the investigation that’s currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York.”
Mark Meadows, shouting: Were you advised to withhold your written testimony to the latest possible date? (Earlier Republicans tried to have this hearing postponed because Cohen submitted that explosive testimony too late.)
Cohen: “No.” We were working on it until late.
Meadows, getting red in the face now: “Don’t give me that bull.”
Meadows runs out of time. He slumps back in his chair and takes his glasses off.
Updated
Michael Cloud, Republican of Texas, takes over, and asks Cohen if he is aware of the significance of the date May 6.
Yes, Cohen says. It’s the day he is going to prison for three years.
Cloud runs through Cohen’s crimes, sticking to that trusty Republican playbook. How are we supposed to find anything out today, Cloud says, “when the best witness” we can summon has “already been convicted of lying before us”.
And then we’re back to this book deal. According to Cloud the deal – which Cohen does not currently have – will be worth millions of dollars.
The GOP plan seems to be two-pronged: a) Cohen is a criminal, we can’t trust him and it’s a disgrace that he’s here, b) Cohen is only doing this because he thinks he can make money from it.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, is quizzing Cohen about whether there is wrongdoing re Donald Trump that he cannot discuss.
Cohen suggests there is.
NEWS: Michael Cohen answers "yes" when asked by @CongressmanRaja if there are other illegal acts or wrongdoing regarding Donald Trump that haven't been discussed in the hearing.
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) February 27, 2019
Democrat from Illinois: Nothing at the Trump organization was done unless it was run by Donald Trump, is that correct?
Cohen: “That’s 100% certain.”
Krishnamoorthi asks Cohen when was his last contact with Donald Trump, and what was discussed. He’s looking for information on Trump’s conduct in office.
Cohen says he cannot discuss that last contact as it is being investigated by the Southern District of New York.
Well that was a ‘wow’ moment. Cohen knows about illegal acts by Trump that he can’t discuss because they are under federal investigation.
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) February 27, 2019
Updated
Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky who has wet hair – a shower during the recess, possibly – asks how Cohen knew what Trump wanted when Cohen would act on his behalf. Trump would not give him specific orders, Massie said.
Massie: “Were you a good lawyer to Mr Trump?”
Cohen: “I believe so.”
Massie: Well when you paid off Stormy Daniels that was illegal.
Cohen: “I did what I knew Mr Trump wanted.”
Massie yields after establishing that Cohen probably isn’t a very good lawyer. That was possibly a cack-handed effort to present Donald Trump as having been given bad legal advice when those hush money payments were made.
Updated
The Trump boys are tweeting heartily about this hearing. Of course, we heard Cohen earlier note that Donald Trump Sr “frequently told [Cohen] and others that his son Don Jr had the worst judgment of anyone in the world”.
And that’s what all this is about. Cohen just wants to be famous. He always wanted his own TV show and the limelight and when he couldn’t get it one way he had to try another.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 27, 2019
Funny how things change when you’re trying to save your ass. https://t.co/ti9XxHS4oI
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 27, 2019
Only Democrats could hate someone so much that they would try to disrupt nuclear peace talks with testimony from a convicted felon.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 27, 2019
Have Fun in Prison! https://t.co/Z35KKU4OSf via @YouTube
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) February 27, 2019
Virginia Foxx, Republican from North Carolina: Michael Cohen, you have been convicted of several crimes which were committed for personal benefit. Are you here today for your own benefit?
“No.”
We go again. “I’m concerned you may be using your story”, and your platform, “for your own benefit”, Foxx says. She asks Cohen if he has a book deal. A colleague of hers asked this about an hour ago. Cohen says he still does not have a book deal.
“Can you commit under oath” that you will not pursue book deals, film deals, etc in the future? Foxx, apparently a keen reader, asks.
Cohen will not commit to that.
Now it’s back to Jim Jordan, Republican ranking member. This has to be his fifth or sixth go at Cohen. Jordan was angry to begin with, he’s getting angrier – or at least louder – now.
Jordan asks why Cohen didn’t correct a BuzzFeed story which said Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress regarding the Moscow deal.
Cohen: “We are not the fact checkers for BuzzFeed.”
Lunchtime summary
In explosive public testimony before Congress, Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen has cast the president as a “racist” and a “conman” who engaged in criminal activity after taking office as president to cover up an illegal hush money payment to an adult film actor.
- Cohen said Trump had prior knowledge that his longtime adviser, Roger Stone, was communicating with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election regarding the release of hacked Democratic emails.
