Watch: Key moments from former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony slamming his ex-client
Michael Cohen recounted instances during his time working for Donald Trump that implicated the president in financial wrongdoing and collusion with Russia.
After a long period of anticipation, US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified publicly on hush money payments and possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
Cohen faced questions from US House of Representatives committee in a congressional testimony that is a part of a larger ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to look into ties between Trump campaign officials and Russia.
His opening statement (above) during the appearance on Wednesday, included several revelations about the president. Here are some of them.
- Cohen labeled Trump a “racist,” a “conman,” and a “cheat” and claimed he knew in advance about hacked Democratic National Committee emails that would be released by Wikileaks (at the 13.24 mark in the video above).
Michael Cohen alleged Trump has said a number of racist statements.
— POLITICO (@politico) February 27, 2019
“While we were driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago, [Trump] commented only black people could live that way. And he told me black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid” pic.twitter.com/VqTO2KLZhd
- Cohen accused the president of directing him to pay hush money to Stephanie Clifford, an adult film star who goes by the name Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump allegedly had an affair. He even showed a copy of the cheque that Trump signed to reimburse him.
Michael Cohen: "He asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair, and lie about it to his wife about it, which I did. Lying to the First Lady is one of my biggest regrets. She is a kind, good person. I respect her greatly – and she did not deserve that." pic.twitter.com/Ibj6SqCO9B
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 27, 2019
- Cohen said he had suspicions that Donald Trump Jr had told his father in advance about his meeting with Russian lawyers at Trump Tower to gather dirt on Hillary Clinton. President Trump’s team has maintained that while Trump, Jr did attend the meeting, the senior Trump had no knowledge of it.
Cohen says he has no direct evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia, but details an incident he recalls just before the Trump Tower meeting where Don Jr entered Trump's office and said, "the meeting is all set." pic.twitter.com/zfg8uOzL1q
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2019
- In an exchange with Congresswoman Jackie Speir, Cohen said he threatened people hundreds of times for Trump over the years.
.@RepSpeier: How many times did Mr. Trump ask you to threaten an individual or entity on his behalf?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2019
COHEN: Quite a few times.
SPEIER: 50 times?
C: More.
S: 100 times?
C: More.
S: 200 times.
C: More.
S: 500 times?
C: Probably. Over the 10 years. pic.twitter.com/4Zg8wYgtgg
- A large part of the hearing was focussed on Cohen’s knowledge about Trump’s financial dealings. He furnished financial statements from 2011 and 2013, presented to Deutsche Bank, which suggested that his former client had inflated his assets when it suited him and vice-versa. (The15.21 mark in the video at the top.)
- When Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other democratic lawmakers questioned Cohen about Trump’s business dealings, he said Trump had also provided inflated assets to an insurance company. Ocasio-Cortez suggested that this could be a probable cause for Congress to ask to see the president’s elusive tax returns.
Cohen is set to begin a three-year prison term in May for crimes including lying to Congress in prior testimony, campaign finance violations, and tax evasion.
