Michael Cohen, the longtime former attorney to Donald Trump, testified before the House Oversight Committee on February 27, 2019, and claimed to have evidence of alleged criminal conduct by President Trump. The hearing had originally been scheduled for February 7 but Cohen asked to postpone it due to concerns he had for his family’s safety.
He delivered a prepared opening statement, which was made public the night before the hearing, before facing questions from the committee members. Cohen’s prepared remarks included allegations that Donald Trump knew ahead of time about WikiLeaks’ plans to release stolen emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and that Mr. Trump reimbursed him for a “hush money” payment made to Stormy Daniels after he had been sworn in as president.
The White House has argued that Michael Cohen is not a credible witness due to the fact that he pleaded guilty to lying, not just to Congress but also to financial institutions.
Here’s what you need to know.
The House Oversight Committee Planned to Focus on President Trump’s Finances & Business, Not Russia
The House Oversight Committee focused their attention on questions surrounding President Trump’s finances and business. The committee did not plan to talk about Russia. Any conversation about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election would have taken place behind closed doors on February 26, when Cohen appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee. However, Rep. Cummings said at the beginning of the hearing that lawmakers would be permitted to ask questions pertaining to statements Cohen made concerning Russia in his opening statement.
According to a committee memo, embedded above, Chairman Elijah Cummings consulted with Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in setting the focus of the hearing. Lawmakers would ask questions concerning:
• 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
• public efforts by the President and his attorney to intimidate Mr. Cohen or others not to testify.
Michael Cohen Was Sentenced to Prison For Lying to Congress & Financial Crimes
Michael Cohen with his wife, Laura, and their daughter, Samantha
Michael Cohen was initially scheduled to report to prison in early March to begin a three-year prison sentence. But the judge granted him an additional two months to get his affairs in order. Cohen’s attorneys argued that he needed time to recover from shoulder surgery. The second argument was that the time required to prepare for his testimony before Congress limited his ability to settle other affairs. Cohen will now report to prison on May 6.
Cohen pleaded guilty on August 21, 2018 to eight federal charges brought by the Southern District of New York, which included tax evasion and bank fraud. He was also hit for a campaign finance violation, which stemmed from a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to persuade her not to speak out about an alleged affair she had with Donald Trump shortly after the birth of his youngest son. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani revealed in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in May of 2018 that President Trump had reimbursed Cohen for that payment.
Cohen also pleaded guilty on November 29, 2018, to lying to Congress. This charge was brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. You can read the sentencing memos filed by Mueller and the Southern District of New York here.
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