- He also said Trump was aware of the infamous Trump Tower meeting between members of his presidential campaign and a Russian lawyer.
- Cohen, who spent a decade as the president’s fixer, testified publicly for the first time in detail about a six-figure sum that was paid to silence adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who alleged an affair with Trump.
- Cohen presented checks he said were signed by the president and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, to reimburse him for the hush money payments.
- Cohen also added that he was instructed by Trump to lie about the affair to the president’s wife, Melania Trump, stating: “Lying to the first lady is one of my biggest regrets because she is a kind, good person.”
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Updated
As the investigation into Trump’s administration unfolds…
The Guardian will continue to provide insight, analysis and factual reporting to help bring the truth to light. But we need your help, too. What makes the Guardian different from so many others in media is our editorial independence, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, goes directly into funding our journalism. This support enables us to keep working as we do – but we must maintain and build on it for every year to come. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Updated
Cohen warns Republicans of consequences of Trump loyalty
Rep Cooper, Democrat, notes that in Cohen’s testimony he listed many of Trump’s flaws but repeatedly noted:
“And yet, I continued to work for him.”
Cooper asks why it took Cohen so long to stop working for Trump.
Cohen then offers a remarkable warning to the Republicans on the committee as to what happens to those who stand by Trump.
“I did the same thing that you’re doing now for ten years. I protected Mr. Trump for ten years,” Cohen says.
“Look what’s happened to me.”
Cohen adds: “The more people that suffer Donald Trump, as I did blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that I did.”
Updated
Democrats offer a rebuttal to the Republican tactic of questioning Cohen’s credibility given his felony convictions. (Almost every GOP committee member has brought Cohen’s crimes up so far and expressed outrage – real or faux – over Cohen’s very presence at the hearing.)
A Democrat – sorry things are moving quickly here and I lost the name – points out the number of Trump associates – Flynn, Manafort et al – who have been convicted of crimes.
Jim Jordan fires back, pointing out that a number of people have been fired by Donald Trump.
James Comey was fired, Andrew McCabe was fired, Jordan says. I’m not entirely sure what his point is.
Some context on Jim Jordan, who is leading Republican committee members in their ‘morally outraged’ efforts re Cohen’s past crimes.
Timely reminder: Former OSU wrestlers say that Jim Jordan, then an assistant coach, knew about sexual abuses by the team doctor and failed to report it. https://t.co/EPGSxwQwrp
— Rachael Larimore (@RachaelBL) February 27, 2019
Updated
Questioned by Jody Hice, a Republican from Georgia, Cohen says he spoke to certain Democrats ahead of today’s hearing.
Hice asks Cohen about his lawyer, Lanny Davis. Cohen says he approached Davis about representation.
We might hear more about Lanny Davis before the day is out. Davis served as special counsel to Bill Clinton and supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential run in 2008. He is loathed by the right-wing.
Updated
William Clay, a Democrat, asks Cohen about how Trump would try to inflate his net worth.
“Did the president ever provide inflated assets to a bank” in order to obtain a loan? Clay asks Cohen.
Cohen says some documents were provided to Deutsche Bank to obtain a loan, but it’s not clear what documents. It’s not a smoking gun.
Updated
Mark Meadows, from North Carolina, has invited Lynne Patton, a black woman who works for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to the hearing. She is sitting behind him.
Meadows asks Cohen about his claims that Donald Trump is a “racist”. Meadows then asks Cohen, essentially, if a black woman would work for a racist. He points to Patton, who stands up.
Cohen asks if the son of a Holocaust survivor (i.e. Cohen) would work for Donald Trump. Patton sits down.
Democrat Eleanor Norton brings up the Access Hollywood video where Donald Trump said his fame entitled him to “grab [women] by the pussy”.
Cohen says he was part of the effort to tamp down the furore over Trump’s statements.
Norton segues from the video to the alleged Karen MacDougal affair with Trump. She discusses the ‘catch and kill’ effort with the National Enquirer to suppress McDougall’s claim.
(David Pecker, chairman and CEO of American Media Inc, which owns National Enquirer, has admitted to coordinating with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to pay McDougal $150,000 in hush money.)
James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, is asking Cohen is his financial crimes were committed to serve and protect the president.
We’re beginning to see what’s happening here. Keen readers/people who have been reading for 15 minutes will note that Jim Jordan asked almost identical questions during his own floor time.
It’s not the most subtle tactic, but Republicans have clearly decided their best way to defend Trump is by attacking Cohen.
