President Donald Trump’s former lawyer won’t make the same mistake twice.
According to a New York Times report, Michael Cohen intends to cast his former boss in a primarily negative light when he speaks with lawmakers on Wednesday.
A person familiar with Cohen’s plans told the Times that he plans to speak at length about Trump’s use of racist language, his lies about his actual wealth and “possible criminal conduct,” in the Times’ words.
Cohen reportedly will share documents to back up some of his allegations and he intends to share evidence of Trump’s alleged criminal behavior since he took office, the person familiar with the plans told the Times.
Cohen is also reportedly prepared to reveal who signed the $35,000 a month checks he received after he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to keep her quiet about an affair she allegedly had with President Trump, The Daily Beast reported Tuesday. Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has previously said the monthly payments were made as a retainer for legal services as reimbursement, but Cohen plans to tell Congress that there was no such retainer agreement and the $35,000 payments were part of a “cover-up,” according to a source who spoke to the Daily Beast.
Cohen will testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. He is also appearing behind closed doors this week before the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Intelligence Committee.
The White House released a statement on Tuesday, ahead of his closed-door testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, calling Cohen a “disgraced felon” just looking for “another opportunity to spread his lies.”
White House statement regarding Micheal Cohen’s testimony to Congress this week: pic.twitter.com/i1QfSPkO2p
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 26, 2019
Cohen was sentenced to serve three years in prison for financial wrongdoings and lying to Congress during his initial appearances before congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Cohen agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Read the full Times report here.
