‘New low’: Trump and aides lash Cohen as ex-lawyer calls President ‘racist conman’
Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has shared explosive evidence, denouncing the President as a “racist” and “conman”.
Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has told Congress the President is a “racist” and “conman” and knew in advance about Wikileaks’ plan to release hacked emails to hurt Hillary Clinton.
Cohen, 52, worked with Mr Trump for more than 12 years and became vice president of the Trump Organization, where he was the billionaire property magnate’s behind-the-scenes “fixer”.
In explosive public testimony on Wednesday local time, Cohen claimed Mr Trump essentially directed him to lie about their work on a real estate project with Russia that continued well into the presidential campaign.
He also shared a cheque with the hearing, which he said his boss wrote from his personal bank account — after becoming President — “to reimburse me for the hush money payments I made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and prevent damage to his campaign”.
Cohen said Mr Trump told him to “lie to his wife about it”.
The President, in Vietnam for a second nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, refused to comment on Cohen to reporters, but attacked his one-time “fixer” on Twitter.
“Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately),” Mr Trump tweeted.
“He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying and fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump.”
‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’
Cohen’s credibility is certainly suspect. He is due to report to prison in May to serve a three-year term for a number of crimes, one of which was lying to Congress last time he testified there.
But today’s testimony was not simply a case of Cohen’s word against Mr Trump’s. Cohen brought documentary evidence.
Most notably, he provided the congressional committee with cheques revealing how the President reimbursed him for the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
One of those cheques came from Mr Trump’s personal account, as we mentioned earlier. Another was from the revocable trust account Mr Trump set up after he was elected President.
Significantly, the second cheque was signed by the Trump Organisation’s Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and Mr Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr — a fact which pulls both men into the scandal.
Democratic congressman Ro Khanna called it an “explosive smoking gun”.
“Are you telling us that the President directed transactions in conspiracy with Allen Weisselberg and his son, Donald Trump Jr, as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud. Is that your testimony today?” he asked.
“Yes,” Cohen replied.
Last year, Cohen pleaded guilty to illegally using campaign funds for hush money payments to two women who said they had affairs with Mr Trump.
The President denies the liaisons. He tweeted that Cohen was “lying in order to reduce his prison time”, even though he has already been sentenced.
‘A SCORNED MAN’
The President stayed up late in Hanoi to watch the testimony at his hotel, at one point retweeting his earlier tweet calling Cohen a liar.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said scheduling this week’s hearings with Cohen while Mr Trump was in Vietnam was “a new low”, while the GOP’s ranking member of the committee Jim Jordan called the ex-lawyer a “patsy” for the Democrats.
Mr Graham told CNN Mr Trump was upset there were “duelling shows” — his Vietnam summit and Cohen’s testimony.
They were certainly two Hollywood-style competing dramas overnight. And Cohen knew that, too. Despite a ferocious grilling by the panel, Cohen refused to commit to not pursuing a book or movie deal based on his work.
Republicans eviscerated Cohen’s character during a lengthy question-and-answer session, with Congressman Mark Green calling him “a scorned man” who had lied about everything from his finances to the birth of his child. Cohen responded with a disbelieving smile.
Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). 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. Using Crooked’s lawyer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019
New Low for House Democrats:
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 27, 2019
Holding hearings with Michael Cohen while President @realDonaldTrump negotiates with North Korea about giving up their nuclear arsenal.
Democrats hatred of Trump is undercutting an important foreign policy effort and is way out of line.
‘A RACIST, A CONMAN AND A CHEAT’
The start of the testimony was briefly delayed as Republicans asked for a vote on delaying the hearing because the transcript had been submitted too late. The vote failed.
Once it commenced, Cohen blamed his own “ambition and the intoxication of Trump power” for his “bad decisions” while working for Mr Trump.
“I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty — of the things I did for Mr Trump in an effort to protect and promote him,” said Cohen.
“I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience.
“I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.”
Cohen said he was told to rig two polls and threaten people or entities around 500 times over his years working for Mr Trump.
‘GREATEST INFOMERCIAL IN HISTORY’
Last time he testified before Congress, Cohen sought to cover up Mr Trump’s pursuit of a real estate deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow during the presidential campaign.
He lied, claiming negotiations ended in January of 2016, when in fact they continued long into the campaign — while Mr Trump publicly insisted he had no dealings in Russia.
“Mr Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it,” said Cohen.
“He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project.”
The former Trump ally described his old boss as “a man who ran for office to make his brand great, not to make our country great” in his damning testimony.
“He had no desire or intention to lead this nation — only to market himself and to build his wealth and power. Mr Trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the ‘greatest infomercial in political history.’”
Cohen said Mr Trump did not directly tell him to lie to Congress about Trump Tower Moscow, but “would look me in the eye and tell me there’s no business in Russia, and then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing” and “in his way, he was telling me to lie”.