Comer laments that the committee has called a convicted felon as a witness. We heard that earlier too.
Updated
As the investigation into Donald Trump’s administration unfolds…
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Updated
Carolyn Maloney, Democrat from New York, asks Cohen to explain what ‘catch and kill’ means. (It’s the practice of purchasing negative press stories so they don’t get published.)
Cohen says David Pecker and Allen Weissenberg, who isn’t having the best day, would be able to comment on the Trump team using this practice. Trump is alleged to have paid Pecker to suppress a ‘kiss and tell’ story.
Rep Mark Green, Republican of Tennessee, lists some of Cohen’s crimes, essentially repeating what Jim Jordan said earlier.
“We’re asking a guy going to jail for lying about his debts,” Green exclaims: “To comment on the president’s debts.”
This continues for some time, before Green says he has some questions. The questions seem to focus on further discrediting Cohen. He asks Cohen what his source of income will be in the future.
Cohen says he doesn’t expect to earn an income while he is in prison.
Is there a book deal coming, Green says?
No, says Cohen.
I get the impression Green was hoping for more from that.
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is up next. There are 42 members of this committee. It’s going to be a long day.
Wasserman-Schultz asks if Cohen believed Trump had asked for the Wikileaks dump of stolen DNC emails. Cohen says he is not aware of that, but goes on to add:
“Mr Trump is all about winning.”
Wasserman-Schultz asks Cohen if, given what he knows of Donald Trump: “Would [Trump] have the potential to collude with a foreign power to win the president at all costs?
Cohen: “Yes.”
Given the litany of connections between Trump campaign staff and Russia, Wasserman-Schultz says: “Is it likely” Trump had had every intent of working with Russia to win the election “at all costs”?
Cohen says he would rather not answer, other government branches are dealing with that question.
“Other than to say Mr Trump’s desire to win would have him work with anyone.”
Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Is it possible the whole Trump family was compromised by Russia ahead of the 2016 election?
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) February 27, 2019
Cohen: “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/QNRH2gypR0
Jordan says Cohen is here because he is aggrieved at not getting a job at the White House. Cohen denies that.
Jordan insists that, actually, yes, Cohen is here because he is aggrieved at not getting a job at the White House. Deja vu. Cohen denies it again.
Jordan then gets into a brief riff about James Comey, who according to Jordan also spoke out about Trump because – ta da – he was aggrieved at not getting a job at the White House.
Republican ranking member Jim Jordan is up next, and immediately sets out to discredit Cohen.
Jordan is picking apart Cohen’s claims that he lied and committed crimes out of loyalty to the president. Jordan lists the offenses Cohen has been convicted of, which include tax evasion and making false statements to a financial institution.
Were those crimes done to protect the president? Jordan asks.
Cohen says no.
Jordan asks if Cohen set up the fake, extremely flattering Twitter account @WomenForCohen (more here) to protect the president.
Cohen says he did not.
Never too late for #mcm & a #selfie pic.twitter.com/1ZFNNwNeCJ
— Women For Cohen (@WomenForCohen) November 22, 2016
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Updated
Cummings brings up the $35,000 check Cohen has presented to the hearing. Cohen says it was a reimbursement for hush payments to women claiming to have had affairs with Trump.
“Is there any doubt in your mind that President Trump knew exactly what he was paying for?” Cummings says.
Cohen says there is no doubt in his mind.
Cohen completes his statement to the committee.
Elijah Cummings is the first to question Trump’s former lawyer (in more ways than one – Cohen actually lost his law license yesterday).
Cummings warns Cohen that the committee will not tolerate being lied to. (There’s clearly a precedent there – last year Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to both the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Intelligence Committee.)
The committee chair begins with a question about those ‘hush payments’.
Cohen says Allan Weissenberg, Trump Organization chief financial officer, was there when Trump said he would pay the $135,000 Stormy Daniels’ lawyer had demanded.
Trump was aware his campaign met with Russia, Cohen says
Cohen says Trump was aware that members of his campaign – including Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and former campaign chair-turned-convicted-felon-Paul Manafort – met with a Russian figure offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.
“I remember being in the room with Mr. Trump, probably in early June 2016, when something peculiar happened. Don Jr. came into the room and walked behind his father’s desk – which in itself was unusual. People didn’t just walk behind Mr. Trump’s desk to talk to him,” Cohen says.
“I recalled Don Jr. leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which I could clearly hear, and saying: ‘The meeting is all set.’ I remember Mr. Trump saying, ‘Ok good…let me know.’”
