‘I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things that were absolutely wrong,’ he told Congress
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said lying to the first lady, Melania Trump, about the president’s alleged affairs was something he was ashamed of.
Cohen told Congress Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and he testified that Trump is a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat.” The hearing is the most damning depiction to date of Trump’s campaign and business operations from a onetime member of the president’s inner circle. It is the latest step in Cohen’s evolution from legal fixer for the president — he once boasted that he’d “take a bullet” for Trump — to a foe who has implicated him in federal campaign finance violations.As Wednesday’s hearing got underway, Cohen suggested Trump implicitly told him to lie about the Moscow real estate project.
Cohen said that “in his way, he was telling me to lie.” He added that lawyers for Trump had “reviewed and edited” the statement in which Cohen falsely said a proposal for a Trump Tower in Moscow had been abandoned in January 2016. Cohen has since said he continued pursuing the project for Trump for months after that.
It’s not immediately clear what evidence Cohen has to support the allegation or how legally problematic this claim it might be for Trump. During his testimony Cohen submitted copies of checks that Trump, his son, Donald Trump Jr., and the COO of the Trump Organization made to him — evidence intended to support Cohen’s claim that the president engaged in possible criminal conduct while in office.
“This $35,000 check was one of 11 check installments that was paid throughout the year, while he was president,” Cohen said. Cohen gave the House Oversight and Reform Committee a copy of his letter to Fordham. It was dated May 2015, about a month before Trump started his presidential campaign. “Certainly it’s the first time a convicted perjurer has been brought back to be a star witness at a hearing,” Jordan said.
Democrats shot back, with Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch saying committee Republicans “aren’t afraid you’re going to lie. I think they’re afraid you’re going to tell the truth.”Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me . 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.
Donald Trump Jr. tweets that Cohen’s testimony sounded “like a breakup letter” and that it’s “funny how things change when you’re trying to save your ass.”
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