Contradicting the disputed report by Buzzfeed News, he said: “Mr Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates.”
However he said his planned testimony was “edited” by White House lawyers beforehand. The White House has pushed back on that.
“Today’s testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the President edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false,” Mr Trump’s counsel Jay Sekulow said.
TRUMP’S SECRET PHONE CALL
Cohen contradicted the President’s claim that he had no advance knowledge of Wikileaks’ plans to release emails damaging Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.
US intelligence services have concluded those emails, which were obtained by hacking the servers of the Democratic National Committee, were provided to Wikileaks by Russia.
Cohen said he was in the room with Mr Trump in July of 2016 when the then-candidate received a call from his longtime associate and political adviser Roger Stone. Mr Stone said he had just spoken to Julian Assange, and revealed an email dump was coming.
Cohen testified that, when he learned about the emails from Stone, Mr Trump said: “Wouldn’t that be great?”
Mr Trump told the New York Times earlier this year that he had never discussed the damaging emails with Stone, who has been indicted on charges that he lied to Congress about the nature and extent of his dealing with WikiLeaks.
Cohen said he did not have direct evidence that Mr Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Ms Clinton, but had suspicions.
‘I AM NOT PROTECTING MR TRUMP ANYMORE’
Mr Trump has also repeatedly denied having any prior knowledge of a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York, during which a representative of Russia’s government offering dirt on Clinton met with Donald Trump Jr and senior campaign officials.
But Cohen said that in 2017, as he read media coverage of the meeting, “something clicked in my mind”.
He said he then recalled a meeting with Mr Trump in early June 2016, during which his son Donald Trump Jr walked into the room, approached his father and said in a low voice “the meeting is all set”.
“I remember Mr Trump saying, ‘OK, good ... Let me know,’” Cohen said.
The former lawyer said Mr Trump had always told him his son had “the worst judgment of anyone in the world” and Cohen did not believe Donald Jr would ever set up a big meeting without first checking with his father.
“I also knew that nothing went on in Trump world, especially the campaign, without Mr Trump’s knowledge and approval,” added Cohen.
“So, I concluded that Don Jr was referring to that June 2016 Trump Tower meeting about dirt on Hillary with the Russian representative.”
TRUMP ‘INFLATED HIS TOTAL ASSETS’
Cohen produced copies of letters he says he wrote at Mr Trump’s direction that threatened his high school, colleges, and the College Board not to release his grades or SAT scores.
He also shared three years of Mr Trump’s financial statements and a scribbled note he claimed showed Mr Trump wanted Cohen to arrange for someone to bid on a portrait of him, before reimbursing the bidder from the account of his non-profit charitable foundation.
“I am not protecting Mr Trump anymore,” Cohen declared.
“It was my experience that Mr Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed among the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes.”
Cohen said Mr Trump also told him to give vague answers when questioned about the bone spur that apparently prevented him from serving in the Vietnam War, commenting: “You think I’m stupid? I wasn’t going to Vietnam.”
When Barack Obama was President, Cohen claimed, Mr Trump “asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a ‘s**thole’.”
‘MY LOYALTY COST ME EVERYTHING’
In his closing remarks, Cohen said his life had been destroyed because he followed Mr Trump “blindly” for years.
“My loyalty to Mr Trump has cost me everything — my family’s happiness, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honour, my reputation and soon my freedom,” he said.
“So to those that support the President and his rhetoric, as I once did, I pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes that I have made or pay the heavy price that my family and I are paying.”
He also issued a final, ominous warning.
“Given my experiences working for Mr Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”
‘LAUGHABLE’: WHITE HOUSE HITS BACK
The White House has been focused on damage control, pointing out that Cohen is headed to prison for three years for his crimes and labelling him a convicted liar.
“Disgraced felon Michael Cohen is going to prison for lying to Congress and making other false statements,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders from Hanoi.
“Sadly, he will go before Congress this week and we can expect more of the same.
“It’s laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word.”
The former lawyer asked the committee “to ensure that my family be protected from Presidential threats”, after delaying his testimony following Mr Trump’s repeated verbal onslaughts on Cohen and his father-in-law.
He claimed his family had been victims of “personal scurrilous attacks” and that he had been smeared as “a rat” by the President, “much like a mobster would do when one of his men decides to co-operate with the government.”
‘Expel him’: Dutton’s big call on Iran
Peter Dutton is urging strong action against Iran after the country’s envoy to Australia sparked yet another controversy on social media.
‘Appeasement’: Dutton lashes out on Israel
Peter Dutton is accusing Labor of hurting Australia’s global standing with its stance on the rapidly expanding Middle East conflict.
‘Weakness’: Dutton lashes Albo over Israel
Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese are trading blows over the government’s response to the rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East.