Then comes that Donald Trump Jr burn:
What struck me as I looked back and thought about that exchange between Don Jr. and his father was, first, that Mr. Trump had frequently told me and others that his son Don Jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world. And also, that Don Jr. would never set up any meeting of any significance alone – and certainly not without checking with his father.
Michael Cohen’s representatives have have publicly released the exhibits Cohen is presenting to the House committee.
Among the documents: a print out of the Guardian’s 2016 story on Donald Trump lowering the value of his golf club to avoid tax.
Guardian reporter Jon Swaine found that in 2016 Trump attempted to slash the property tax bill on his Trump National Golf Club outside New York City by claiming it was worth just $1.4m.
A year earlier the then-presidential candidate had claimed the golf club was worth $50m.
The Guardian’s reporting on President Trump’s attempts to avoid taxes was cited during Michael Cohen’s testimony this morning.
This kind of in depth, investigative reporting is time-consuming and expensive, but it plays an essential role in exposing the truth and holding Donald Trump accountable. We hope you will consider making a contribution to the Guardian to support our work.
The 2016 Guardian story referenced today revealed an attempt by President Trump to slash the property tax bill on a New York golf club he owned. Records show he claimed the property was worth $50m – but then said it was worth just $1.4m when it came time to pay tax.
The investigation into President Trump’s campaign and administration is closer than ever to bringing the truth to light, and The Guardian is here to help bring clarity, analysis, and fact-based reporting to this critical moment in American history. Make a contribution today.
Updated
In happier times, etc:
Here's a letter Michael Cohen wrote to Fordham University a month before Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, threatening them with legal action if they released Trump's college records. Includes a remarkable P.S. pic.twitter.com/fxGHrUtuFX
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) February 27, 2019
Cohen getting into his stride now.
“Mr Trump is a racist,” he says.
“The country has seen Mr Trump court white supremacists and bigots. You have heard him call poorer countries ‘shitholes’.”
In private, he is even worse. He once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a “shithole.” This was when Barack Obama was President of the United States.
Cohen says that on one occasion he was with Trump, “driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago”.
Trump commented, according to Cohen:
That only black people could live that way. And, he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid.
And yet I continued to work for him.
Cohen: Trump knew in advance about WikiLeaks DNC emails
Cohen says Trump-associate Roger Stone told Trump in advance about WikiLeaks’ plans to release hacked DNC emails.
Mr Trump knew from Roger Stone in advance about the WikiLeaks drop of emails. In July 2016, days before the Democratic convention, I was in Mr Trump’s office when his secretary announced that Roger Stone was on the phone. Mr Trump put Mr Stone on the speakerphone.
Mr Stone told Mr Trump that he had just gotten off the phone with Julian Assange and that Mr Assange told Mr Stone that, within a couple of days, there would be a massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Mr Trump responded by stating to the effect of “wouldn’t that be great.”
Updated
Cohen gives us a glimpse into his feelings for Donald Trump – and why he felt Trump was worth defending. It’s a little bit weird.
When I first met Mr Trump, he was a successful entrepreneur, a real estate giant, and an icon. Being around Mr Trump was intoxicating. When you were in his presence, you felt like you were involved in something greater than yourself – that you were somehow changing the world.
Cohen: Trump lied about Trump Moscow negotiations
“I lied to Congress about when Mr Trump stopped negotiating the Moscow Tower project in Russia,” Cohen says.
“I stated that we stopped negotiating in January 2016. That was false – our negotiations continued for months later during the campaign.”
Trump has said he was not involved in discussions over a Trump Tower project in Russia during the campaign. That is a lie, Cohen says. He directly implicates Trump in those Moscow talks:
Mr Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it. He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project. And so I lied about it, too – because Mr Trump had made clear to me, through his personal statements to me that we both knew were false and through his lies to the country, that he wanted me to lie.
Cohen: Trump is 'a racist, a conman, a cheat'
We had read in advance that Cohen was planning to go all out in this statement, and here we go:
“I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience,” Cohen says.
I am ashamed because I know what Mr Trump is.
He is a racist, he is a conman, he is a cheat.
“Today I am here to tell the truth about Mr Trump,” Cohen says.
Updated
Cohen begins testimony
Michael Cohen is reading his prepared statement to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. I think the tone he is going for is “contrite”.
“I have asked this Committee to ensure that my family be protected from Presidential threats, and that the Committee be sensitive to the questions pertaining to ongoing investigations,” Cohen says.
