A pair of top House Republicans are demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) open up a criminal probe into former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for allegedly lying to Congress.
On Wednesday, the GOP chairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on federal law enforcement to examine Cohen’s 2019 testimony to Congress as evidence of perjury. Lawmakers first made the criminal referral on Feb. 28, 2019.
“Cohen’s testimony is now the basis for a politically motivated prosecution of a former president and current declared candidate for that office,” wrote James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in the joint letter. “In light of the reliance on the testimony from this repeated liar, we reiterate our concerns and ask what the Justice Department has done to hold Cohen accountable for his false statements to Congress.”
Comer and Jordan outlined six specific times they say Cohen lied to federal lawmakers, including claims that he never committed fraud (Cohen pled guilty to fraud charges in 2018). Cohen was sentenced to three years behind bars following the guilty plea deal with federal prosecutors on charges of tax evasion, making false statements to banks, and violations of campaign finance laws.
Lawmakers said Cohen even admitted last year to lying to Congress in 2019.
“At a hearing in the politicized lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General against President Trump, Cohen admitted to lying under oath during a 2019 deposition before [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI)],” wrote Chairmen Comer and Jordan. “President Trump’s attorney asked Cohen if he lied during the deposition when testifying about whether he was directed to inflate certain financial numbers, to which Cohen responded, ‘Yes.’”
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee responded by making another criminal referral to the Department of Justice.
On Wednesday, Comer and Jordan also said Cohen repeatedly denied ever seeking a job in the Trump administration. The claims contradict “evidence from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York demonstrating that ‘Cohen privately told friends … that he expected to be given a prominent role and title in the new administration.’”
Cohen is now at the center of former President Donald Trump’s New York prosecution wherein Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is trying to jail the Republican presidential candidate over 2016 payments to sex seller Stormy Daniels. Cohen was President Trump’s lawyer who reportedly orchestrated a $130,000 election-year payment to Daniels to keep her quiet about an affair with the billionaire presidential nominee. The long-time attorney for the former president is expected to testify in the ongoing trial with Trump facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
“Currently, Manhattan’s popularly elected District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is using Cohen as his star witness in an ongoing criminal prosecution of President Donald Trump,” lawmakers wrote Wednesday. “Bragg’s case heavily relies on Cohen’s testimony and credibility.”