Michael Cohen to testify publicly on Capitol Hill - 2/27

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/6964...el-cohen-to-testify-on-capitol-hill-next-week

Updated at 9:20 p.m. ET

President Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is set to appear on Capitol Hill next week to give highly anticipated testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The hearing was originally scheduled for earlier in the month but was delayed after Cohen cited "threats" from the president and attorney Rudy Giuliani.

"I am pleased to announce that Michael Cohen's public testimony before the oversight committee is back on, despite efforts by some to intimidate his family members and prevent him from appearing," said Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in a statement on Wednesday.

 

https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/2019-02-20 Oversight Committee Hearing Memo re. Michael Cohen.pdf

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF HEARING

After consulting with the Department of Justice and with Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Chairman Cummings has set the scope for the Oversight Committee’s hearing with Mr. Cohen to address the following issues:

• the President’s debts and payments relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election;
• the President’s compliance with financial disclosure requirements;
• the President’s compliance with campaign finance laws;
• the President’s compliance with tax laws;
• the President’s potential and actual conflicts of interest;
• the President’s business practices;
• the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.;
• the accuracy of the President’s public statements;
• potentially fraudulent or inappropriate practices by the Trump Foundation; and
• public efforts by the President and his attorney to intimidate Mr. Cohen or others
not to testify.

Mr. Cohen has agreed to testify voluntarily and in public before the Oversight Committee. He will not be under subpoena.

On February 28, 2019, the day after Mr. Cohen testifies before the Oversight Committee, he will appear in closed session before the Intelligence Committee. The scope of the Oversight Committee’s open public hearing will not include questions relating to the Intelligence Committee’s investigation of efforts by Russia and other foreign entities to influence the U.S. political process during and since the 2016 U.S. election, and the counterintelligence threat arising from any links or coordination between U.S. persons and the Russian government, including any financial or other compromise or leverage foreign actors may possess over Donald Trump, his family, his business interests, or his associates. Among other lines of inquiry within its jurisdiction and the investigative parameters it announced on February 6, 2019, the Intelligence Committee’s closed interview also will examine in depth Mr. Cohen’s prior false statements to the Intelligence Committee.

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/michael-cohen-testimony-congress-1186702

Cohen will present document to criminally implicate Trump
The president's former lawyer will publicly accuse Donald Trump of a crime over three days of Capitol Hill testimony this week.


By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and MATTHEW CHOI


02/26/2019 11:12 AM EST


Updated 02/26/2019 06:48 PM EST

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, plans to offer up a document to lawmakers that he claims will show the president engaged in criminal conduct related to a hush-money payment to p*rn star Stormy Daniels, according to a person familiar with his planned congressional testimony.

The person said the document will refute a claim by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney, that Cohen used a $35,000 a month retainer from Trump as reimbursement for paying off Daniels. Cohen — who will soon report to prison for a three-year sentence tied to a litany of tax fraud and lying charges — is scheduled to appear Wednesday in a public House hearing, and will also testify privately on Tuesday and Thursday before Senate and House investigators.

During his testimony, Cohen also plans to address a much-discussed BuzzFeed report that the president ordered him to lie to Congress about business dealings in Russia during the campaign. The story initially sparked impeachment speculation, but was later thrown into question when special counsel Robert Mueller’s office took the rare step of issuing a carefully worded denial of certain elements of the piece.

“He’ll explain exactly why he lied and how he came to lie,” said the person familiar with Cohen’s testimony.

More broadly, Cohen will go into personal and character accusations against Trump, saying the president made racist remarks in front of him such as questioning the intelligence of African-Americans, according to the person.

After testifying behind closed doors on Tuesday, Cohen told reporters he's looking forward to Wednesday's hearing so he can "tell the American people my story."

"At this point in time I really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to clear the record and to tell the truth," Cohen said. "I'm going to let the American people decide exactly who is telling the truth."

 

Just a little witness tampering from the new Devin Nunes

 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...law-professors-witness-tampering-testing.html

Every Law Professor With a Twitter Account Says Congressman Matt Gaetz Just Committed Witness Tampering

 

Oh boy. Here’s a copy of Cohen’s testimony he’s presenting tomorrow: https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthe...imized/full.pdf?smid=nytcore-ios-share#page=1

 

Mueller’s pushback on the Buzzfeed article makes a lot more sense now