“Thank you for your help and for your understanding. I am here under oath to correct the record, to answer the Committee’s questions truthfully, and to offer the American people what I know about President Trump.”
Updated
Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the Oversight Committee, is speaking. He’s laying out the combative blueprint the GOP is likely aiming for today.
Jordan attacks Cummings and the Democrats – they have chosen to kick off the 116th Congress by bringing in a convicted felon, Jordan says.
Cohen can’t be trusted, Jordan says.
Jordan gets so excited that he forgets he has a motion he wants to file, yielding his time too early . Cummings doesn’t allow Jordan to reclaim the floor. Jordan doesn’t like it, and Cummings has to bang his gavel to quieten down the Republican ranking member.
Interesting take from CNBC’s Christina Wilkie on what Republicans will be aiming for today:
Republicans will win a big victory if this hearing becomes what news anchors tonight call "a circus." If the hearing process can become a separate story, e.g. the circus story, then it's one less story about what Cohen actually said. That's what's driving this theatrical stuff.
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) February 27, 2019
Cummings runs through the list of Cohen’s felony convictions, which include lying to Congress. (Cohen will begin his three year jail term in May.)
People will make the point, Cummings says, that if Cohen “was lying then, why should we believe him now?”
The committee chair appears to be trying to get ahead of what we will hear repeatedly from Republicans today.
Cummings says Cohen’s testimony should be heard because of “new evidence” Cohen is presenting today, including the check for $35,000 that Cohen says was a reimbursement for hush payments to Stormy Daniels.
Cummings says Cohen “has a lot to lose if he lies” – it’d be perjury, and he’d likely end up with a longer prison term.
Cummings says the committee will not restrict questions regarding Russia, as the Department of Justice has given the committee the go ahead to do so. Republicans had been very keen that Russia be left out of this.
Cummings allows a vote on the motion to postpone Cohen’s hearing. It goes with the Democrats. The hearing will proceed.
Updated
Republicans attempt to postpone hearing
There’s controversy immediately as Elijah Cummings kicks off the hearing.
With Michael Cohen seated in front of the committee, Republican Mark Meadows interrupts Cummings as he makes his opening remarks to “move that we postpone the hearing”.
Meadows says Cohen gave his statement to the committee within the last 24 hours, which violates House rules.
Another Republican weighs in to make the same point. It seems this is an early GOP tactic in what is likely to be a contentious hearing.
Updated
Cohen will testify that Trump “arranged for the bidder [of the portrait] ahead of time and then reimbursed the bidder from the account of his non-profit charitable foundation, with the picture now hanging in one of his country clubs”.
Here’s Trump’s tweet from 2013 about the portrait Michael Cohen will testify about today. https://t.co/D8RJiKwqSb
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) February 27, 2019
Updated
There are... a lot of people at the Michael Cohen hearing. Here’s the scene at the Rayburn House office building right now.
Good morning from outside the hearing room where Cohen will testify in front of the House Oversight Committee today. @LoopEmma will be inside, and yours truly will be staked out outside. pic.twitter.com/imynJOOcTl
— Lissandra Villa (@LissandraVilla) February 27, 2019
So who is on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform? One of most familiar faces will be one of the newest members of Congress: New York Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while other fresh lawmakers include Ayanna Presley, from Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The committee chair is Elijah Cummings, from Maryland, who has done little to calm excitement over Cohen’s appearance.
“I think this is a golden opportunity for the American public. The American public would like to see Michael Cohen. He is the only person that I know of that has accused this president of a crime,” Cummings told reporters on Monday.
“It may very well may be a turning point in our country’s history, I don’t know, I don’t know,” Cummings added. “But what we want to do is conduct a fair hearing, we want a civil hearing and we want to be effective and efficient in letting the American people know what is going on.”
It will be the job of Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the committee, to try and minimize the impact of Cohen’s testimony. Last week Jordan accused Cummings of limiting the topics of the hearing to topics that only serve Cummings’s “interest in finding grounds for impeachment”. Jordan said Republican committee members will focus on asking Cohen about the crimes for which he has already been sentenced to three years in prison.
Cohen arrives at House Oversight and Reform Committee
Here’s Michael Cohen arriving a few minutes ago at the Rayburn House office building in Washington, DC. His testimony will begin at 10am.
That Michael Cohen statement really is a belter. According to Cohen, Trump never wanted to be president, but saw his campaign as a marketing opportunity.
