AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
- Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, appeared optimistic following his closed-door testimony with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
- "I really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to clear the record, and to tell the truth," Cohen said to reporters after his roughly nine-hour testimony.
- Cohen added he was looking forward to testifying publicly before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. He is also scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
- Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, drew scrutiny after posting what some observers interpreted as a hostile tweet on Tuesday, in which he teased information about Cohen’s alleged "girlfriends." Those tweets earned Gaetz some swift rebuke, and accusations of witness intimidation.
President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, appeared optimistic following his closed-door congressional testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
"I really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to clear the record, and to tell the truth," Cohen said to reporters after his roughly nine-hour testimony.
Cohen said he was looking forward to testifying publicly before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. He is also scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session on Thursday.
"I’m going to let the American people decide exactly who’s telling the truth," he added.
Cohen is expected to publicly testify against Trump by revealing his private financial statements, a person familiar with his plan said to The Wall Street Journal. The documents are said to lend credibility to the allegations that Trump manipulated his financial records to dodge property taxes, the source said.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December. He pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations — hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal — and lying to Congress about plans for a Trump Tower in Russia.
Cohen was reportedly disbarred from New York on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
Republicans and Trump loyalists have seized on his conviction and downplayed his credibility as a witness. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a member of the House Oversight Committee, attracted scrutiny on Tuesday after directing a seemingly hostile tweet at Cohen prior to his testimony.
"Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat," Gaetz said on Twitter. "I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…"
Gaetz echoed the tweet during a statement on the House floor and appeared to suggest Cohen had extramarital affairs.
"I guess tomorrow we will find out if there is anyone that Michael Cohen hasn’t lied to," Gaetz said. "We already know he lied to Congress, we already know he lied to law enforcement, lied to the IRS … and he’s going to prison for his lies."
"And so I guess it will be relevant for us to determine like, ‘does he lie to his own family, does he lie to his financiers, does he lie to his financiers who are members of his family,’" Gaetz added.
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See Also:
- Here are the partisan lawmakers to watch on both the left and right when Michael Cohen gives his highly anticipated public testimony before Congress
- GOP lawmaker accused of obstruction and witness intimidation after apparently threatening to publicly embarrass Michael Cohen one day before his congressional testimony
- Michael Cohen has reportedly been disbarred in New York state
Source: Business Insider – dchoi@businessinsider.com (David Choi)