There are also revelations about that Trump Tower meeting, while some of Cohen’s fiercest attacks are reserved for Donald Trump Jr, who – according to Cohen, Trump Sr would frequently say “had the worst judgment of anyone in the world”.
Let’s have a look at some key snippets.
Michael Cohen on... Trump’s run for president.
Donald Trump is a man who ran for office to make his brand great, not to make our country great. He had no desire or intention to lead this nation – only to market himself and to build his wealth and power.
Mr Trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the “greatest infomercial in political history.” He never expected to win the primary. He never expected to win the general election. The campaign – for him – was always a marketing opportunity.
Michael Cohen on... the Trump Tower Russia meeting.
I remember being in the room with Mr Trump, probably in early June 2016, when something peculiar happened. Don Jr came into the room and walked behind his father’s desk – which in itself was unusual.
People didn’t just walk behind Mr. Trump’s desk to talk to him. I recalled Don Jr leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which I could clearly hear, and saying: “The meeting is all set.” I remember Mr. Trump saying, “Ok good…let me know.”
Michael Cohen on... Donald Trump Jr.
What struck me as I looked back and thought about that exchange between Don Jr. and his father was, first, that Mr. Trump had frequently told me and others that his son Don Jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world. And also, that Don Jr. would never set up any meeting of any significance alone – and certainly not without checking with his father.
Right on cue... here’s the check Cohen is going to present to Democrats and Republicans.
You’ll notice Donald Trump’s distinctive signature. (Does he only have one pen?)
This is the check Michael Cohen is providing to Congress, dated Aug. 1, 2017, for $35,000. It doesn’t show what the payment was for, but Cohen will testify the check was signed by Trump to reimburse “illegal hush money I paid on his behalf" https://t.co/cFO6TlvNH5 pic.twitter.com/aAiyz7KoQ6
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1100740857739857920
Updated
The time difference in Hanoi is 12 hours ahead of America’s east coast, so Donald Trump has been pinging out tweets for a while already today. Here he is on Cohen:
Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019
And you’d think the president, whose mystery heel spurs kept him from going to war in Vietnam, wouldn’t want to draw attention to someone else’s lack of service, but hey, here Trump is attacking Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal:
I have now spent more time in Vietnam than Da Nang Dick Blumenthal, the third rate Senator from Connecticut (how is Connecticut doing?). His war stories of his heroism in Vietnam were a total fraud - he was never even there. We talked about it today with Vietnamese leaders!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019
Blumenthal did indeed make false statements on his military service – although nowhere near to the extent that Trump has implied.
Michael Cohen, who apparently has quite the sense of timing, plans to weigh in on Trump’s draft-avoidance this morning.
Michael Cohen on Trump deferring his Vietnam service.
— Kate Lyons (@MsKateLyons) February 27, 2019
Blimey. pic.twitter.com/f4cfvDJP4e
Updated
Michael Cohen is due before the House committee at 10am. He shared his testimony with reporters last night and it is... unflinching.
As well as those assertions of Trump being a “racist”, a “conman” and a “cheat”, Cohen will tell members of Congress that the president implicitly directed him to lie to Congress.
Cohen will also provide evidence to the committee, which he says shows that Trump reimbursed Cohen for payments made to women claiming to have had affairs with Trump. Cohen says he has a check for $35,000, dated August 1 2017 and personally signed by Trump, which was a reimbursement “for the illegal hush money I paid on his behalf”.
If that wasn’t enough, Cohen also says Trump had advanced knowledge that Roger Stone, a longtime adviser, was communicating with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign regarding the release of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
On Tuesday – before Cohen released his statement – White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said 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”.
You can read Cohen’s statement in full here.
Summary
•Michael Cohen will call Donald Trump a “cheat, conman and racist” at a Congressional hearing this morning – and tell officials that Trump was aware a longtime adviser was communicating with WikiLeaks during his presidential campaign.
Cohen is due to give testimony before the House oversight and reform committee on investigations relating to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
•Trump has pre-emptively responded to Cohen’s allegations, claiming his long-time lawyer and aide is “lying in order to reduce his prison time”. On Tuesday White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called Cohen a “disgraced felon” adding that it is “pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies”. Cohen claims he was indirectly told to lie to Congress by Trump.
•The explosive testimony threatens to overshadow Trump’s summit with Kim Jong-un. The two leaders are meeting one-on-one in Hanoi, Vietnam today, to discuss nuclear disarmament. Since their first meeting, in June last year, Trump has claimed North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat. His intelligence services disagree.
It’s Wednesday in US politics.
